These two (nuts!) are such fun and I cannot wait for the wedding! They’re kind of the definition of opposites attract – Kristin is well organized, everything is planned out, and Chris is Mr. Fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants. Kristin is (like me) a worrier – all the details have to be thought out with a plan A, B, C & D… Chris – he’s laid back and knows that it will all just work out (like my husband). It’s a great combination, and they are such such fun to be around. They compliment each other so well & it’s so sweet to see a big tough guy just totally smitten & in love.

I had a great time taking them out to beautiful Rosemary Beach, which always makes me hungry because it’s filled with… well… Rosemary!  It is as beautiful as it smells, and sits right along 30-A past Destin, past Seaside, past Alys Beach.  In fact, it’s at the very end of Hwy 30-A just before Panama City Beach & Carillon Beach.  It’s beautiful, very relaxed, and has this awesome Mediterranean beach feel all while being a little bit artsy.

Ok, I’m yapping as usual – so on with the sneak preview huh!?

By the way, when posting this photo, I feel obligated to let everyone know that they both have mad hoola-hoop skills.  Something I do NOT have! lol.  And by the way, if you’re ever out at Rosemary Beach or even just touring 30-A, you have to stop by this little toy store, there’s also an awesome little kids clothing shop which I’m totally addicted to – and the Cowgirl Cafe with the most amazing white chicken chili!

And no kidding – are these not the most awesome icy blue eyes?

And this is hilarious, here is Chris… being Chris lol:

(I have a feeling that’s exactly what made Kristin fall in love though )

And of course… the video!

Kristin & Chris from Bella Vita Photography on Vimeo.

So… I thought since we are approaching one of my busiest times of year – wonderful fall wedding season – that I would quote a wonderful article by a group of photographers, Shawn, Pamela & Gavin Richter, about WHY professional photographers cost so much.  It’s been quoted and referenced by numerous wedding & portrait photographers, and in the world of portrait photographers is widely known & seen in wedding photographers forums & in circles of professional photographers.  It’s nothing new – we can recognize the face of sticker shock when we see it – and it’s not unusual for the very next bride to hear the same price & breathe a sigh of relief that it isn’t *quite* as high as she’d feared.  What a contrast!

So for your reading pleasure… WHY are professional photographers (especially wedding photographers) so expensive?

In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home “photo printers”, when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time – How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 for an 8×10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store?

Here’s why.Simply put, you’re not just paying for the actual photograph, you’re paying for time and expertise.

First, let’s look at the actual time involved. If you don’t read this entire page, at least read this first part.

For a two hour portrait session:- one hour of travel to and from the session
- two hours of shooting- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 – 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive- 3 – 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs- 2
- 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex.
- For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours.You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.For an eight hour wedding:

- I won’t bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour.Now for the expertise.Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc.

And let’s not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera – and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself.

Think of it this way – the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional.What about the cheap studios at the mall? Please don’t compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won’t come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for.

The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you’ll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you’re there, you’ll also spend $200 on other things. They don’t have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door.

Conclusion
We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store.

And soon… I’ll be blogging a little about what the *real* differences are in professionally printed images vs. your local lab like at Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, etc… with hard core proof!
Angela

Just last night we attended the World’s Greatest Baby Shower on Okaloosa Island & what a BLAST we had! Bad, Bad Photographer, I didn’t get ANY pictures of our booth or of all the hard work we put into it, but that’s ok because we were absolutely slammed most of the night taking belly pics of moms! Luckily, I love pregnant bellies, cause I sure got to see a whole lot of them last night! Big, small, you name it. One really really freaky thing though – I bet 90% of them were having boys! I bet for an hour STRAIGHT we didn’t put away the “Baby Boy” ribbon! But, we also got some babies through there too & got to take some really cute pictures of them too! We had a great time, got to see a lot of other folks like the nurses from Dr. Hennessy’s office, Dr. Stoneking, Dr. Sarah Leatherman, and of course all the great folks from Healthy Start who put on the great show.
BY THE WAY – GREAT improvement from last year! The layout was so much easier for mom’s to navigate through. And I definitely think that the whole “photo booth” concept is here to stay for the World’s Greatest Baby Shower. Its a great fun thing for the moms, and I don’t have to stand around all night chit chatting, I get to move around & do what I love to do – TAKE PICTURES!

Speaking of pictures – the shots will be up soon – VERY SOON! So any ladies that are looking for their pictures, hopefully they’ll be up by Sunday evening. Keep an eye out & post a shout out here if you’d like!

I’m sending out a newsletter, but this is just to let everyone ELSE in the world know!

I’ve decided to take on a limited number of portrait sessions to submit in the 2008 Miller’s Baby & Child Portrait contest. The rules are pretty simple & the prizes are pretty sweet! So all of you that have spawned some cute little kids, nows the time to get the portraits you’ve all been putting off! Those little cuties could be worth up to $5,000! (I’ve been telling mine for some time now they need to get a job! I guess this is it!).

Only one picture from each session can be included (those aren’t MY rules, that’s THEIRS!), so if you want more than one submitted, then go ahead and book more than one! But just keep in mind, I am limiting my sessions pretty strictly because of the submission deadlines!

So – you want more details? The down & dirty is this: there are 4 categories: Color, Black & White/Sepia, Special Needs, and Humorous. There are two submission deadlines left: May 21 and June 21. So that means my last session I take will probably be June 15. Currently I’m only booking evenings & weekends, but don’t worry – I am taking them in my house, or at yours with my portable studio set up, and also on location (you pick the place!). We’re fortunate enough to live in one of the most beautiful places on the Earth, so I say we take advantage of that for this!

And finally, I’m offering special sessions for $75 (usually $100). In addition you get 10% off your prints (online ordering & viewing of course available), and a free storyboard/collage design using the photos from our session! Things are booking up quick, though, and I am ONLY going to allow a set number of sessions! I cannot stress this enough! So let’s get this thing rolling, shall we?!  Book your child’s portrait session now, they can be done on location in Okaloosa, Walton or Santa Rosa County:  in Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Rosemary Beach, Grayton Beach, Seaside, Niceville, anywhere along the Emerald Coast!

(and for the official low down, visit Miller’s.)

Well, with it being Womens History month and all (yes, it’s March already), I decided its a good opportunity to announce that I am a partner photographer (one of only 3 in the local Destin, Walton, and Okaloosa county area!) with “Think Pink”!!!  Its a great program for portrait photographers!

So… what is Think Pink?!

Think Pink is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting individuals and families who have been touched by breast cancer. From the THINK PINK website itself:

Think Pink Session
Through our photographer network, we are helping breast cancer survivors and their supporters to celebrate life with charitable photography sessions.

Any individual that has been diagnosed with breast cancer or completed treatment within the past 12 months qualifies for a Think Pink Session. Sessions are available to document the fight before or during treatment or to celebrate the victory when treatment is completed.

Clients will receive a complimentary session, (20) small prints, and a discount off additional print orders.

This is really an awesome program and I am very excited to be a part of it! I’ve been involved in helping the American Cancer Society for the past few years, particularly with their Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk (MSABC) held each October.

So if you know someone who has been touched by breast cancer, please do let them know about this wonderful program! Hopefully it will give families and individuals something to really hold onto and be proud of.

And of course, my little personal “factoid”: Did you know that breastfeeding is one of the single most important things you can do in your lifetime to reduce your risk of breast cancer, that will have the MOST significant impact on reducing your risk of breast cancer… not to mention various other cancers & diseases!? And if you breastfeed your daughter, you also reduce her risk! Breastfeed to help cut your risk of cancer in HALF! (And a special hello to my fellow LLL‘ers!)

This is down a neat little path up here in Crestview with an awesome creek. It almost looks artificial it is so perfect, but I assure you – this is the “real thing” – a “true” little fishing hole. Perfect for first time fisherman!