I only actually have one resolution this year. To post more frequently to this blog, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. I really do appreciate all of you that follow me on one or more of those services. As much as I might not sound like it at the time I do appreciate my clients that push me to post more regularly. A couple of you in particular know who you are. =)

Today I have selected an image from an engagement session yesterday.

Robin and Jim are getting married in July and we’re excited to be helping out with the process. She is an aspiring photographer that has worked with me on a couple of projects, both behind and in front of the lens. Jim is a pilot in Port Angeles and they took the plane in the photo up for their first date. As a pilot myself I suggested it would be a great prop for the session and getting a bit technical we batted around some composition and lens choices. A fisheye is on Robin’s “photo gear bucket list” and brings a bit of a surreal nature to the background.

Debbie Macomber with John and Marcia MacDonald

My calendar says this is Hyak Blog Day (All Day) and so I should be blogging. Those who read my wife’s site, aKnottyHabit.com, or have dropped by recently know one of the reasons I’ve been busy.

For those that don’t: Debbie Macomber, New York Times bestselling author multiple times over was here on Friday. The photo to the right is after the event and it’s completely unfair that she can still look good after a 4 hour drive, 2 hours signing books, and preparing for a 4 hour drive back.

It’s also our 2 year wedding anniversary today and just over 1 year for the yarn shop and the (I’m still going to say new) studio. Thanks to everyone who has helped us come this far.

Six photo sessions are in the editing stage this week and, as always, client work trumps blogging. I’ll finish up some of the draft posts later this week. I also have some upcoming ad deadlines mid-July that require a huge amount of work to get the shoots done in time to get them off to Ben who creates most of the wonderful advertising material you may see of mine.

I do promise to get back to my promised blogging schedule after that, and I will do my best between now and then.

It’s that time of year again spring is waning, school’s almost out: summer routines are about to begin.

If you have a student who’ll be graduating in 2012, or know someone who does, stop by the shop to pick up one of our flyers to keep or give away.

At photography studios across the country, just like this one, it means it’s time to gear up for senior portraits for the 2012 graduating class. This year we’ve expanded the lifestyle, reworked what comes in packages, and also added a studio fashion package.

The Fashion Package is almost exactly what it sounds like. Working with Sheep’s Clothing we organize fashion shows and also produce a lot of photos featuring garments supplied by a variety of companies. Since we have the experience, the lighting, and a fantastic makeup artist (whose kit we’ve stocked full of makeups that survive the intense lights that this throws at it) the next step seemed to be to start offering it as a service. Fashion senior portraits were born.

Returning this year are senior trading cards, these are press printed on a heavy semigloss paper and then die-cut to give rounded corners. Each one is customized to be exactly what you want and we have a variety of templates to start out with. Put your contact info on and either hand out at school or drop in graduation announcements in the fall so everyone knows how to get a hold of you when school’s out.

Speaking of grad announcements, they’re here this year! We’ve settled on a couple of formats, the ones included with several packages are 5×7 cards on the same heavy semigloss paper as the trading cards. Not only are they fantastic, customized to be unique, and containing any information you want without having to fill in blanks on generic cards they are priced competitively to the major school graduation supply shops.

To many others the day represents a day to remember the sacrifices those serving in our military through the years have made. Whether one agrees or disagrees with current or former military actions our country stands today because of our military over the years, starting with our war of independence and continuing through the years to today.

For almost 2 years now we’ve offered a free photo session and print to current and former members of our military. This is not changing.

However, next week we’ll be rolling out a new series of packages called “Love Portraits.” These packages are for couples of any age or state of their relationship that want to have fun and get photos together. Full discussion of that next Monday.

So, why did I bring that up? Service members who are going to be deploying soon, are home on R&R, or just returned from a deployment can get love portrait session at no cost with no strings attached up to once a year.

We’ll be open 10am to 6pm Friday, 10am to 5pm Saturday, and Noon to 4pm Sunday. There will be cake and prizes.

Yesterday, though I caught Chase Jarvis’ interview with Jasmine Star and understood what all the fuss was about. Jasmine Star is a top wedding photographer from southern California doing a 5 day online seminar. You can check it out at http://creativelive.com/live/ if you have the time it’s available free in real-time. Alas that I won’t have time to view all of it as it happens, but there will be a download for $99/$149.

I’ve had mixed-feelings about the content on Creative LIVE from my own perspective, but think it’s a great service.

Hyak Photo Packages PDF Form

Senior Portraits – Prints Included – 3 8×10, 2 5×7, 6 4×6, 24 wallets*.
$150 – 1 hr studio session
$175 – 1 hr outdoor session
$250 – 2 hr indoor/outdoor session

Studio Portraits**
$150 – 1 hr studio session – 1 11×14, 3 8×10, 2 5×7, and 6 4×6
$250 – 1 hr studio session – 1 11×14, 6 8×10, 4 5×7, 8 4×6, and 16 wallets*.
$400 – 1.5 hr studio session – 1 16×20, 1 11×14, 3 8×10, 10 5×7, 32 wallets*.

Children’s Lifestyle – Natural Unposed Photography Series
$175 – 45 minute session – 1 8×10, 2 5×7, 6 4×6, 16 wallets

Maternity
$100 – 1 hr studio session – 1 11×14, 1 8×10, 2 5×7

Newborn
$150 – 1 hr studio session – 1 11×14, 1 8×10, 4 5×7, 24 wallets*.

In Home Studio*** – Studio Portraits in the Comfort and Convenience of Home
$100 – 1 hr session – All Prints A la Carte.

Grow With Time
$550 – 1 hr studio maternity session, 1 hr studio newborn session, 30 minute         “Free Studio Saturday” sessions monthly for first year with 8×10 and 8         wallets* from each monthly session. Includes all prints normally         included with Maternity and Newborn packages.

A la Carte
Additional prints are available by the print as an add-on to any package.
Full Resolution Digital downloads (with rights) available for $750.

All Packages
All Packages include online gallery which may be public, hidden, password protected, or require username/password login at no charge.

Weddings, Rites of Passage, and other photography available upon request.

* Wallets are printed in sets of 8 per pose.
** Limit 4 people, including children. $25 per person extra. Max 4 adults 4 children.
*** Limit 4 people, including children. $25 per person extra if space is available.

But, there are some issues with the current pricing plan. A couple of these are obvious, but several of them are less apparent. In no specific order, the following are the big issues.

• “Package Price” (older printed material) or “Second Printing” (newer and web material) prices have been found to be confusing.
• A la carte pricing is nearly always lower per shoot than package pricing. This was in some ways the point, but I need to discuss it further below.
• Many inquiries of the “how much would it be to…?” type come in. 90% of the time you will be receiving a response from me. The vast majority of these do not end with a booking but consume 15-30 minutes of my time working up a package for them.
• There is no readily available path to get a DVD of selected high-resolution images.
• Package pricing is nearly always lower per print, so it is difficult to compare ahead of time the price difference between photographers.
• Packages make it easier to tell a friend about us because a lot of the services can be simply lumped together.
• Many wedding consultants will not list a photographer without a fixed package fee schedule.

To touch quickly on weddings, wedding packages have been in the works for a while now and will be rolled out next year after the exciting changes here have died down. Our schedule is allowing for very few weddings this summer so it made more sense to turn that into a long-term project that will be rolled out this fall. This may remove the a la carte pricing option for all weddings booked next year.

There’s simply no way to get around that a la carte pricing always looks higher per print than the packages. The economy is down right now, we can all see it, we all know it, and we are all looking for the best deal. When I developed our a la carte pricing setup, and yeah, I will take all credit and blame for that one, my feeling was that it would appeal to budget minded people like myself. It was last night when I was ordering some minor products and was almost ready to get 500 for 50 cents each instead of the 4 for $6 that I really needed. That was the wake-up call I needed to look again at bulk package pricing. The issue is one of perceived value, and I had forgotten that there is real value to perceived value.

So, the changes. Right now a la carte pricing is not going away, it may never go away. In the next few weeks we have a print run of marketing materials coming out and these will be updated to include some initial packages and pricing. At the same time the website will be refreshed in the same way. Feedback is welcomed.

The packages are as yet unnamed, I may put my nerd hat on and name them after the periodic table, or I may make names up, or go with silver, gold, marsupial, platinum, or even just I, II, III. At first these are simply going to be based on requests I have gotten on the phone or via e-mail and so have already worked up estimated pricing for. For instance an in-home session with 1 11×14 and 1 8×10 is already $100 since the print credit covers both of those. Yesterday I worked out that a 1 hour newborn session with 1 11×14, 3 8×10, 2 5×7, and 6 4×6 was about $150. I have to differentiate between the in-home pricing and the studio pricing. Right now both are the same, but that is changing soon there may be two separate price lists or there may be package price + surcharge.

All in all I am somewhat saddened that in some ways I see this as an end to my a la carte pricing experiment, but I look forward to working with our clients to bring forth high quality photography at reasonable package prices.

Some of the interesting images from shoots that are in the editing phase right now:

Above: Portrait of a Soldier: Actually from a Thanksgiving portrait session, his expression just caught me.

Above: Taking Brazil by Storm: A chef setting out to make a name for himself and his pastry in Brazil.

Above: Almost time: Due today, shot last week. An absolutely wonderful mother and family.

There will be some more images added to the portfolio and also some new galleries from each of those shoots to wander through in the coming week.

The second week of December is even still in time to get prints made to give as gifts. Remember that if you’ve just started a family your parents are going to want to have a framed 8×10 somewhere in their house!

Hiring a Wedding Photographer | Mydeejay.com

Included topics are photographer style (primarily photojournalistic vs. traditional), personality matching with the couple, film vs. digital, budgets, engagement sessions, etc. The article then ends with a list of questions you should ask a wedding photographer. I’m going to put a post break here and answer that list for myself after it.

Questions to Ask a Wedding Photographer

- May I see one or two entire weddings that you’ve photographed?

My first two weddings are in my gallery on this site, so absolutely.

- How many images do you shoot at a typical wedding?

I average about 100 images per hour, so roughly 400-600 for an average wedding.

- How many images do you typically deliver to your clients?

Once upon a time I said I would try to make best cuts and deliver no more than 200 images. Reality is that 300-400 will make the cut and be delivered.

- When can I expect to see my photographs?

I have become more photojournalistic as time has passed, especially since my own wedding. There are still some poses I certainly want to get, and I would seriously hesitate if asked to remove the family portrait time completely, but I lean more toward interaction on rehearsal day so that I know where, when, and how, and possibly had some input on those.

- Do I get the high resolution files?  Is there an additional cost, and may I make prints from those files?

I find myself torn on this issue. An 8×10 or larger from me is simply going to look better than an 8×10 from a 1 hour photo. I really prefer to have people see my work printed at the highest possible (within reason) quality available. On the other hand, a 4×6 is only going to be slightly better from me. The end result is that I will provide some medium resolution files suitable for 4x6s and I have deep discounts on multiple prints at larger sizes. If you are coming to me for your photography part of that is for the quality of my final prints, which will be how your wedding (or portraits) is represented to the world.

- What is your backup plan should you become ill?

I work closely with another photographer in the area. Her website isn’t ready to go yet, but you can see her work as she shot my wedding, which is in the gallery section of this site.

- Do you have back up equipment?

Yes. I am always saddened that some people don’t, a wedding is an event where a reshoot will never fully capture the emotion of the day. I have a backup camera, and a second backup camera that can work in a pinch. I have backup lenses covering nearly every focal distance I use at least twice. I have multiple strobes and backup wireless triggers. I even have backup light stands because once I had an entire light kit run over and completely destroyed, so it really is something that another set can be needed.

- Do I need to provide you with a meal?

It’s always appreciated. It does need to be something I can eat with one hand, though as I won’t get a chance to attend a sit down dinner as a participant.

- Do you bring an assistant?

I always prefer to, but for some simpler weddings this may be optional if cost is an issue.

- Can you photograph our ceremony without flash?

This is an area where it really does matter what kind of equipment your photographer has. Generally speaking equipment that can work in lower light is more expensive. While a friend with a point and shoot camera, which are starting to become really, really good, can produce similar image quality of portraits on a cloudy afternoon professional gear is needed to work without flash in both harsh midday sun and in the low light of an interior. It also then takes a steady hand and good eye to keep people in sharp focus as the wider a lens has to open up the smaller the area of focus.

Right now: Most likely. While I am predominantly a user of a number of wireless strobes I also do have a number of very low-light lenses.

Spring 2010: Cameras have taken epic leaps in low light capabilities this year. My current upgrade path includes switching to a Canon 1D Mark IV over the winter. In my print testing using the sample prints Canon and some of the pre-production reviewers have provided I can get similar quality down to 1/16th the light required by my current camera. This has be very excited for a number of reasons.

- What is included and what is extra?  Is there anything you recommend we add?  Why?

I don’t have any prebuilt packages. I will build a package on request, but I feel that the best, most cost effective way to order from me is to use the discounts and credits to build your own package. Fully one-half of the hourly charge can be applied to print costs and if you order multiples of your favorite shot there is up to a fifty-percent discount.

I do suggest getting a wall feature, but the specifics are dictated by space available in your home. If you have a large space the standout sets are fabulous. A canvas print is a very traditional, but also usually large option. I, personally, like the size and shape of 11x14s in a medium size frame, which is also conveniently fairly inexpensive.

Also, after my own wedding I have come to regard photo books as an indispensible item. I love albums, and the quality is fabulous in them, but they just are too expensive to leave out for anyone and everyone to handle. Photobooks (also often referred to as coffee table books) are printed using much lower cost methods. The initial cost tends to be half that of an album due to the amount of time involved in producing it, but the fantastic part is that the multiple discount is fairly extreme as it does not have to be redesigned to be reprinted. My wife is a 4th grade teacher and ours have spent much of their life at school, and are just about due for a replacement, something we’d never consider with a $1,500 album.

- May I see a price list for any of the products that I might want to purchase after the wedding?

A partial price list is available on this website that covers basic prints. A full (multi-page) listing is availble in person or via e-mail.

- Are other people allowed to take pictures while the photographer is?

Of course. I am even looking into the possibility of bringing a self-contained photo printer so that guests can leave their digital prints for the couple.

- Do you do pro-bono and charity work?  What causes are important to you?

I volunteer primarily in a non-photographic capacity for a number of causes. The IRS does not currently allow tax write-offs for artistic donations beyond the cost of materials, so I do not donate prints. I have done photographic charity work for a few non-profits, though, most recently David vs. Goliath.