First year baby book in Salem MA

Well Miss Sophia and I had another wonderful photography session. this is number two for her with one more due around her birthday party in August. If you missed my earlier description of this first year book it includes three sessions in your home and at the end of the year you receive a hard back 20 page book that I design from your favorite images. (Ok the AD is over) Mis Sophia as you see here had just gotten up from her nap and a quick bite to eat... She has two teeth coming in so I do mean a BITE... Ouch... :-)
I brought along a big floppy Easter hat and some bunny ears and she seemed quite happy to model these items but the hat seemed to be her favorite. She tasted it and deemed it to be delicious. All to soon the session was over and she motored down the hallway to see what trouble interesting things she could find... The next session will be the last unless her parents decide to add another session over the summer (only $45) and then the hard part. They have to pick the images that they want to get into the book.

If you are interested in my first year baby book, you can click on this link and read over the options in this package.
Jeff Folger

I just downloaded Adobe's new beta for Lightroom and I just loaded my current wedding from last weekend and I just have one word.. WOW!!! I've been going through the tools in the development module and they added a new one (haha just one right) Uh.. have you downloaded it yet? you really need to work through this with me... I'll wait while you go get it... Ok I can see that you're back.
Well if you don't want to take a chance on a beta, let me tell you I have only tried a few features in the develop module.
Get this... look at the picture and under the histogram you will see four new tools. (expand the picture I've included) The first three were there but under the working window. The new tool is is the 4th one on the right. You click on it and the menu options expand below it. You now have the ability to paint in an exposure mask to your image. You can be real selective with the amount of the exposure and you can feather it.. I may never have to go back into photoshop again. This is the coolest improvement I've ever seen!
Uh, you can probably tell that I LOVE this addition to LR... You'd be right.. I'll let you know if any other changes are as good as this... I haven't even looked at the preview/web or print sections yet. Stay tuned and I'll see if there are any more cool changes in the beta.

Jeff

Disenfranchised Brides on the North shore

I read this in a professional photography magazine, (no I don't use words like this normally). And last night on Craigslist in the wedding forum several past brides admitted to having received their CD of images and it was now gathering dust in a drawer. Does this sound familiar to you or someone you know? Then they are disenfranchised!

I found out recently that this applies to Bar/Bat Mitzvahs also. I had a referral come to me and the mother admitted that over three years ago her older son had his Bar Mitzvah and all the pictures were still sitting in the closet gathering dust. Then she picks the package that includes a nice leather, digital flush mount album. Now she has to deal with the problem that she doesn't have one for the older son and how that looks to him. All because we think we'll have time down the road to be creative. What happened? Life happened, that's what. Work, kids, husband and friends to name a few.

Today too many photographers take the easy route and miss out on opportunities to have closure with their clients. I too have clients from this year who probably feel they have all the time in the world to create their own personalized albums. I won't say they don't but I wonder how many have the time, after dealing with their home projects, finish a day at work and all the multitudes of things that subtract time from your day, how many pull out the cd and start ordering prints for that Michaels/AC Moore $25.00 album?

What I try to do is keep the cost of an album reasonable and not holding the client hostage with prices that are up with the national debt. I use both digital flush mount and coffee table/magazine style albums that appeal to many couples in today's marketplace. Whether you come to me for a professional album or go to an online book maker and have them design one for you (there are some on the knot) These designers have many albums to pick from and it's a fairly easy process to complete that day which is often termed the most important day of your life. Yet if it was so important why do you have no physical testament to that day?

Salem MA Wedding Photographer is offering Military a deal!!

I would like to offer to any active duty service member (service doesn't matter but I'm assuming Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard) and either before or after they return from any hostile fire zone. (Iraq/Afghanistan)

I just started my photography business last year and I shoot mostly weddings and portraits. Check my work here and what I'd like to do is offer a free session in your home and one 8x10 print with two 5x7s. You can choose up to three different pictures or you can have the prints be all the same, your choice. Also I will email to you those same pictures so you can have them on your computer and send to friends

Now you may be asking why I would give this away? Well to keep this short I'm a retired MSgt (AF) and I feel I need to give something back to the men and women who came after me and I want them to know how much their service means to those of us that went before them.

Also of importance is that this is for the service members in the Salem Massachusetts area to include the North Shore of Cape Ann also. If your are not sure please feel free to use the contact form and let me know where you are.

I'm doing this up until May 2008 and after that it will be on a case by case basis. I'm also doing this now because I'm in my slow period until my weddings start up again next spring. I'm not making anything from this and if you have any questions please fill out the contact form (link is at the top of the blog page). I don't want to be spammed to death so I can't put my email in the blog so I hope you'll use the contact form.

USAF MSgt (ret)

military

First year album

One thing I've noticed on different forums and professional sites is that the late fall, winter and early spring are a photographers slooooow periods. In an effort to fight that I talked to Donna and Mike who I met at a craft fair in Marblehead. Donna said she was thinking about having a maternity session but hadn't found someone until I walked up.

I decided to create a photobook that would capture three sessions. a few weeks after mom and the child come home, around six months and then about the first birthday. I priced this at $295 and they receive the three sessions, all the photos online in their personal gallery and at the end they will get a hard cover 8x10 book with 20 pages (40 sides) designed by my wife.

This first method will be limited to seeing how word of mouth goes but I want to print several different books both soft cover and hard with different price ranges and let these be ordered at a minimal cost to the parents. Then as these get passed out as gifts they will show it to all their friends. The only problem that I see is, where to bring in some income for me. How do I make it affordable for parents and still make a profit... I guess this is why they call it a business.. :-)

Jeff Folger at Vistaphotography

Salem MA Wedding Photographer is Vistaphotography

I've been having withdrawals after finishing my fall blogging this year over on Yankee Magazines fall foliage website, so I'm trying one of my own.

This blog will combine more of my business activities with my art. I'm a artist; who photographs weddings and family lifestyle portraits to pay the bills.

Believe it or not, the two aren't mutually exclusive since I find great satisfaction as an artist while I'm capturing a brides special day or the look in a child's eyes when they've just found something new in their world.

I am exploring less formal Lifestyle portraits of children and families. I've never liked rigid formal pictures and this is a artistic way of capturing a moment in someones life. I'm not trying to lessen the importance of the photo of a child (or adult) [singlepic=34,100,200,right]but to more accurately record the way they were at this point in time.

I want to create an image that will resonate with loved ones for years to come.

fall foliage
Technorati Profile