The Teter Twins Turn One!!!

I was very privileged to photograph Kennedy & Carter for their first birthday! 

I met their dad, Chris, in Kindergarten.  We used to peek in my pink school box every morning to see if my "rubbed on" Barney Rubble was still in there! 

I met their lovely mother, Nicole, our freshman year of high school when she moved into my neighborhood.  I remember watching The Crow and Benny & Joon while "wrapping" each others' hair (with thread).

I took their first child, Conner's first professional photos in my first months as a photographer at a retail studio (8.5 years ago???!!!).  Being able to head home to Canton, Ohio and take their 3rd and 4th child's first birthday photos was really special to me. 

We spent most of our time trying to get Carter to stop being so serious, but we got some AWESOME photos that really show each of their personalities!  Then, just before their bed-time, at sunset, we busted out the birthday cakes to smash!!!  Here's some of the first-birthday cake-smash goodness!!!

Chase & Jenna's Deployment Session

I first met Chase & Jenna last November, when I took their engagement photos.  After their gorgeous wedding in December, they moved the next week to California (Chase is a Marine.)  We stayed in contact, and I would say, became friends. 

When they came back to Ohio for Chase's pre-leave visit, I insisted I had to see them, whether they wanted photos or not!  Now Jenna ALWAYS wants photos, and Chase is the best husband ever, so we did photos.  :) 

We took these in Downtown Columbus, Ohio.  Some in the Ohio Statehouse, and in the courtyards there.  Some between Columbus Commons and the Statehouse.  Simply beautiful!  Can you tell how in love they are?  ::sigh::  Enjoy!!

What do you see?

What do you see when you look at the photos hanging on your wall or sitting on your mantle or your end table?

It's more than a photo or a smile.

There are memories attached to those photos.  Look around.  What do you think of?

When I look at the largest photo on my wall - a 14x18 of me and my fiance, BJ - I think of us trying to get the remote to my camera working and how he didn't want to wear the shirt I picked out.  I think of how he didn't want to do photos (never wants to do photos), but he came and smiled because he loves me.  :) 

When I was at a clients' home last week, I saw photos I'd taken at my previous job.  I remembered how shy their son had been, and how we had to have him watch a session, walk around the store, get a snack, and try again.

I was photographing a newborn today for a first-time client.  This was her second baby - she also has a 21-month-old.  She has these beautiful photos on her wall from a popular chain studio (of course I had to try to identify it myself - 1st guess was right).  When I complimented her photos - saying how lucky she was to get good ones - she let out an exasperated sigh and remarked on how horrible it was each time. 

She looks at her photos, and OF COURSE, 1st sees her beautiful first son.  But the 2nd thing she sees is her memory of how awful it was to wait past your appointment time, have a luck-of-the-draw photographer, and a 10 minute session that ends right when your child starts to warm up to the photographer.

Look at your photos.  Is that what you remember? 

Here's what that first-time client had to say, not an hour after I left her home - NOTE:  She has not seen a single photo that I took:

"We were sooooo happy with you and your work, we can't wait for October. Oh and if I can schedule something with you now then that would be great."

What kind of warm memories do you think she'll have looking at the photos of her sons together this time?

Have you scheduled your first session with Kelly E. Lambert Photography yet?  I <3 your kids, and I haven't even met them yet!  :) 
 - I can warm them up for 10 minutes, then have 50 more to get AMAZING photos for you!  (AND I know how to make their serious faces look cute in that first 10 minutes.)
 - I can reschedule at no extra cost if they just aren't having it!  (Hasn't happened yet, by the way.  The most common reaction I get is, "I didn't think any of them turned out, but they are all so cute!  I didn't even see you take some of those!")

Seriously - I WANT to take your photos.  Actually ENJOY it!  Think about the memories you want when you look at your photos.  :)

Why the Cost?

A very informative, well written article by Caught on Film Photography, about why you pay what you do for professional photographers.

Why are Professional 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 $45 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 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

- 4-6 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print, internet, and backing up the edited photographs

- 2-3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions/emails, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at PO that have to be sent.

- 1-2 hr in-person ordering session

You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than 12 hours of work from start to finish.  So when you see a Photographer charge a $200 session fee for a 2 hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100/hour.

Now for the expertise.

Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience.  Even though a quality camera now costs under $3,000, 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 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, the lake, your home, or downtown!  And of course, look at our work compared to theirs.  You truly 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.

a note from Robin:

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  I realize some people are not financially able to pay for custom photography, and that’s ok.  Custom photography is an investment that should be planned for.

Don't Wait - Please Don't Wait!

Reposting a blog by Sarah - http://sarah-bethphotography.blogspot.com/2011/03/dont-wait-please-dont-wait-make-excuses.html

Saturday, March 19, 2011

don't wait. please don't wait, make excuses, or put it off.

This is difficult to write. My heart is aching, I'm on my last pair of contacts, Maddox broke my glasses in half last week, so I'm sitting here with blurry, cloudy contacts from crying nonstop for the past 24 hours, and a wounded heart.

Last night at 11 pm, my husband received a call on his cell phone from a number we didn't recognize. The voice mail sounded odd, so he called back. It was the coroner from Macon County, Georgia. He had found a check in my friend's purse from me, with obviously our contact information. He was calling to try to get in contact with my friend Melissa's next of kin.

That was just the start of the nightmare.

He then went on to tell me that Melissa, her husband Brent, and their two boys (ages 5 and 2), were in an accident on their way to Florida for spring break. Brent was killed, Melissa was in critical condition, but the boys were miraculously unharmed.

My head was spinning, my hands shaking so badly I could barely write the information down legibly on a piece of scrap paper I found in our junk drawer.  My husband had to call Melissa's parents to notify them, while I'm sitting in disbelief on the kitchen floor.

My friend, at age 29, is now a widow.

My heart is breaking, I can't sleep, can't eat, can't concentrate, can't hug my kids enough. I can't stop watching my husband love on our kids, play with our kids, just be with our kids. I'm soaking it all in, feeling grateful, sad, angry, tired, frustrated, defeated and mourning all at the same time.

I hate the phrase "it's not fair." But, this? This. is not fair. I don't understand why God called Brent home before we all felt ready. I don't know why those boys lost their daddy, and Melissa lost her husband. I don't know why. I just keep praying for peace, comfort, guidance and wisdom in the physicians taking care of Melissa, and comfort and love to surround those young boys in this time of loss. There are no words.

I've had a lot of time to sit, think, cry, reflect, and pray tonight. And my mind started wandering to photography.

Photography.

Photography puts emotions into tangible form. They are constant reminders of our families, friends, the ones we love, the things we do, who we are. They remind us of our baby's first smiles, first steps, our first kiss as a married couple, first day of school. They are such a wonderful wonderful way of capturing life as it happens. A gift.

I hear all the time people say, "Oh, I want to wait until I lose these last 15 pounds of baby weight." "Oh, I want to wait until the baby is old enough to smile." "Oh, I want to wait until my husband gets his hair cut, finally cuts his beard, he wants to lose some weight." "I want to wait until spring/summer/fall/winter." "I want to wait until a Saturday."

I want to wait...I want to wait...I want to wait.

Please. Don't wait.

Don't wait, because you never know when life throws us a curveball, and our path is forever changed.

Please, embrace the extra 15 pounds, the baby that isn't quite smiling on demand, the husband who has an annoying beard he won't shave, the kiddo with a bad haircut, the "wrong" day/time/season.

Life is happening. This second. Don't wait. Live every day as it's your last. Because we never know when life on this earth is over. It can be over in an instant, a second, a nanosecond.

Tell those you love that you love them. Take pictures, write things down, hug, laugh often, don't go to bed angry. Smile. Hope. Pray. Every day.

Don't wait to take pictures of your family, and use silly little reasons that don't matter in the end as an excuse.

Capture life. As it is. And embrace it.

I thank you all so much for continuing to pray for Melissa and her boys, Dylan and Colton. And also for their families, who are in a nightmare of their own. I pray that God's will be done. I try to remember that God did spare the lives of Melissa and her sons, that I should be forever thankful for that. I pray for strength for the Burns and Hock families. For comfort, for peace, and that they feel everyone's arms around them, loving them, praying for them, comforting them in this time.

Please continue praying for Melissa and the boys, for they are about to face the hardest year of their lives.

Thanks so much for reading. For being an ear, a shoulder to cry on.

Sarah (of Sarah Beth Photography)