Sweet newborns
Kiddos
Couples 
Family
Posted on January 20, 2011
Yes, it’s once again Thursday. Which means we get to feature another photographer for this week. Our featured photographer for this week is from Sin City! However, she is one of the funniest, and sweetest people. I got the chance to meet this photographer this past weekend at Imaging USA in San Antonio. Even though she didn’t bring me a cupcake, I still think she’s awesome.
So…who is it you ask. Well, let’s go on and introduce her. Drumroll……..
Kelsey Anderson – Kelsey Anderson Photography
www.kelseyandersonphotography.com
Las Vegas, Nevada Photographer
1) Where are you from? Where do you currently live? I was born and raised in Seattle Washington. I moved to Las Vegas 4.5 years ago.
2) What does photography mean to you? What attracted you to photography? Photography to me means capturing moments in time for my clients and myself that we can cherish and enjoy for years to come. What attracted me to photography? That is a good question and one I don’t really have a great answer for. Honestly I got my D40 for my 26 birthday and started taking pictures. I couldn’t stop. I read forums and websites on photography. Learning how to shoot. Learning how to edit. Everyday I wake up excited to learn more. It was like something inside me came alive once I picked up my camera. That probably sounds incredibly dumb but it is so true. I found a new piece of myself with photography.
3) Describe the area of photography you specialize in? Why did you choose this area? Up until recently I specialized in everything. Lol, I was trying to find me. What I enjoyed and what I didn’t. I knew early on the type of sessions I didn’t enjoy and the ones that got me giddy. However, I thought I was too new to photography to be picky about what I photographed and what I didn’t. I was wrong.
This November I made a decision that has made me so super excited for the year to come. I am focusing on what I love. What drives me and makes me giddy. Maternity, Seniors, Boudoir, Engagement and Weddings. I cut out what I didn’t truly love. Though this is my ‘job’ I don’t want it to feel that way. Photography is my art. It is my passion and that is why I will only shoot what I love and nothing else.
4) How long have you been a photographer? I got my first DSLR end of June 2009. I am one of those types that jumps in head first. I started my biz in Sept. 2009 and here I am a year and a half after getting my first DSLR having a fabulous time!
5) Are you self taught or have you attended formal schooling? What workshops/seminars have you found useful to you? I am self-taught with the help of incredibly generous photographers and forums. I have participated in one workshop which was with the ever so talented Marta Locklear. I took her workshop fall of 2009 and met some amazing ladies.
6) Morning or night owl? I am forced to be an early bird because of my children but I am a night owl since that is usually the only time I have to work on photography stuff.
7) If you could describe your style of photography in 4 words, what would they be? Dreamy. Light. Dramatic and Romantic
8 ) Who is your family? Include some pictures of them since we all know that our family is always in our photographs. My family is my hubby Jeff and my 3 amazing children Haylee, Hayden and Hudson.
9) What is a project that you would like to do this year with your photography? I am currently doing one with Marta Locklear. Each week she posts a color and texture for us to photograph. It is free so go join in. Other than that I have nothing planned.
10) How do you balance work, and your family? Good question and like many others I am still trying to find that balance. It is hard because you feel like you are being pulled from every direction. So finding balance so you are neglecting anyone or anything is hard. If you have any tips please let me know.
11) We all want to know…what’s in YOUR bag? What lens could you not live without? I shoot with a Nikon D700 and my back up is the D300. My lenses are 50 1.4, 85 1.8 (upgrading to 1.4 this year) and the 60 Macro that I am just now really playing a lot with for my Creative Journey that I mentioned above.
12) If you could photograph any person in the world, who would it be? Why? Robert Pattinson… shirtless preferably. Why? Really do I need to answer that question? Lol.
13) If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be? What I am still during the day a Stay at Home Mom.
14) What are 4 words your husband would use to describe you? Loud lol, energetic, devoted and outgoing.
15) What helps keep you motivated with photography? What doesn’t really. I haven’t had a moment where I wasn’t motivated to get better.
16) Tell us about some of your long term goals (with photography or personal life)? To always be present in my children’s lives. To be there for them whenever they need me and for them to know that I am always there.
17) What blogs do you love to stalk (doesn’t have to be photography related if you don’t want)? Jasmine Star, Creative Mama, Style Me Pretty and Perez Hilton.
18) When you’re not shooting, what are you doing? Taking care of my babies.
19) Where is one place you would love to travel to? I would love to go to Italy.
20) What is one thing that you want to do in your life? Travel
21) What is a quote that means a lot to you?
“Those that mind, don’t matter. Those that matter, don’t mind.”
22) If you could pick one photographer in the world to do a session for you, and your family, who would it be and why? Angie Warren. I came across her work when I was first starting out and fell in love immediately. Her style is dreamy but real. I am actually hoping to have her photograph my family if we make to San Fran this coming year.
23) If you could photograph one area of photography for a day, what would it be, why? (Something other than what you photograph, i.e. architecture, food, boudoir, birth, etc.) Food… as long as I got to eat what I photographed.
24) If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out in photography, what would it be? Ask for constructive criticism that is the only way you’re going to grow. Your friends and family are always going to tell you your work is wonderful but ask people who aren’t emotionally invested in your feelings to tell you what they think of you work and listen.
25) What magazine could you not live without? Us Weekly love me some celeb gossip lol.
Please include some of your favorite images….
Thanks so much for joining us on this fun feature Kelsey! It was a blast getting to know you better, and being able to see your fabulous images. Love your work Kelsey!
Thanks again.
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Posted on January 13, 2011
The photographer that is being featured today definitely holds a special place in my heart. She has been my mentor through my journey of photography. She has helped me with numerous things, and has always done it with such happiness. She hasn’t ever been rude, or seemed bothered. She has helped me in various aspects of my business. She’s such a wonderful person and artist. I truly love her work. Pst…she’s even our photographer. Oh yes, photographers have other photographers photograph them. She works miracles with my girls, and they absolutely love her. Last year, Molly even wrote about her and going to her for our pictures. She is a wonderful person and I’m so grateful that I’ve had a chance to get to know her as a photographer, and a friend. So, without further adieu, on to our photographer feature of…
Cathy Hengst – Cathy Hengst Photography
www.cathyhengstphotography.com
Montgomery, Texas Photographer
1) Where are you from? Where do you currently live? I am from Spring, Texas. Lived here my entire life (pretty boring, I know). We just moved to Montgomery, Texas and are loving it. A little bit slower paced life we hope is in store!
2) What does photography mean to you? What attracted you to photography? I love capturing life, those moments that you will soon forget and can be remembered by one image. I think with as fast paced as today’s life is we miss out on so many little things. Like the way your baby looks with that drool dripping down their sweet chin. Or those rolls on the back of a toddlers legs. Those are the things I know I never want to forget. I go back to those images of my own children and remember so many sweet times. Photography for me is the hope of creating those memories for another family. A natural smile, a stare into space or a silly look that is just “that” child.
3) Describe the area of photography you specialize in? Why did you choose this area? I specialize in children. I feel my gift is working with kids and making them comfortable so that we can have fun. I also adore newborns. I love being able to spend time chatting with a new Mommy and soothing a newborn to sleep.
4) How long have you been a photographer? I have been shooting professionally for 4 years now. Really it seems like yesterday, but yep it has been 4 years.
5) Are you self taught or have you attended formal schooling? What workshops/seminars have you found useful to you? I am mostly self taught. I have attended classes, workshops and seminars and love getting together with photographer friends to talk shop. Lots and lots of reading and practice is what really got me started.
6) Morning or night owl? Morning for sure, give me a vanilla DP and I am ready to GO!
7) If you could describe your style of photography in 4 words, what would they be? Clean, simple, carefree, fun
Who is your family? Please include some pictures of them since we all know that our family is always in our photographs. Hubby Lance, Daughter Layne, and Son Ethan
9) What is a project that you would like to do this year with your photography? Would love to work more with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.
Click on the text below to be directed to this wonderful organization.
10) How do you balance work, and your family? I work while the kids are at school, and then at night once they are in bed. The fall and holiday seasons are crazy and the entire family has to be onboard and they all pitch in to help out keeping things going on the home front.
11) We all want to know…what’s in YOUR bag? What lens could you not live without? I think my favorite lens has to be the 85mm 1.2, however I tend to use the 24-70 2.8 the most
12) If you could photograph any person in the world, who would it be? Why? I would photograph for Compassion international. There is something about missions and photographing the needy that tugs at my heart. I would pray that my photographs would help produce more sponsors for kiddos.
13) If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be? NICU nurse
14) What are 4 words your husband would use to describe you? Kinda a scary question. His response was Articulate (hummm), Artistic, Driven and Dedicated.
15) What helps keep you motivated with photography? The thank you notes from clients, the joy on their face when they receive their prints and the hugs from my lil’ friends after, before and during a session!
16) Tell us about some of your long term goals (with photography or personal life)? I am pretty content where my business is right now. I am able to balance it with my family life and right now that is such a blessing.
17) What blogs do you love to stalk (doesn’t have to be photography related if you don’t want)? Used to do this often and found I was wasting so much time. So I have cut down so much on this. I mostly look at decorating, and friends blogs when I have time.
18) When you’re not shooting, what are you doing? Lunch with friends, being soccer Mom and keeping the household going and happy.
19) Where is one place you would love to travel to? Bald Head Island, North Carolina
20) What is one thing that you want to do in your life? Live simply, enjoy my family and travel
21) What is a quote that means a lot to you?
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” Dr. Seuss
22) If you could pick one photographer in the world to do a session for you, and your family, who would it be and why? Audrey Woulard, LOVE her!
23) If you could photograph one area of photography for a day, what would it be, why? (Something other than what you photograph, i.e. architecture, food, boudoir, birth, etc.) Birth for sure! I would love to get into that once my kids are older.
24) If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out in photography, what would it be? Take it slow, practice practice practice, do not start a business selling a CD of images for next to nothing, know what your time and art is worth.
25) What magazine could you not live without? People, I love to sit and read mindless articles, well and BODEN. I am addicted to their boys clothing, then there is Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn which are favs as well.
Please include some of your favorite images for us Cathy….
Thank you Cathy for being our featured photographer! I’ve really enjoyed reading this and getting to see these gorgeous images. Cathy’s website is at the top, but if you just want to be able to click on it here, here it is:
www.cathyhengstphotography.com
Thank you again Cathy! It was a blast!
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Posted on January 6, 2011
Hello Hello! Well, today will be the first day of our new feature here at Melanie Ashcraft Photography. It’s called Talk To Me Thursday. What is it you ask? I will tell you. Every week, I will be featuring a photographer here. I send over questions to them, have them fill them out, and send them back. Along with that, I also ask that they provide images to be shown. I ask some photography related questions, and also non-photography related. I’m extremely excited about this feature and plan to have it going for a whole year. WOW! Oh yes, and I already have January filled. If any photographers would like to be featured here, please shoot me an e-mail through my contact section and we will get you set up.
You may be wondering why on earth I would want to feature a photographer on my website. My husband was quite curious as to why I chose to do this. So I will explain and then get to the first featured photographer. The reason behind this is a win-win for both photographers. For the photographer that is being featured it allows for them to get their name out there more, and also to kind of reflect on themselves. Some of these questions may be light, but others may make them really think about things. Now the reason, why it’s a winning situation for me. Well, it allows me to get more readers as well. People will see their name being tagged for the interview on Facebook, and then want to come check it out. Another reason why I was wanting to do this. I love getting to know other photographers. Seriously. I love getting to know them, and also hear how they got into photography. It’s going to be a fun feature, and one that I hope everyone will enjoy. So….onto the featured photographer for this week.
I figured that some people might like to get to know me as well, so I’m kicking off the feature. So onto my interview. It was quite interesting interviewing myself. I had some awkward moments of talking to myself. Ha! Totally joking…And here we goooooo. Who can guess what movie that line is from? Anyone? Anyone?
Melanie Ashcraft
Richmond, Texas Photographer
1) Where are you from? I was born in Missouri. I’ve lived in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas.
Where do you currently live? Currently, I’m living in Richmond, Texas. I’ve lived in Texas the last 13 years, so I guess you could consider me a Texan now.
2) What does photography mean to you? Photography to me is a way of freezing the emotions I see and feel in certain moments. You have memories of what has happened in your life, but pictures are a way for you to be able to be in “that” moment forever.
What attracted you to photography? I love that with photography you have the ability to freeze time. You will always have those “moments” that you want to keep for a lifetime. I always loved taking pictures and would take tons. I got the real attraction to go further than “just taking pictures” when my youngest daughter was born. That is when I bought my first DSLR. A pretty Canon Rebel xti. I was in love.
3) Describe the area of photography you specialize in? I currently shoot families, newborn, babies, younger children, and have dabbled in engagements. Why did you choose this area? I love interacting with people, and watching how others interact with each other. I love that I can interact with other families, and watch their dynamic. I love that I can take pictures of a sweet newborn or a shy child and help freeze those moments.
4) How long have you been a photographer? I’ve been in business for a little over a year. I’m really excited to continue to grow and be able to have my wonderful clients along for the journey.
5) Are you self taught or have you attended formal schooling? Self-taught, but have learned a ton from other photographers. Like a massive amount. I would love to one day have some type of schooling, and plan on becoming a CPP one day.
What workshops/seminars have you found useful to you? I absolutely love Sandy Puc. She is a fabulous photographer, and is able to keep bring a room alive. There are a ton of workshops/seminars that I want to attend though. That list is pretty long. I will be heading to the wonderful Imaging USA next Sunday with 3 other photographers, and am really excited about that!
6) Morning or night owl? Night owl sometimes, morning owl….not so much.
7) If you could describe your style of photography in 4 words, what would they be? Fun, relaxing, clean, with a little bit of a vintage feel.
8 ) Who is your family? My family includes my husband Brett, who has been a great support to me in this journey. Then we have Miss Molly who just turned 8 and is all about DSi’s and Ipods, and Lily. Lily will be 3 in March, and is one of the most easy going kids. She loves everything and anything. Can you please include some pictures of your family, since we know that they are always on the other end of the lens.
Here is my wonderful husband Brett. He is a little easier to convince to sit down for a shot. I don’t have to give him a snack, or a sucker afterwards. Every now and then he likes to try to grow out a mustache. That quickly gets nixed.
Now we have Molly and Lily. They have the best relationship. Molly is so protective of Lily, and Lily adores her big sister. This is one of my favorite images. This was the image that was on the front of our Christmas card this year, and will soon be blown up and hung on our wall.
9) What is a project that you would like to do this year with your photography? I’m trying really hard to do Project 365. That’s where you take a picture everyday for a year. I’m kind of falling behind (yes, I know it’s still the first week of January). I may end up going towards Project 52. I’ve also really liked seeing what is going on over at Marta Locklear, but haven’t had a chance to participate yet. So maybe I’ll play catch up soon.
10) How do you balance work, and your family? Do what? Balance what? Well let’s just say that there are late nights on my end quite often. I will try to do some work during Lily’s nap, and while Molly is at school, but the majority of it is done at night. When everyone is asleep and it’s quite. My family is my number one priority, and I don’t let things become more of a priority than them.
11) We all want to know…what’s in YOUR bag? In my bag I have a Canon 50d with a battery grip, and a 24-70mm 2.8L attached to it. I also have a 50mm 1.8, and a 70-300 IS USM lens in my bag.
What lens could you not live without? As of right now…my 24-70mm. That might change once I get a macro lens however.
12) If you could photograph any person in the world, who would it be? Why? If this person were still alive. My grandmother with my grandfather. I was very close to her and my grandpa. I would love to be able to photograph her and him together. I took a photo of my grandfather the other day, and realized how I would love to be able to photograph them, and be able to see the love between them “frozen” in time.
13) If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be? Other than a stay at home mom, which I already am…I would love to do something marketing related. I love the marketing side of things, and my husband said it’s because I don’t care how much something costs, as long as it’s beautiful. Which is wrong. I do care how much something is, but I also understand that it takes money to make money. In order to make money, you have to make something pretty, and appealing.
14) What are 4 words your husband would use to describe you? Beautiful, talented, loving, kind. Such a sweet guy he is.
15) What helps keep you motivated with photography? All the new things that I learn every day. Also, wanting to provide clients with beautiful images that they will treasure for a lifetime. I love hearing the first reaction from a client when they see their images for the first time.
16) Tell us about some of your long term goals (with photography or personal life)? Photography wise – keep learning. Don’t ever stop soaking everything in. Personal – Be happy with my family, watch my kids grow and enjoy them soaking up life.
17) What blogs do you love to stalk? Oh goodness. This list could be huge…The Picky Palate, The Savvy Photographer, Clickin Moms, Creative Mama, The TomKat Studio, and Jasmine Star.
18) When you’re not shooting, what are you doing? Hanging out with my family, and probably trying to plan our next cruise. I’ve been on 8…love them.
19) Where is one place you would love to travel to? Fiji, it looks absolutely beautiful and seems very romantic.
20) What is one thing that you want to do in your life? Always strive to be a great mom and wife, and continue to live life. Try to not be so worried about things I can’t control. Also make sure that I never take anything for granted.
21) What is a quote that means a lot to you? I can’t remember where I heard this but it’s so true…
“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.”
22) If you could pick one photographer in the world to do a session for you, and your family, who would it be and why? Jasmine Star, she actually shoots engagements and weddings, but I would love to have her photograph my family! She is amazing and has an awesome personality. I think she would be a blast.
23) If you could photograph one area of photography for a day, what would it be, why? (Something other than what you photograph, i.e. architecture, food, boudoir, birth, etc.) Honestly… Boudoir. I would love to get into Boudoir photography. It’s very mysterious and I’m just drawn to it.
24) If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out in photography, what would it be? Don’t think that it’s just the camera that takes good pictures. You have to have a knowledge of what it takes for an image to turn out fabulous. Practice Practice Practice, and soak up any and all information you can. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
25) What magazine could you not live without? I have a couple. I love Professional Photographer for my business magazine. For just good, easy reading…Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and anything celeb gossip.
Please include some images of your work…..
I hope everyone enjoyed the first interview of this new feature. Make sure to join us for one of my favorite photographers next week. This one is dear to my heart and she has helped me so much along this journey! Who could it be…..
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Posted on December 20, 2010
Oh yes. It’s almost 2011. What does that mean? It means it’s almost a new year. What happens when a new year comes? We start thinking about changes, and that is indeed what is going on here at Melanie Ashcraft Photography. We will be coming up with some new and awesome things. You will have to keep checking in on the blog, and join us on Facebook (click the facebook icon on the scree) to see what the changes are. You won’t want to miss them, I promise.
Even Rocco, one of my furbabies is going to stick around to see what the changes are….
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Posted on December 20, 2010
I said that updates would be coming, and they are. For the first update…I would like to post about Miss A. This little cutie is one of my favorite little girls. Why you ask, because she is my cutie patootie niece. She is at the wonderful 6 month stage. She is at the age where she can sit up on her own, and at the time of this shoot, couldn’t crawl. She did however have tons of drool going on. She has been drooling and chewing on her fingers for awhile, however she still has no teeth.
She knows that when she sees her aunt, that a little mini session is in store. She’s absolutely fabulous, and always does such a great job for me. You should have noticed the cutie pie newborn with the striped hat throughout my site, or my galleries. That is Miss A when she was a teeny baby. We had her newborn session when she was a tiny 4 day old baby. Goodness, she has grown up so quick.
So enjoy looking at the cutie pie Miss A with drool and all!
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Posted on December 14, 2010
It has been crazy busy around here, both for Melanie Ashcraft Photography and my family. My husband just wrapped up his final (well, almost final) Fall semester, and he will be done in May. I say *almost* b/c he will be starting back up for his Master’s in the next year. He needs some time off, and we need some time for daddy/husband to be off. It’s been a fun last couple of months for Melanie Ashcraft Photography, and we’re so grateful to all those that have helped make this a success. We have some fun stuff coming for 2011, so be sure to keep up with us. The website will be having some updating going on, so be looking for some new pictures in the slideshow and galleries. Also, be on the lookout for some new products as well.
I will be updating the blog with blog posts, and also new pictures as the next couple of weeks go on, so be watching.
For right now though, I’m off to do some cleaning and organizing of my house.
Thank you again for a wonderful time! I’ve really enjoyed all of the families and kiddos I’ve had the pleasure of photographing. I look forward to seeing all of you in 2011!
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Posted on November 2, 2010
I have two What To Wear guides today. One for siblings, and one that is Fall Inspired for the family. I love What to Wear guides, as they are an extremely helpful tool for my clients. It helps ease some of the stress that comes with getting ready for family pictures. Sometimes parents just want the kiddos done, and that’s what the WTW guide for siblings comes into play. Sometimes, the whole family is being photographed, and that’s where the WTW family guides come in. You don’t want to be too matchy-matchy. You want to be able to grab two to three colors, and coordinate around those. It helps add texture, and depth to the images. It helps the people being photographed to flow within the images.
So, just to see what you readers think….what is the hardest part of getting ready for your photography session?
Is it picking clothing or location?
Fall Inspired…
Sibling Inspired…
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Posted on October 27, 2010
Wall Displays.
What are they? How do they work?
Those are two questions you might be asking.
Wall Displays are fabulous. They help me show my clients the possibilities that we can do with their wonderful images. I have numerous ones that I can show. It helps to also show that an 8×10 on a wall is just not big enough to an image justice. With framed artwork, frames that are big definitely help. However, if you have an image inside a big frame, it can still sometimes be swallowed by the frame. So showing these can also help you see how a gallery wrap, float wrap, or standout can look without the faming. Those 3 items are items that are meant to stand alone without a frame. My favorite product have been the float wraps. I also love the new product I’ve started carrying, which are the standout mounts. Gallery wraps have always been a classic to me. The float wraps and standout mounts are NEW and fabulous.
Newborn Wall Display- this option shows 12×12 framed images. However, you could do this also with 4 20×20 gallery wraps, float wraps or standouts for an even bigger statement. Obviously if you choose to the un-framed option, it would give you more space on your images as well, as you wouldn’t be covering up detail with the frame.
Until next time,
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Posted on October 18, 2010
A fellow photographer (Rare Photography w/ Alana Hawker) from one of my forums posted this awesome blog post. It lets clients know 4 things that we are, and 4 things what we aren’t. Enjoy reading…
4 Things Your Photographer IS…
1. A Parent
Every single family photographer I know is a parent. This means we are used to the hissy fits, the tragic meltdowns and the oil-to-water like aversion your toddler has to the camera. Every time I get an uncooperative toddler the parents apologize profusely for their behavior. Don’t sweat it! It makes me feel better that my kids aren’t the only ones that think standing still for 3 seconds is akin to getting your limbs ripped off. One simple apology will do just fine.
2. Patient
Sometimes it takes 10 mins of running around, dancing like a fool, making silly noises, and talking about crazy monkeys just to get ONE good shot. Don’t bother demanding your child to sit and smile because as I’m sure every parent knows, the harder you push a toddler, the harder they push back. And an irritated toddler doesn’t give good smiles!
3. Busy
Taking pictures isn’t the only part of our job. Sometimes it’s not our only job at all! Please please please (yes, I’m on my knees begging!) be on time to your shoot. If you aren’t going to be on time, at least give us a call and give us your ETA. We may have clients lined up right after you, we may only have a babysitter for a certain amount of time. Whatever the case may be, it’s just plain good manners to let us know if you’re going to be late. Barring a true, provable emergency, if you don’t bother showing up, don’t expect your deposit back. Just because we didn’t shoot pictures doesn’t mean we didn’t spend time preparing for your shoot by gathering props, creating a pose list tailored to your shoot, checking the weather and lighting, etc.
4. An Artist
Photography is an art, just like painting. Each photographer has their own style. If you don’t like what you see on their website, that photographer is not a good fit for you. People who like Picasso like his style. He is unique. Every photographer has their own unique style as well. You should hire your own Picasso. Don’t hire any old photographer and request they change their style to what you want. Most photographers have spent years perfecting their style. Asking them to change it is not only insulting but also doesn’t give them the necessary years of practice and will likely result in images not nearly as pleasing as you expect. Also, our status of being artists entitles us to be a little kooky and eccentric. It’s the fun part of our job description. 
4 Things Your Photographer is NOT…
1. Walmart
As much as we’d LOVE (I think love isn’t quite strong enough a word) to be grossing $405.6 billion per year, we aren’t. Heck, I’d love to gross $405.6 thousand per year! But alas, we are all small businesses. We don’t have the sales necessary to offer $5 portrait sheets. We also don’t utilize cheap ink or poor quality paper just to keep costs down. We charge what we need to to not only keep our business afloat, but also food on our table. If that’s outside of your budget, that’s perfectly fine. Most photographers fall into the “starving artist” category and can’t afford to book themselves, so it’s not going to offend us if you can’t afford us. It WILL offend us however, if you request us to price match someone else. Our price point is unique because our business is unique. Nobody but nobody is going to have the EXACT SAME costs as anyone else. Please understand that 99% of us aren’t priced to be making $100,000 per year, we’re priced to afford preschool for our kids, shoes for our feet and food for our bellies. If you want Walmart prices, go to Walmart! Just don’t expect personal photographer quality for Walmart prices, and visa versa.
As a subnote to this, we’re also not able to give things away for free no matter who you are. Asking us as your friend to “take a few shots of the party/event since you’re here” would be like asking your dentist friend to “examine the teeth of all the guests for free since you’re here”. It’s not okay to ask that. If we want to take a few pictures, we will. If we want to send you the pix we take, we will. Unless you’re willing to pay our regular rate, please don’t ask us to take “just a few pictures”. You may get lucky and have a friend with a special friends and family rate, but remember, you wouldn’t do your job for free, please don’t expect us to do ours for free.
2. Plastic Surgeons
Photoshop is an AMAZING tool! Unfortunately, it doesn’t substitute for a scalpel. We can easily hide zits, conceal under-eye bags and sometimes even shave off a few pounds here and there. We cannot turn a new-mommy-body into Gisele Bundchen’s body with a few key strokes. (And if we could, we’d be in Hollywood making the aforementioned billions!) Moms are expected to have normal size 14-ish bodies, complete with a little pooch belly, and sometime, yes, even the feared double chin. If you can’t love yourself the way you are, perhaps getting giant paper printouts of what you look like in all your natural glory isn’t the right thing for you right now.
3. Magic
We can, in some ways, be thought of as magicians. We can take your memories, your precious children and photograph them in such a way that you will treasure their portraits, the captured moment, forever. But we cannot wave a magic wand and make your sugar-buzzing 3 year old sit still, brush their hair and smile like a Gerber baby. You are paying us for our time and our artistic talent. If someone (who may or may not even be of toddler age *cough* DAD, I’m talking to you!) doesn’t want to cooperate, we can only try so hard. You (in most cases) are not obligated to buy prints if you don’t like them, but please don’t expect to be refunded for the session fee if pictures didn’t turn out to your liking through no fault of our own. Please remember, we were out there, trying as hard as possible to get great pictures for you. We deserve to be compensated for our time. Depending on the situation you may even be offered a free or discounted re-shoot, but don’t expect anything. Sometimes the child is a lost cause and will refuse to be photographed no matter what the situation. That doesn’t say anything to your parenting or how good your child is, that just says your toddler is normal. Toddlers are miniature control freaks and if they don’t want something to happen, it wont be happening no matter the bribe!
We also aren’t mind readers. If there’s a certain something you do or don’t want, please tell us! Nicely 
4. A Robot
We are human. We feel overjoyed when we have a great shoot and we feel devastated when we have a terrible one. There is no need to treat us like anything other than living, breathing humans. We make mistakes sometimes. We don’t deserve to be berated or ridiculed because we didn’t get the shots you hoped for. When we get a shot you love, tell us! Share your joy! And for the love of pete, BE POLITE! Please and thank you go a loooooong way. I know several photographers that give free gifts and prints to clients that treat them like human friends instead of contracted camera slaves. Besides, it’s just good manners 
Despite all of the fun little intricacies people rarely consider, I still see my job as one of the funnest there is, and I know most of the photographers that inspired me to write this do to. I don’t think any of us would trade it for the world. I think our goal is just to remind people that though our job is fun, it’s still a job.
Thanks Alana for allowing me to use this blog post! It’s really appreciated.
Until next time,
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Posted on October 15, 2010
Here is a little What to Wear-Fall Inspired guide. It’s Friday and that means the weekend. So just to make planning a session a little easier, I enjoy doing the What to Wear guides for my clients. So, what does everyone have planned for the weekend? Come on, I enjoy hearing about the fun things going on.
Until next time,
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