On Sunday afternoon (amidst the complete chaos that was this past Sunday) I met up with a few families for some shoots.
First up were cousins Abby & Brian. Abby & Molly have gone to Kanakuk together for the past few years and Molly, being the awesome little recruiter she is, told Abby about me being a photographer and living in St. Louis. Abby contacted me this summer to get the ball rolling and also wanted to know if it was possible for her and her cousin to split my larger senior package. I agreed :-) Normally I really don’t allow people to split packages- especially with kids or families- because it always ends up that one kid is more cooperative than the other and I end up getting more usable pictures from that cooperative kid and not near as many from the other…but both clients pay the same price because they’re splitting the package. SO- keep that in mind if you and a friend are thinking about splitting a packge….sometimes it’s worth it and sometimes it’s not.
ANYWAY- obviously Abby & Brian were both cooperative :-) We did part of their shoot in Tower Grove Park (I’m not an anti-park photographer) and the other half we did in some random lot off Kingshighway! Their shoot was too much fun and both them and their mom’s were super sweet. I think they turned out GORGEOUS and handsome of course :-) THANK YOU MOLLY FOR BEING MY ASSISTANT!!!
Enjoy your sneak peek guys!
Later that afternoon I met up this lovely family. Holly (the one in the purple) used to work with my sister Sara and she contacted me about doing a big family shoot with her, her siblings, the kids & her mom. We did big family pictures, individual family pictures, couple pictures, some quick baby pictures, 2 year pictures, etc. Lot’s of milestone pictures :-) They figured this was their chance to try and fit them all in.
Holly- I’m going to use your shoot as an example. You don’t mind do you? Good, great :-)
Sometimes it’s possible to git all those pictures into one large shoot and sometimes it’s not….it all depends on how long the kids (and the men….men are always ridiculous when it comes to pictures…at least most men are) will last and whether or not their in a good mood that day. We lucked out big time with this group. We got any pictures that involved the boys done and out of the way at the beginning (it’s football season- they needed to get back to their TV’s) and we were able to keep the kids semi-happy until the end. We just barely made it, hahahah! But we made it and that’s all that matters :-)
So again- something to think about. Do you want to try and fit it all into one shoot and risk having some unhappy campers or do you want to spread it out over a few mini shoots?? Like I said- sometimes it can work (as it did for this group) but sometimes it’s just not gonna happen. I should probably come up with some sort of rule or policy regarding the issue, but you never know how a group will do. Sometimes I think, “oh yeah- they will be totally fine together. We will definitely be able to get all that done!” and then it goes the exact opposite direction, the kids want nothing to do with each other, one group get’s crabby before I’m able to get to them, it get’s super hot, etc…..THEN I will say, “I really don’t think we should do their pictures together. Kids typically don’t do well in a group picture setting, they usually do better one on one” and that’s when the kids are complete rock stars, stay happy the whole time and do what I ask. You really never know.
SO rather than making a rule or policy over the issue, I’m just going to go with the whole “do you want to risk it or not? you know your kids better than I do.” Sound good?
Like I said, this family ended up doing just fine, but you can easily see where it could have gone down hill, right? We did it and they got bunches of awesome pictures-granted we were all exhausted by the end- but they still got their pictures :-)
Thanks for putting up with me for hours and enjoy your sneak peek!!!
So…..you know how I was supposed to have my week of solid editing (no shoots)….well it’s now Thursday and I’m finally getting my first full day of editing. ugh! It will be a stinkin’ Christmas miracle if I get caught up…seriously. BIG, MASSIVE THANK YOU’s to all my clients who are patiently waiting for their pictures- you all keep me sane. Sooooo thankful for understanding people :-)
If I don’t answer my phone for the next 24 hours- don’t be alarmed and don’t think I hate you- I’m just editing and I will be much more pleasant to talk to once I’m caught up.
Happy Thursday!
OH- Before I forget- here are some random things:
1-I will be in Columbia & Jeff City this Sunday doing shoots. Jeff City in the AM & Columbia in the Afternoon. Spots are very limited on this one- so act fast.
2-I will be in the Overland Park area the weekend of Sept. 24-26th. Shoots are open for Saturday & Sunday.
3- I’m thinking about setting up a price list for additional edits. I’ve had a few people request different things done to their pictures after I edit them. I don’t mind the whole editing a fly-away hair, getting rid of a pimple, editing out a person in the background, etc. I don’t mind do any of those things and I typically do try and do them before I give you your pictures, but I have missed a thing are two here and there. That stuff I wouldn’t charge for. I’m talking about things like somehow magically making you look skinnier, selective color, swapping heads from picture to picture, whitening your teeth, etc. Stuff like that. All that stuff just adds on more time to my editing turn around time, even though most of it is stuff that is not a result of my photography skills. I know majority of photographs have a separate price list for additional edits and I think I’m going to start it. Thoughts? On the other hand- I know lots of photographers that won’t even allow additional edits. The final picture outcome is their call- they’re the “artist” and it’s their work. No additional edits are made.
I’m so on the fence about the whole thing. Part of me just wants to scream THAT’S WHAT YOU LOOK and tell them to learn to accept themselves….then the other half of me understands that it’s the mindset of this photoshopped crazed, model look obsessed (even they’re photoshopped to a unrecognizable point) what you see is not what you get world we live in now. You get this super photoshopped, unrealistic 36×24 print of your family, you look ah-mazing in it. Your friend comes over to your house- see’s the picture, see’s that you look like a super model and then she feels like crap about herself because she can’t seem to lose that 10 lbs, her skin is not that smooth, her eye’s aren’t that bright, etc. What she doesn’t know is that you are the exact same way- you just erased it all….rather than learning to be happy with who you are. Now she is unhappy with herself and the cycle just continues….one photoshopped picture at a time. Everyone beats themselves up over it because they’re all comparing themselves to these unrealistic pictures. Should I even feed into this whole “photoshopped crazed” stage??
oh man- that was a tangent. I guess it didn’t really bother me as much then as it does now, now that I’m so passionate about photographing people as they are. It just makes me sad when they don’t see what I see when I look through my camera and get so nit picky about every single little thing. Either change it in real life or accept it.
4- yes, one last thing :-) I will be doing a Christmas Card package this year and it will be announced next week!
Wow- that was one of those “get things off your chest” posts. I’ll probably be getting a phone call from my mom :-) Now everyone is going to be afraid to ask me to do ANYTHING to their pictures- which is not what I want. I just want people to sit and think about it first. Encourage the unrealistic look or encourage acceptance?
Holly Foley says
Lissy-they are darling! You captured some precious moments! Can’t wait to see the others!!! Wait until my husband’s family sees these! He is one of eight and you will be booked solid for a few months with them alone!!!
Sara says
I love both sets. The seniors look great! They look so fresh and cheerful which is nice compared to the dark and trashy pictures you see for seniors so often now. I like the spot under the bridge. Holly’s family looks wonderful also. I can’t believe how big her kiddo’s are getting and the ones of Gracie and Holly’s little niece making kissy faces and lying on the blanket are so sweet!!!! By the way – I was wondering if you could get rid of my double chins in our next family picture! HAHAHAHAHA! Just kidding (but not really – I hate my double chins but surgery is expensive and painful!)
Mindi says
LOVED the tangent. I agree 100% !!!
Mom says
So, do you feel better now? Good…now, onto the pictures, I agree with Sara, the senior pictures are great!
Abby and her cousin Brian look as though they are enjoying their senior year – very refreshing!! And of course, I love the family pictures. The little ones are so cute but my absolute favorite is the B&W of the two little ones laying on the blanket. I can almost hear the giggles.
Andrew says
Jeez Lis, I just wanted my nose hairs shopped out, or my nose straightened, or mole removed, or a digital plucking of my unibrow. You didn’t mind the editing when you removed my eyebrows, gave Ali a unibrow, and a yellow set of choppers with a missing tooth, me a fumanchu… Wasn’t that pic w/ one of your original posts? Didn’t one of the kids start crying when they saw it?
Sitting in a Probate CLE. It is as dry as it sounds. Attorney jokes are great – attorneys trying to tell probate jokes is not so great.
Mom says
I forgot to mention that I love the picture of Grandma with all her Grandbabies….it makes me smile!
It also makes me smile when I realize that you have been listening to me all these years – be happy with who you are!
Jen says
As Billy Joel would say – Don’t go changin’ to try to please me, I love you just the way you are!!!!
Tiffany Athon says
wow im scared to ask you anything now!
Kathy says
I completely get what you’re saying – reasonable requests will be considered; all others should not even be voiced!!! We love ya!