Monday, November 5, 2012

Why is custom photography so expensive?

Many people are used to going into a retail chain studio, waiting for 15 minutes, having someone show them their background choices, spending 30 minutes trying to get their kids to give a geniune smile, then after the portraits are done (usually with the photographer getting frustrated with your kids not doing what they want them to do), you wait for 30 minutes, view your pictures, pick the one pose you like (which your free or promotional package is then stuck with), then you see the really good poses (you want those as well), and after it's all said and done, you have bought $200 worth of portraits you don't need just to get the poses you want, and usually another $30 for your sitting fee (unless you got a free promo), and if you want any custom portraiture you are spending another boatload of money! All of this for mediocre images without any real meaning.





Why spend so much for mediocre photo's when you can spend about the same amount and get beautiful, meaningful, and personalized portraits that reflect who your kids and family really are? The choice is clear here! Custom photography for your family or event is a great way to remember your family for years to come! A professional photographer is nothing like the chain studios. You can expenct to have a preconsultation with your photographer to anwser questions about your family. They will be asking what your likes and dislikes are, if there's any rooms in your home that you are looking to add wall portraits too, what your colors are, they will give you advice on posing, anwser any questions you may have, and help you get ready for your session so you are completely prepared to have a smooth session! Next, on the day of your shoot, your photographer will take their time with you and your family. It usually takes at least 30 minutes to get kids to warm up to having their pictures taken! They will schedule you at a gorgeous location of your choice, or if you don't have a special place in mind, they will pick a place for you. You can usually expect most basic sessions to last 1-3 hours for the best pictures. Afterwards your photographer will go home and do the behind scenes work.

Typically we will spend about 12+ hours editing a session, another 12+ hours turning them into a work of art, getting them ready for the web, for your preview session, etc. After all the post production work is done, (retouching, color corrections, crops, etc) we get ready for your in home viewing, typically scheduled 1 week after your initial photo session.

At your home we will sit down with you and let you take ahold of the computer to watch a custom slideshow created to view your images. Once it's done playing, we open up a folder for you to go through them at your own pace. This is where you will get to pick your poses and images that you want. From their we will help you order the prints you want and need, and products that you want and need. We do orders for gallery wraps to ornaments to playing cards! It all depends on what you want for your family and this session is all about making sure that you are satisfied with your portraits, and making sure you see the photo's exactly as they were meant to be seen.

About 1-2 weeks later, after we have done all of the ordering for you, you should receive your portraits either in the mail or we will deliver them to you. At this point your entire experience is complete. Many of our clients have told us how much they enjoy custom photography over the chain studio experience just simply because the customer service is so personal and tailored specifically to them. We treat each of our clients the absolute best, and make sure we have the highest levels of customer service in order to deliver the services our clients deserve.

Custom photography is more of a luxury than your entry level retail chain experience. Custom photography truly is not for everyone, it requires a level of commitment, investment in time and money, forethought and planning on the part of the subject/client and requires a larger time commitment for the photographer as well. You should ultimately decide if you want the quality and experience that custom photography can give you or if you are satisfied with the mediocre images you have been getting year after year from chain studios in your area. I would suggest that at least one time you try custom photography. I guarantee once you try it, you will probably never be satisfied with the retail chains again!

If you have some more questions about why you should choose customer photography for your needs, please review this blog article here for a much more detailed explaination of the process, along with why our costs are so much different than the studio chains! Any other thoughts on why to  choose custom photography? Have you had a great experience you would like to share with us? I would love to hear your comments and stories!

Jennifer

What is custom photography and why should I choose it?

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