VLV Photography

I have some very exciting news to share….no, I’m not pregnant..ha!  You know though, that is the first thing everyone I talk to thinks when I say “guess what..” or something similiar.  But no, not that kind of news but rather business news! 

I’m so excited for 2011 because I’ve made every effort to make my process easier for my clients and myself really.  Believe it or not, but for every session, a photographer can spend , on average 15 hours from start to finish.  You would be surprised, I think, to really know how much time goes into having a photography business.  From the time I take a phone call or answer an email to the time I deliver those prints, there are so many steps in between and all those steps take time.  If there are items to design, that takes more time as well.  I just think it’s my job to educate my client’s so they know I’m just not someone who will show up with a really nice point and shoot {couldn’t be farther from the truth-this is my main camera and this is my backup}.  I also pair these camera bodies up with professional lenses.  So to all those out there who may see my pricing and snicker and wanna say “that’s just too much!”, and I say this with love, there’s just a lot more to it than pointing a camera and snapping away.  {*Note* The website that I linked my camera bodies to is an excellent resource when trying to find a camera for yourself….high recommend utilizing the information they provide.}  

I completely get this misconception;  however, this is where education comes in and also value.  It’s easy, and understandable, to say a photographer’s prices are just too high-”why pay $100 when you can pay $30?”  Why not just go to Wal-Mart and pay less than $2 for a print?   Why?  Value.  Some people simply don’t place value with portraits.  To some people, photography is a must-have investment and they plan, prepare, and save for it on a yearly basis.  Others just want to document a special time in their life.  Regardless of the circumstance those are the two key reasons, I believe, photographer’s are contacted for a session.  Because A.  the Client knows well enough that the quality of the products and the 30 minute experience the big chain studio provides, simply does not compare to a custom portrait session.  And B. the value that is placed on the goods/services.  If all of the electronic gadgets you had right now were to become obsolete or even break and you had no choice but to replace them, you would probably replace them.  It’s so much easier to place “value” on tangible items that provide instant gratification than it is to place value on something you haven’t yet seen nor experienced.  But I guarantee if you had an image that feels so special to your heart hanging on the wall each and every day, that will never need replacing, and that your children’s children will probably enjoy many years after you’re gone…you may place more value on just the thought alone.  So I am not offended to hear someone say they can’t afford me or I charge too much, that’s fine.  But I know what goes into the service and experience I provide, not to mention the overhead costs alone of running a business.  That’s my food for thought and education on that ;)

In other business news…..{and this falls under overhead costs}, I now have a photocart shopping system.  I stumbled upon this service by accident and really feel it will be a huge step-up…no, it IS a step-up!  Ordering will be much smoother and actually the images are shown much larger than in my previous galleries.  Also, if you need to, you can save your cart and come back to it!  LOVE that feature for my clients!  Also, I now have a scheduling system too.  You can schedule your appointment months in advance for a wedding or weeks in advance, if need be, for a portrait session or newborn/maternity session.  This can be done through the “Book-a-Session” tab located under “Information.”  Check it out

Also……..I will now be offering framing!  I’m still ironing out some details but those should be available soon!  If you’ve had a session with me in 2010, you can still get yours as well!   Can’t wait to show pictures! 

Anyway, I think I’m business’ed out!  How ’bout some “crabby-most-of-the-time” cutie-pies?  We had fun but it was short-lived.  That’s why I hate winter….dispite it’s dark by 5pm, but also you have to dress the kids to play outside for probably 10 minutes tops because it’s too cold to be out any longer, and then take off all the wet stuff, possibly wash it if it’s muddy, and then give the dog a bath because she went in the mud, and then clean up the mud mess left behind from the boots.  All that for 10 minutes???  I hate you winter.

I just thought how awesome it would that be to do a family session in the snow….I can sooo picture it!  I’ll probably have an engagement session in the snow and I already have an idea!

One of these days I’ll get this posted before 9am! Ha! I’m not guaranteeing anything. Such is life with little ones at home….I don’t get to do the things I need to do when I need to do them. Rather, it’s in the middle of the night while they’re fast asleep. I have been in the middle of some custom projects this past week all the while trying to get…..drum-roll please……a photocart system up and running! That’s right! Soon all my wonderful clients will be able to view their galleries, and at the same time add those images into a shopping cart. Your order can be saved for you to come back to and you can see how an image would look in black and white if it isn’t already. You can check out on your own, and even purchase gift cards! I’m really hoping this is something that my client’s will appreciate and love. I know I’ll appreciate some time saved as I do save some steps adding this system. Galleries will still be password protected and it will hopefully be easier to order other products as well, being able to see an image example next to the product name with a description. I’m excited about this upgrade but at the same time can’t wait until it’s over…..it’s been a lot of late nights lately…A LOT.

In other business news…later this week I will be posting a blog contest. Goodies will be involved for the winner Details to be revealed later this week! I’ll also post the link on my Facebook page. Also, I’m all for Facebook fans so please….share my page with your friends Thank you!

Today I took the girls outside. Let me just say….I.HATE.WINTER. I’ve always wanted to live in Colorado and winter here is the very reason why. It just goes from nice to cold and snow to beautiful too quickly. I mostly hate though, the fact that I have to bundle the kids up, only to go outside for 10 minutes because it’s too cold to be out any longer than that, then come in, undress them, hang up their stuff to dry or wash it if it’s muddy, then clean up the water/mud mess on the floor, and wipe up their snotty faces, oh and like today give the dog a bath because she decided to go in the garden {a.k.a dirt}. Talk about a run-on sentence…..

Anywho, I’m neck-deep in my to-do list and I just can’t focus–so much on my mind business-wise. No image today…there will be plenty of images though later this week-that’s all I’m sayin’!

Later tators…until next time Live, Laugh, and Love the one you’re with…even if they are half-pints that just haven’t figured out yet how to STAY ON THE RUG when they come in from the snowy, wet outdoors!!!!

Strange….to see a post from me mid-week, I know.  Well, I had an a-ha moment last night, or early this morning, depending on how you look at it.  I decided that instead of posting my numerous thoughts to Facebook that others may not care to read all the time, or to share some links I come across…I might as well blog about it.  I had the thought previously that every post needed to have an image.  Sometimes my day doesn’t allow the time necessary to do so, so from now on….some posts may not have images included.  I blogged before about the time it takes to prepare even just one image for the blog and with kids still at home, it gets tough to find that extra time for more frequent posts with images.  But I can write on the fly and never pre-write my thoughts on paper, so I might as well just blog it.  So anyway…….

I came across an awesome photographer blog last night and couldn’t.stop.reading.  If you are a wedding photographer, you must check out this husband/wife team at Gray Photography. I came away with a ton of info and sooo wish I could attend one of their workshops. 

One thing you’ll never hear me say, my dear clients & potential clients, is that I know it all.  I’m confident in the work and service I provide;  however, I am far from knowing it all.  The day a photographer says they know it all….they’ve lost that little spark that got them into photography in the first place, IMO.  There should always be room to grow and goals to improve-something, anything photography.  And you don’t even want to know when I went to bed this morning! ha! 

Today I am feeling a little overwhelmed as I feel like there are a million and one things I should be doing, have to do, want to do….there just isn’t enough time in a day and my brain is just on overload.  Maybe some coffee will clear my head…..and probably rattle my nerves as I’ve already had my fair share already today. 

That’s really all I wanted to say today. 

I suppose I can share this custom designed Senior Image Box that I’m ordering for a client today   I love how this turned out!  Sorry-I already had posted it to Facebook.

Well, let me start out by saying that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Either that or Facebook really eats up too much of my time and I’m a sort of Facebook addict. I can’t help it…it’s the go-to place to find out all that is going on in the photog and prop world. It took me a loooooong time to get a personal account and I first added my business page very recently. I can’t believe it took me that long…thanks to the encouragement of some awesome clients!

Anyway….this week we’ve started cleaning….closets….all of them. Our deep freeze had also gone out and so we just purchased an upright….I have to add…..LOVE THE UPRIGHT!! Gone are the days of digging, and digging, and digging through for a stick of butter!! Yay! So anyway, we had to make room in our cellar room {which also houses the fouseball table and I know I just botched the spelling so hopefully you get what I’m sayin’. But yeah, I now have beautifully organized closets in my office which is filled with all my nicely organized props, blankets, packaging items, oh yeah, and gear. If our house burned down….well, let’s just say…..I would grab my kids, my photo albums, and my camera. Ugh, I couldn’t imagine…which is why I also keep images backed up on disc in the so-called “fire-proof” safe. I hope I never find out if it’s actually “fire-proof.”

Well….I can finally share some sneak peeks. This first image is from a mini-session that I had donated to the “Relay for Life” silent auction. What a cute bunch and a fun mini-session it was! Such cooperative kiddos they were!

This next image was from a recent family session.  I’m not sure if you can tell but it was quite windy this day.  If it wouldn’t have been windy, it would’ve actually been very nice as it was in the 40′s.  Then wouldn’t you know it…the next day…beautifully calm!  Grrrrr!  Mother nature sometimes just doesn’t wanna cooperate.  But we did manage to get some good ones   Thanks for being such great troopers!

Well, that’s it for this week….sorry it’s late to post….closets called my name!  Only one more to go!  Until next time, Live, Laugh, and Love the one you’re with….even if they insist on filling YOUR closet with baseball cards and gun cases!  {btw, not anymore!}

I know, this seems rather unusual….a post on a Friday.  A while back I attempted to do a “Tidbit Thursday” series but that just didn’t last that long.  You might be surprised to know that to put up one post, such as this, then to post it to Facebook, takes about an hour.  The images need to be prepared for the web, type out all the interesting things I have to say to go along with the images {or not so interesting….depends if you really care about my crazy, busy life}, and just all the little steps that take just a minute but all add up.  So…..”Tidbit Thursday” didn’t last too long. 

I’m really not sure how some photographer’s fit blogging into their schedules but I would sure love to know!  I have ideas of what I would like to share but just haven’t had a chance to organize all my thoughts onto paper.  If you’re interested in learning more about your own digital point and shoot camera, I’ve been considering doing a series on the different modes on the little dial on your camera to get you off of the “auto” button!  I’ve been shooting manual for quite a while now and from day one, I haven’t looked back.  I will occassionaly use aperture priority mode {a.k.a. av mode}, but rarely.  I love the full control I have in manual and I feel my images have greatly improved because of this change.

Anyway, I wanted to share this “What-to-Wear” collection to give you another idea of ”coordinating” rather than “matching.” 

Also, I would like to share my newest bag bling for my packaging…my custom-designed hang-tags!  I just LOVE them!  Special thanks goes out to Jessica of Starr Design.  These turned out just as I imagined them!  {I placed my tags on my ginormous newborn nest-I love it, but man…it’s huge-makes me REALLY want a studio!}

While I’m sharing, I figured I might as well finally post a custom, mounted 5×7 I designed.  These boys are just too adorable and I love how this turned out.  You can only get these from VLV Photography as it is my creative touch I provide!

{The background is white so it gets lost in the post but you get the idea}

I have another custom-mounted 5×7 but I can’t share it yet as my client hasn’t received it.  I like to keep the design a surprise!

I’ll also possibly have a little peek from a mini-session I recently had  too…just need permission to post first!

This past week was the first week in a while where I didn’t have a whole heck of a lot going on.  I finished up on a senior gallery and also finished up a Client Survey which will be included in with client orders from now on;  until I get an idea of what changes I would like to make in the new year.  Other than that  it was a crazy, busy weekend. 

Saturday was the baptism of my beautiful niece Chaya, which I posted about on my Facebook page {VLV Photography} recently.  I also had a mini-session earlier in the afternoon with lovely grandparent’s and their 10 grandchildren!  Also stuffed myself sick over the weekend with food, food, and more food-and it’s not even turkey day yet!

This coming Wednesday my dear Alexandra will be turning 4.  She would like to think she’s going on 14 though!  She’s a little boss and I KNOW I will have my challenges with her as she gets older.  Oh….the fun of slamming doors I have to look forward to!  Anyway, today on our Christmas shopping trip {which I’m happy to report…I.AM.DONE}, we asked Alexandra if she would like her ears pierced as part of her birthday gift.  She was screaming with excitement until the very moment the two ladies put pretty, little flowers in her ears {which she picked out}!  The tears didn’t last long and she was pretty excited to share the news with anyone and everyone she knows!  She has preschool tomorrow and is also pretty excited to show her classmates and teachers.  I will post later this week with a photo of her new ear bling!

Also this past weekend…..I was able to sneak a few shots of my brother-in-law and his sweet family.  Hope you enjoy this you two and I hope to see one of these on the wall   Love you guys! 

Until next time…Live, Love, and Laugh with the one you’re with….especially when they’re an adorable little girl with a smile that lights up the world !

November….already.  Can’t wait until it’s March-April….spring in the air, birds chirping, and the sun shining!  It did turn out to be a very beautiful day though today.  I was able to enjoy it a while with the kiddos.  Unfortunately, it’s a mud pit in our yard and I think I’ve swept the entry 3x already today.  That’s one thing about living in a town without paved roads…mud, mud, dirt, rocks, and more mud. 

Anywho….I had a very busy week this past week.  We hosted our 3rd annual Halloween party for our family/friends Saturday night and yesterday was spent cleaning up and today was spent packing some stuff up and starting on orders that my wonderful client’s are waiting for!  Of course anyone that comes to the party is in costume and the hubby and I were rodeo clowns, Xavier was Bumble Bee, Alexandra was Bat girl, and Jozlyn was a bee.  There was one moment I laughed out loud because as Alexandra and Xavier were walking away from one house, Alexandra {the chatterbox} yelled out to the lady at the door “I’M BATGIRL!!!” as she thrust her fist in the air!  It was tooooooo funny!  It was a “had-to-be-there” moment.  We’re all on sugar-high today.  My favorite are bottle-caps…..LOVE BOTTLECAPS.  If you want to win your way into my heart, just give me bottle-caps {or yummy coffee}   Speaking of coffee….I’M OUT!  I know I have decaf in the house but the kids just might have a wretched mama on their hands tomorrow if I don’t get my hands on the good stuff!

Also this past weekend I had the pleasure of being a guest for the recording of an online, weekly radio show called “Red Wild Show ” which is on “URL Radio” Mondays and Thursdays;  although past shows can be listened to at any time.  Huge thanks to Brian and Scott for giving me the opportunity to talk about my business and discuss what it is I do and I how I came about having my own photography business in a small community.  I had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again! 

Well, I think that’s all I got for this Monday.  Told ya it wouldn’t be anything too interesting.  It was my plan to post this in the evening when most people probably wouldn’t be reading it.  Ha!  Actually….it was just pushed at the bottom of my to-do list. 

Catch ya next week….same bat day, same bat website   {get it…same bat time, same bat channel?…..okay, maybe I’m the only one in the universe that used to watch the old “BAM” “POW” Batman sitcom!….oh man, I should just call ‘er a night}.