Playtime…still coming!
We’ve decided to push our Playtime Sessions into the middle of April to avoid our still uncooperative weather.
If you are interested in having a Playtime Session in your prom dress, give ElizaBeth a call at the studio.
Down the road
We went to Albert Lea, MN this week and gave a program about our studio and projection sales to the Cornbelt PPA Guild.
It was fun showing other photographers some of fix up project that we’ve done to the studio the past few years…like the removal of the old cement steps and the replacement of the front door.
Again, it seems that winter will never leave: we drove most of the way home from Albert Lea in snow.
Julie & Mark: “You guys rock!”
We went to Peace Lutheran in Sioux Falls for Mark and Julie’s wedding today. It was a small family affair which is different than our normal Saturday routine.
When we finished the slideshow of the wedding day at the reception, Mark exclaimed, “You guys rock!”
It’s nice to be appreciated. If you are interested in a slideshow at your reception, please give us a call.
Andy – outside
We went to Andy’s house and finished his outdoor portraits up.
We tried to get Andy with his tractor but below zero temps forced us to reschedule. It’s not supposed to be below zero in March!
Seth
Seth came in with his siblings for a session this week.
Seth was a typical little boy, not wanting to sit still for anything. ElizaBeth was up to the challenge though. She worked her magic and it wasn’t long before Seth settled down for a few minutes.
Skylar and Mom
Skylar came with Mom for her maternity session earlier this month. Last night Mom came and picked up her wall portraits. Dad’s going to be surprised!
The dumpster came!
We’ve been wanting to redo/cleanup the basement for a very long time, but it’s one of those projects that gets put off until you have no choice. Justin has been pushing us to get a dumpster all winter so he could start at it.
OK Justin, it’s here. Go for it.
Unfortunely we can’t turn Justin loose without a little direction. Everything that we didn’t have a place for upstairs, went into the basement…for the last 13 years. We have a few things to go through.
Justin made significant headway on Saturday afternoon, knocking down the old wallboard. All of this has to go up the steps and out the back door to the dumpster. This is where the old stove sat. It was huge: two full-size ovens, 6 burners and a griddle on top.
After Justin clears out everything, we’ll have another 1400-1500 square feet to play with. We will be building a few sets with a warehouse feel to it for seniors.
Keilah…It’s Easter
Happy Easter! It’s a day of hope and a day for family. Like most Sundays, we are closed. We’ll be back tomorrow morning.
We cut a telephone wire by accident in the basement while removing the old stove. We will have it spliced back together tomorrow morning. The phone still works in the studio but doesn’t ring in the house right now.
Keilah came to see us yesterday afternoon along with the rest of her extended family. ElizaBeth is fantastic at getting babies to smile.
We are lucky because we can do large family groups inside. Since our studio is an old church, there is plenty of room for everyone. We’ve done groups of up to 40 people inside. We have places for large groups outside as well.
Addison’s newborn session
Casey and Kari brought their new bundle of joy Addison to see us today.
Addison was alert most of the time she was here…except for a little while when she was in her daddy’s arms.
The stove in the basement
It only took us 13 years, but we finally removed the old church stove from the basement. Today we realized why we had not taken it out sooner.
Justin and Hailey came this afternoon to help Mike with the great basement cleanup project. We got rid of old cupboards first. The stove was next. It was HEAVY…really heavy. The stove made it halfway up the stairway before getting stuck. We finally loaded it on the trailer for the trip to the recycler. Note the cool rust textures.
The old fuel oil tank went away too.
So we will be working off and on over the next few weeks to finish cleaning the basement and start on building our new sets for senior sessions this summer.
Brian’s announcement card
Brian’s sales session was tonight. He loved the card that EizaBeth designed for him.
Pat Prostrollo honored
Tonight’s edition of the Madison Daily Leader had the back page honoring Pat Prostrollo of Madison as Dealer of the Year by Time magazine. Pat came to our studio a while back for a business portrait – the same image that was used in the Madison paper.
Congratulation’s Pat.
On the road
Today we headed south of Hurley to Todd Buckstead’s studio for a training session on our new album creation software. Todd has a very cool studio in a barn. Everything inside is very nice. It’s very cool to see an old building repurposed instead of tore down.
After going 80 miles south in the morning, we headed the opposite direction in the late afternoon. We gave a program at the Southwest Minnesota Photographers Guild in Marshall. We spoke on senior marketing. It’s always fun to share with other photographers.
Playtime Sessions coming soon…
Cold weather has delayed our Playtime Sessions this Spring. Cold, snow and prom dresses don’t mix well. As soon as it warms up a bit more we’ll be showing you more.
Lindsay & Travis engagement
Lindsay and Travis came for their engagement session today. This is the image for their signature mat.
Brian
Brian came for his senior session today. It’s turned a bit warmer than the deep freeze of last week.
I used the high speed flash technique that I learned from Mike Fulton at the NL Winter Seminar. This allows us to get an image in bright sunlight that has shallow deep of field, isolating the subject from the background.
Andy
We are still busy with senior sessions. Andy came last friday morning. It was very cold.
Andy brought his favorite John Deere tractor for outside pictures. Because of the 10 degree below zero temperatures, we put off tractor pictures until it decides to warm up more.
Trade Show
One of the best parts of photography seminars and conventions is the trade show.
Vendors show off the lastest products from labs, sotware companies, camera makers and background designers.
We made some acquisitions that will make us much more efficient this year.
NL Winter Seminar
The NL Winter Seminar started out today.
Mike Fulton taught us the basics of high speed sync, infrared triggered, off camera flash with Nikon and Canon camera systems.
Chad Phillips and I played around during Ron Jacobson’s program on creativity.
Selling by projection
Selling by projection is a hot-button topic among photographers.
Traditionally, photographers have used proofs to sell their images to customers. The era of the film photographer is mostly dead and gone. We don’t have to wait any more for the film to be developed and the proofs to come back from the lab. Digital capture has changed everything and has added new options.
We’ve been selling by projection only for 4 years for everything except weddings. Most sales occur right after we finish taking pictures. We shoot, download and sell all in one session. This allows us for you to pick out your images right away saving you valuable time. With children’s sessions, we let the kids play with the toys while Mom and Dad review the images. Many times we do a second set of images as the kids relax and become more comfortable. For reunions, everyone can pick out their favorites right away, order their prints and write the check. We regularly to our projector and laptop out of the studio for onlocation family reunions.
With seniors, we pretouch all of the images before the sale so we do schedule a separate session for viewing the images.
The actual process is simple. We go through the images and get rid of the obvious bad pictures and then we put them up side by side to compare. In very little time, we help you get it down to the very best of each pose. We also can create composite images for wall portraits right away.
More Birthday Magnets
As part of our Birthday Club, we do a free session and you get a complimentary magnet.
Carter turned 4 about the same time as his cousin Brayden celebrated his first birthday.
Ainsley’s Baby Plan Panel
Here’s Ainsley’s one year Baby Plan panel. We know Mom and Dad want to see it.
Dillon’s magnet and bagtag
Dillon’s bag used to look just like everyone else’s. Now Mom can find her son’s bag right away thanks to a new custom bagtag.
Another cool magnet to show off…
Announcement card time!
Please send in your announcement card flyer with any changes you may have so we can get your cards printed.
Graduation is coming up fast.
Shelby’s Art Poster
One week to Mike Fulton!
I just wanted to remind all the photographers that read the blog that we are only one week away from the NL Winter Seminar hosted by the SDPPA. I’ll be there organizing everything for the speaker and handling A/V needs.
Besides Mike Fulton, we have Ron Jacobson with a program on creativity.
You’ll find the registration form on the SDPPA website.
Trade show and registration start next sunday March 9th at 10 am at the Sioux Falls Downtown Holiday Inn. THe seminar contiues all day sunday and ends monday afternoon at 3 pm.
