It was a PERFECT day for golf!  Though not a golfer, I did enjoy meeting everyone in support of Children’s Hospital.

Want to check out some pictures?  Visit: http://photos.taylorandtillett.com/lindarose2012

Today is a sad memory in my life history.  A year ago today I lost my nearest and dearest friend ever.  He was the kindest most gentle soul anyone ever knew.  His big brown eyes made even the worst days just melt away.  He was a true confidante through a very rough patch five years ago, always smiling and nodding and never interjecting a word of opinion.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of my Dahmer.  Sometimes it’s the stupid little things, like when I chop off the top and bottom of a fresh zucchini and I miss tossing them to him.  He was a garbage disposal, eating nearly everything (though not a fan of A-1).  Other times it’s when I’m at my lowest and need a good Dahmer kiss, and he just isn’t there to give me one.  They’re both equally rough.  The world is a better place because he existed.  I am a better person because he existed.  And now the heavens and the stars are a better place because he joined them.

My very first wedding, at the cost of just a 1GB memory card:

It’s amazing how things have changed.  I’ve upgraded my camera twice (but never made the mistake of switching to Nikon!).  I’ve changed many many things in my personal life (as have the bride & groom pictured here).  Six, almost seven years, is a really long time.

I’ve been re-backing up my images to a huge portable hard-drive (it will fit quite nicely into my fire proof safe, ensuring the loss of no images ever!) and in doing so have been reminded of all of the weddings I’ve photographed over the years.  Here is another snippet of one I’m proud to share.

We played Beyblades tonight. If you don’t have a son/grandson aged 5-12, then you don’t know that they are “really cool tops that have zipcords that you pull and they spin really fast”. It was a nice evening.

This is our sweet Cannoli. We took her as a foster from the Humane Society of Calvert County 7 weeks ago. We have officially adopted her now. She eats everything, including the kids. She jumps on the furniture and tears it. She doesn’t come when called. We can’t imagine loving her more.

I hadn’t taken still shots for a listing for a real estate agent in quite some time! Very pleased with the results, and this home will sell quick.

http://photos.taylorandtillett.com/judgementpl
pass: 16605coyne

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
Oh, as photographers, we are plagued with this question far too regularly…

This article has been very well received by the photography community, and is published in the December 2009 edition of Professional Photographer Magazine.

In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home “photo printers,” we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers charge $X for an 8×10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drugstore? Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the actual photograph; they’re paying for time and expertise. EXPERIENCE IS INVALUABLE.

The average one-hour portrait session

First, let’s look at the actual work involved:

Initial consult (phone, email, or personal)
Travel to the session
Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc.
Shoot the photos
Travel from the session
Load images onto a computer
Back up the files on an external drive
2 – 4 hours of Adobe® Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered.
2 – 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship.
Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average 2 hours.

You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish. So when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.

The eight-hour wedding

A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And it’s not uncommon to end up with 1,000 – 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved. Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!

(Don’t forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)

The expertise and cost of doing business

Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though a DSLR now costs under $1,000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, etc. And don’t forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!

In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.

The chain store photo studio

Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.

Consider the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don’t have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos…and while there, spending $200 on other items. They are there to get you in the door.

The real deal

Professional, personal photographers are just that—professionals. No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.

Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair of scissors costs $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.

The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.

Easter was just plain awesome and I wanted to share some of my personal photos from the day.

My beautiful family.

Eldest goofball son

Youngest son, in the outfit he chose for himself

With my siblings

And the sweetest one of the day, Thurston and Daddy:

I loved finding this great shot of my eldest son 7 years ago, fast asleep.

He looks so much like my (almost) middle son:

[please excuse the quality of picture #2 as it is a cell-phone-snappy]