“Surely you’ve noticed an increase in the number of photographers giving away digital files. As a customer, should you expect them to be for sale? Why don’t all photographers include them in the session fee for free, or at least make them affordable? Don’t the files belong to you anyway?

Federal copyright law is very clear about image ownership. They belong to your photographer, who has the sole right to print, display, and sell them.

You should expect the price of digital files, if available, to compensate your photographer for their work and talent. Baby photographers don’t always sell a large package up front like wedding photographers. Instead, most charge a session fee that just covers some costs of providing the shoot. We rely on print sales as our sole source of income. The digital images are the key to those print sales. This is good for you. It means I have to do a good job for you, or I won’t get paid.

While many photographers do offer the files for sale, many baby photographers who specialize in creating custom art don’t.  For them, it’s a matter of quality control from start to finish. They realize cutting corners on that is a disservice to their clients.

Almost all of the file inquiries I get stem from an attempt to get my work for cheap… to get my vision, but to skip out on buying prints from me. Or from a misconception that digital is cheaper to produce than film. It’s not.

The equipment is much more expensive, replacements are necessary more often, and the workflow, maintenance, troubleshooting, and constant education requirements make digital much more expensive.

Even at that, the real value of digital files comes not from the cost, but what the files contain: the work and artistry that prompted you to choose that photographer. If you purchase files, expect to pay a price that values the work, and is sustainable for the photographer. You want him or her to still be in business when your new baby starts sitting up. Or walking. Or when your family grows.

If you’re looking for cheap portraits, and you don’t care about prints or a long-term photographer, cheap photography is available in abundance on places like Craigslist. You can have a session and all the files for very little money.  But for custom baby photography, the most important things to look for are artistry, image quality, experience with babies, safety, and service. Choose wisely – baby portraits are precious memories and family heirlooms.

Copyright ©2010 Lauri Baker”

(Article shared with permission)

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A little cliché?  Perhaps.  But when it comes to portrait photography, clothing plays a huge role in the success of the finished product.

Before we get going – let’s be clear what you’re clothing does NOT need to be:

1. Brand New
   I’m down with your favorite ripped jeans, retro band T’s, and worn converse shoes – as long as you know how to rock them in your own fabulous style.
2. Fancy-Schmancy and Uber-Expensive
   Unless it’s your thing (If it’s really your thing, then by all means baby, bring on the bling).   If you’re not normally a dress-up kind of person, don’t feel like you have to be one for your session.
3. Matching
   No need to focus on matching everything from the color of your fuchsia headbands to the stripes in your socks.  In fact, I beg of you, please, please don’t.  If you’re heart is set on everyone in white button downs and khaki pants, I’m probably not your girl.
4. Stressful
   No need to worry about each and every item, or fret about the suitability of each accessory.  This is supposed to be fun.   If you’re unsure – call me, and together, we’ll make sure you look fabulous.  I promise.

I want you to be happy, thrilled, over the moon about your images, and I know that this is much more likely if we take the time and work together to help you choose clothing that fits these few simple rules:

Feels Good.
During your shoot you could be sitting in a pile on the grass having a tickle battle, rolling down a hill with your fiancé, throwing your kiddos in the air or climbing a tree. Wear clothing that lets you do all that (and more) comfortably.

As for the kids? Well…uncomfortable kids have a tendency to look…uncomfortable, and are often cranky to boot. Happy kids make for happy pictures.

Bottom Line: Don’t choose outfits that make any of you feel constrained, stiff, itchy, scratchy, like you’re dressed up for Halloween, or that leave you with a nagging worry that a button might pop if you bend the wrong way. Trust me.

Looks Good.
This can be tricky, looking good is totally subjective – right? If you’re not a Carrie Bradshaw fashionista in real life, you might want to pull in some extra help from a straight-talking friend or your trusty photographer (that would be me) who knows about such things and has plans in place to help.

Sometimes last year’s of-the-moment dress has already become hopelessly untrendy. Sometimes the current fashions just don’t look or feel like you. Sometimes outfits that look good in the mirror might not be ideally suited for photography. If you’re really looking for extra help, I can put you in touch with some incredible folks who make people look good for a living.

Bottom Line: If you don’t feel fabulous-fierce-take-on-the-world gorgeous in your outfit, you’re not going to love, love, love the end result – and I’m all about you love, love, loving the end result.

Makes Sense.
Here’s where we pull it all together. It’s not just enough that everyone look good and feel good – you’ve gotta look and feel good together AND the outfits should fit with your location and the desired mood for your portraits.

Glup. That seems like a lot, doesn’t it? (quick – revisit #4 in the top list, and remember, don’t stress).

Before you even begin figuring out your wardrobe, we’ll have an in depth consultation to narrow down what you really want for your pictures, choose the perfect location and make sure you have an understanding about how that all comes together in the finished photograph.   I’m with you every step of the way.

Bottom Line: It’s easier than it seems.Think twice about having Emma in a lace prom dress if you can’t get Tommy out of his spider man cape and favorite Star Wars pajama top. If we’re going to be running around in a park, you’ll likely not decide to wear your starched Sunday best. Hate the way stripes and plaids look together but Dad has his favorite stripped polo ready to go? Best steer mom away from her beloved family tartan. Easy-Peasy. [unless Mom is really attached to that tartan, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it).

~~~

If you’re still not certain, and you can’t decide between the yellow wrap dress with your red heels or your dark skinny jeans and purple  belted shirt – I’ve got good news.  You don’t have to decide.   Bring lots of options.  Heck – throw your whole wardrobe into the back of the car.  When we get to the session we’ll wing it all with fabulous results.  Trust me.

Now take a deep breath.  Close your eyes.  Imagine how blow-everyone-away-fabulous-ready-for-America’s-Next-Top-Model  you’re all going to look in those pictures….

Can you see it yet?  I totally can.  OMG, you look INCREDIBLE!

I can’t wait for your session!

{Posed with permission by Jeanette LeBlanc}

How about a little education on the issue of copyright. Sounds like fun, right? Bear with me as this is going to be a bit lengthy. Go grab that coffee or diet coke now.

What is copyright?

The U.S. Constitution and the Federal Copyright Act give “copyright” protection to “authors” for their “original works,” such as photographs.

What does that mean?

Simply that the law protects the original works and gives the exclusive rights to reproduce them to the author. When the copyright has been violated, the author can pursue legal action and the offender can be held liable and fined.

So, what are the rules regarding the prints I purchased from my professional photographer?

Here are just a few examples of things that you may not do with your professional photos:

• Scan them – for any reason
• Copy them
• Reprint them
• Crop watermarks out of photos and repost them on the web
• Edit them – in any way
• Take pictures of your printed professional photos (especially with your cell phone) and post them on the web.

Well, why can’t I scan them?  The photos are of me and my family?

While the photos might be of you, they are not yours. The images belong to your professional photographer, who owns the copyright. Granted you may have purchased a print of the image, and you are encouraged to display that image and enjoy it. However, it is not at your disposal to make copies of by scanning or any other means. It’s actually against the law.

Also, most professional photographers like to maintain quality control over their work. There is a large quality difference between a scanned photo and one that your photographer creates and sizes for use on the web. We do not like to see our work all distorted and wonky because it has been scanned.

What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that your professional photographer works extremely hard at creating the beautiful images that you see. Everything from lighting, posing and post-processing goes into one single image. In that regard, your photographer will price their work to maintain a profitable business. When clients start scanning images and reprinting at home or worse, local one-hour labs, they have basically stolen the ability for the photographer to make a profit from that image. Since selling their artwork is how photographers earn a living, it tends to make us unhappy when clients steal images from us.

Aunt Susie saw my photo and just wants to have one little copy of it. Now what?

Great! Your photographer will be thrilled to help you get one little copy of that photo for Aunt Susie. It’s always a great thing to hear that your family and friends love our work!

I bought the disc with the printing rights. What can’t I do with these images?

On the print release form, there will be instructions on what you can and cannot do with the images contained on the disc. However, just for the sake of education, I’ll give you a quickie list of those things.

Things you can do:

• make prints for personal use
• make greeting cards for personal use
• make photo books or photo gifts for personal use
• upload the images in the WEB folder onto the web to share with your family and friends (however, please do not remove the watermark)

Things you cannot do:

• enter the photos into contests – nope, not even those “cute baby” contests
• post full-size non-watermarked images on the web
• alter the images – part of your photography experience with your professional photographer will include the photographer’s time and talent in editing/processing your images. If you do not like the style in which your images were processed, it might be time to look for a different photographer. I’m just sayin’.

What about the images on your blog and facebook?

The images on my blog are meant to be enjoyed and viewed. If you would like to share the images on my blog, please do so. All you have to do is share the link (URL) with your family and friends. Or, you can simply find share buttons at the bottom of each post and share them anywhere you’d like.

The images on facebook are also meant to be enjoyed and viewed. I welcome and encourage you to tag yourself in the images on facebook or share the link to the images. I also welcome and encourage you to use the images on facebook as your profile photo as long as you do not remove the watermark in the cropping process. To avoid removing the watermark, simply drag the cropping bars all the way to the edge of the photo. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Okay, I get it. I might have violated your copyright policy. Now what?

Hey, don’t sweat it! We all make mistakes and I’m sure that you did not intend to do so. I simply ask you to make an attempt at rectifying the situation. If you’ve scanned images and posted them on the web, please take them down. If you need a watermarked copy of the images to use on the web, please contact me immediately and we can get that taken care of.

And please, please, please… promise to never do it again! xox0

For more information on the issue of copyright, please take a moment to read through this article on photolaw.net: http://www.photolaw.net/faq.html

I am officially not taking any more sessions or orders for 2009.  A few changes will be coming in 2010.  Scheduling and your ordering process will be more streamlined.  Thank you all for making it a great year!

Jolie

The photographer still has to process those images in addition to many other things to actually complete a session.  While the session with the customer may be anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours, on the back end the photographer actually spends 5-15 hours on any particular session.

Here’s a great article that goes more in depth on custom photography costs.

(Article used with permission)

Today a friend and photographer lost her 4 year old son to h1n1. I cannot even begin to image what she and her family are going through. I do know they are in need of funds to pay for the funeral.

The paypal donate button is not working right, so if you would like to donate to Tracy & family, please send directly to Tracy at sugarlimedesigns@live.com or the memorial fund for Nate:

“The Nathen Stone Memorial Fund has been established at First Bank to help the family with expenses. Donations can be made at any First Bank Branch or can be mailed to: The Nathen Stone Memorial Fund c/o First Bank P.O. Box 1047 Crossville, TN 38557.”

Additionally, fellow designer Design by Jenn is donating 100% of her proceeds this week to the family.

(the above banner regarding Nate is from Tiffany with On the Spot Studio)

The following dates are still available for 2009. Please contact me at info@joliestarrettphotography.com for available time slots. Note that holiday card orders must be in by November 10 to ensure timely delivery to you.

October 17 (Holiday Mini Sessions)
October 24
October 25
November 7 (Holiday Mini Sessions)
November 21
November 22