My Year in the Life Package includes 4 sessions spaced throughout the year to follow the growth, development and changes of a little one (and often include the pregnancy images as well) and a beautiful custom designed album to showcase all of your favorites from the year. What a perfect way to preserve that first year that goes so fast and is so fleeting. Now, if I can just complete albums for my own kids… :-)

Hello blog readers! This is Kelly Gill, Jennifer’s studio assistant, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to her blog. I am going to dive into today’s post with a confession: I have a bit of a totally appropriate and professional crush on Jennifer.  Monday mornings are always better because I know I get to head over to her office, share some coffee talk with her, commiserate about the perils of motherhood (as well as share the joys, of course!) and then delve into her world as a photographer. The joy, sweetness and poignancy of her photographs always take me on a journey that I look forward to and if you are reading this blog, we already have something in common- we adore this gal and her images!

Since Jennifer is offering mini- portrait sessions on April 24th, I thought I would pass on some portrait planning tips:

Tip #1: Don’t forget about wardrobe for the adults. I know many parents (and let’s face it, I’m really talking to the moms on this one) who spend hours agonizing over the outfits for the kids and then are left with what for themselves? A faded black shirt? The not-so-perfect necklace? You are going to scrutinize yourself in these pictures so make sure you are wearing something that gives you that little spring in your step, but something that moves easily and that you feel good in. You will be much happier with the end result. (I’ll be sharing some fun ideas for clothing here next week, so stay tuned…)

Tip #2: Shed the stress. I know how it goes the day of a shoot: the clothes need to be ironed AGAIN, your hair won’t cooperate, child #1 is feeling ornery, you get into a spat with significant other, and then you almost run out of gas on the way to the photo shoot. Photo shoots are stressful for parents, simply put. But try, try, try to forget all that and start the session with a deep breath. Look at your beautiful family and try appreciate the moment. Your pictures will show your happiness and love for your family — or your stress and tension. And remember that you won’t have to really think about any of this again for another year or so :-)

Tip #3: Be prepared, but manage your expectations (for your kids). I actually went to a shoot once at 9AM without feeding my children breakfast and without a snack stash. Hello catastrophe! Here is what I must pass on to you: bring water for everyone, snacks to bribe your kids (yes, we all do it, stop beating yourself up about it), and toys or lovies to comfort the kiddos. Jennifer is fully aware that a child’s threshold for “behaving” in photo shoots is roughly 15 minutes and she is an expert at going with the flow. Lower your expectations and go with the flow too. Logically, we know that firmly demanding (i.e., yelling through clinched teeth) that your child sit still, smile and be charming doesn’t work, yet our emotions get in the way and we just want it all to be perfect. If you let the kids do their thing, Jennifer will do hers, and you will see the genuinely charming side of your family reflected in the images. Promise!

JB fans, thanks for reading my debut post! I will be back at it next week with some clothing ideas for spring and summer portrait shoots.

Spring happiness to all!

Kelly

Order ANY PRINT in ANY SIZE from your online proofing gallery (portraits or weddings) and we will throw in an extra one FREE!

Expires Sunday, April 11th @ Midnight PST

*Free print will be exact duplicate & same size of primary print(s) ordered. No limit to number of prints you can order. Offer also applies to expired galleries*

How to Order:

Login to your online gallery with the password you have been provided from any session. (*If your online proofing gallery has expired, please send us an email to jen@jenniferphotography.com with “Re-Release my Event Please” in the subject header, and your name in the body of the email and the session you would like to order from, so we can re-release your event.)

Order any prints you would like. You will receive the same number of duplicates for any print you order, of the same size. For example, if you would like 4 copies of a 5×7 print, just order two (2) of that print and you will automatically receive four (4) copies.

All prints are produced at our professional lab, are archival quality and are guaranteed to last generations. Includes professional lustre or metallic images!

If you have any questions, or need assistance, please contact the studio at 602.402.5600 or via email.

Print sale ends at midnight on April 11, 2010. Any orders placed after that will no longer qualify for the free prints.

One such couple is Jenna and Jimmy, and they are getting married later this month at the always gorgeous Royal Palms Resort & Spa in Phoenix. I recently completed their custom-designed Guest Signature Book from their engagement session images and I wanted to share.

These books provide such a nice alternative to the more traditional guest books where people simply sign their name on a line. They get to see all of your favorite engagement session images and write you nice sentiments in a professionally printed book that you can keep forever. Some couples opt to provide the questions that guests can answer and others prefer to leave some or all of the pages blank.

I use a professional lab that uses higher quality papers than you can find online with consumer sites, plus it lays completely flat, so guests don’t have to worry about funky writing angles. Plus all the books are completely custom designed by me to showcase the images from YOUR engagement session and YOU. Since no two couples are ever exactly alike, neither are engagement sessions and hence the final books.

As we mentioned a couple posts below, we are offering holiday mini sessions this year with a $25 credit that can be applied towards the cost of holiday cards. The beautiful thing about these cards is that, aside from the the turn around time being quick, they are beautiful, custom designed for you, and easy. All you have to do is address the envelopes! Why shop for cards where you have to attach the photo or bows? (Unless of course you do have the time and desire for that.)

We also offer several different paper options (prices vary), so when ordering your cards, please inquire and we’ll suggest what might work best for your budget and style.

Here are some of the details:

• The cards come in packs of 25 and are priced per pack. We do offer volume discounts for more than 100 cards, if ordered at the same time.
• Paper stocks are heavy weight and come in smooth, linen, pearlescent (heaviest weight option), fine art watercolor, or UV coated.
• The cards come with matching white envelopes.
• All cards below are shown in a 5×7 format, however any card can be retrofitted to a more custom size, such as 4×5 or 5×5.
• Any flat postcard style cards can be customized into a folded card format
• All colors, text and fonts are customizable
• They are printed by my professional photo lab, so quality is guaranteed
• Pricing starts at $68.50 per pack for flat cards and $98.50 per pack for folded cards

Here are the options for cards this year. We brought back a couple of our more popular styles from years past, and also still have last years cards available for purchase as well.

If you have any questions or would like to order your holiday cards, please inquire here.

I’ll post more images soon but wanted to share this box that just arrived!

Boxes can be added to any portrait session or wedding package. Inquire for pricing.

We live in a digital age and clients want their images electronically. Photographers understand this, but also wrestle because we care about how our images are ultimately shared or presented to others, in addition to protecting our copyrights. We also hope that our clients will put some images up on their walls or into frames so they don’t just sit on a computer somewhere. As someone who takes thousands of pictures of my kids, do you realize how long my images sit in my computer without ever making it into frames, or books, or anything? I have so many that now I just cant decide what I want to print as large prints or even small prints! The point is to get them up (on the wall) and share them and enjoy them, and this is one of the downsides to the digital age and wanting everything on our computers. The reason we hire photographers is to get some great photographs and if we never print them out, it kind of defeats the purpose.

There are many photographers who will not sell their digital “negatives” (image CD / high res images / JPEG files, whatever you want to call them). However, these days, many more do. For my wedding clients, I do include the image DVD of negatives in any wedding album package and then offer them for sale for those clients who opt for ala carte pricing. In other words, if clients purchase an album package, I give the negatives as a gift with the wedding album. If they don’t buy an album, they can opt to buy the negatives instead.

I have always sold the negatives for portrait clients as well, and will continue to do so, although those discs will be increasing in price this year. However, because of the popularity of social media sites such as Facebook and clients sharing images this way, Jennifer Bowen Photography will now offer all portrait and wedding clients a free bonus as a way of sharing their images via Facebook. (IF the client wants them for this purpose.) With all portrait sessions, the client will receive 10 of their favorite images free of charge that Jennifer uploads and then “tags” to the client Facebook account. These images will be watermarked with the Jennifer Bowen Photography studio logo and will be web-optimized images for quick electronic sharing. Additionally, Jennifer can also share any web-based slideshows that may come with your portrait session. If you wish to share your slideshow via Facebook, just let us know and we will upload your show directly and tag your account.

Wedding clients: we can post and share your slideshows and some images as well, as well as your your wedding album slideshow. Please let us know if you would like any of these items posted to your account.

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In regards to protecting our copyright, here is something we photographers need to consider: If our images are placed online in any medium by our clients, especially if we are not aware of where they are placed and the image does not contain a logo or other identifying marks, the photographer’s image can potentially be taken and used by a third party. This can happen intentionally where another person may seek to use an image they find on the internet as their own, in some sort of personal project a person is creating, or when businesses or individuals seek to use any image as part of a larger marketing campaign without the photographer’s consent.

It can also happen unintentionally where a third party may try to locate the copyright owner of that image, but cannot because there are no identifying marks (logos) or metadata included in the file, and then the image becomes public domain and can be used without compensating the owner. In either case, if the images are ultimately used without permission, the copyright has been violated.

For this reason that it’s very important that photographers 1) include their metadata inside the file and 2) watermark their logo or copyright info on their images. Additionally, if photographers sell or give away the digital negatives to their clients, the two parties must establish clear guidelines about how the images may be used. As I mentioned, I do sell discs to both my portrait and wedding clients, and include a set of instructions about how the images may be used. I have always asked for my name as well as a link back to my website be issued as credit if they client is placing those images online. This year, due to the popularity of personal blogs and people posting their images to those sites, I will actually be modifying these instructions to also include that at least a small watermarked logo must also be included (for any images online) to protect against third party infringement. As always, clients have the right to print off those files for home and personal use in frames, as gifts, etc. and do not need to include logo or watermark info for those files.

Click below to view the cards and pricing. All cards are customizable with text, lettering styles and in some cases the colors. You pick your favorite image(s), place your order and we design and ship to you within 5 days. All cards come with white matching envelopes. The last day to order your cards is Dec 6th. (You will receive them by the 10th or 11th at the latest.)

The following slideshow will show you a “gallery” view at the end of the show, so that you click on the individual images again for longer viewing. The first set shows our new folded cards, followed by the pricing, and the second set shows the flat 5×7 style cards that we have offered in the past, but includes new designs for this year. Click play on the image below to view all the different cards.

You can also view the show in an alternative web browser by clicking here.

These are all presented with a simple black mock frame for display purposes.

Storyboards are larger format prints ready to frame. The square ones do not come smaller than 10×10 and are recommended as 16×16 or 20×20. The longer vertical or horizontal prints are 10×20 or 15×30.

For more information on pricing and how to order, drop us an email. If you would like to order these in time for holiday gifts, all orders must be placed by Dec. 10th.

You will also notice a new category off the right called “Studio Products” in which you will see more featured items offered by our studio in the coming weeks and months.