Kona, a baby's birthday party, and a mad dash to the airport

I wanted to make sure to get this post up before Noah Paul's 1st Birthday post (which is next). My second photographer, Chandra, and I went to the big island near Kona for an amazing 1st Bithday party for the most adorable little boy, Noah. We were so very very excited to be doing our first destination shoot and we were determined to make the most of it. In our rental car, we were off to conquer and then before you know it we were somewhere up in the mountains thinking we finally made it to the town where Noah's party is. We weren't, not even close actually; I think we were an hour away in the opposite direction. But we met a nice man who owns a very colorful art gallery with glitter on the floor. Yeah we got excited about that.
  We finally made it to out destination after checking out the drag in Kona, which by the way is very short but beautiful! Noah's birthday setup was so adorable I think we were both in shock, reds, blues, yellows oh my! I love color and this was my kind of party. From the amazing cupcake tower stocked full of yummy cupcakes to the ice cream machine to the custom made red phone booth. WOW : ) Noah's parents were so kind and made Chandra and I  feel so welcome. The four hours that we were there went by so fast. Before we knew it, it was time to hop on our plane. Sadly it wasn't that easy. We thought we were making good time with dropping the rental car off until we noticed the small airport looked slightly deserted. We checked in and they told us the airport was closing and it was too late for us to get on our plane. Yeah we freaked out and well... begged. Seriously. Luckily the lady felt a hint of pity for us and told us to run, but couldn't guarantee we would catch it because they were already closing the door. So we booked it, heavy camera cases and all. To make a long story short we made it on the plane and relaxed and giggling the whole flight home, and took lots of goofy pictures ourselves : )

My Bokeh Bag

  My door bell rang bright and early this morning waking me up from my Alice and Wonderland dream ( I guess more like Lauren in Laurenland). As I opened my door there it was, the box I had been waiting for. My Bokeh Bag...finally!
   I originally was looking into the ShootSac, but was disappointed with the hefty price of $219. A little steep for my taste, since I could use that money to buy my daughter something or better yet buy groceries. So my journey began to find another bag similar to the ShootSac but not similar in price. Ta da! I was looking around Etsy (my favorite online store by the way ) and found the exact bag but called a Bokeh Bag. All for $99 and the replacement covers for only $25 buckaroos. (For all you people wondering what the heck the ShootSac and Bokeh Bag are, it's a sling bag that holds your lenses and whatever else you need to carry around while shooting a wedding.) My Beautiful Bokeh Bag carries up to four lenses. I will be filling mine with three lenses, a flash, bottled water and nutri grain bars. Oh and a cell phone.
  So the lesson here everyone is that the Bokeh Bag is better than the ShootSac, and you would be crazy to buy the ShootSac over this. I am pleasantly surprised by my purchase. If you wanna go check out these wonderful bags go to:
                                      Etsy- The Byrd Boutique
                                      Jeana Marie Byrd- owner and designer
                                      thebyrdboutique@gmail.com
                                      http://byrdboutique.wordpress.com/
                                      904-772-6203

The Cupcake Boutique: The cutest Store EVER!

   If you haven't already discovered this quaint little store, you need to make your way over to Ward Warehouse PRONTO! I could spend hours within it decorated walls and soak up all the Esty like goodness in there. The service is great and The Cupcake Boutique also has a BEAUTIFUL room just for birthday parties and whatever else you want to use it for. It's to beautiful to describe...go see it right now : )
  I suggest Cupcake to my clients for wardrobe suggestions and props for babies and children. I have found some many unique items that I haven't found anywhere else. There you just can't go wrong. Visit Cupcake Boutique's Blog http://www.cupcakehawaii.blogspot.com/ and their website: http://www.cupcake-boutique.com/ (don't forget to check out their party room birthday packages on their website!)

Modern Photographer indeed

  This makes me laugh. I found this little gem from Ryan at Andarms Photography. Us photogs have our hands full! Upon seeing this...a twitter is a must. Now it's official, I'm getting a twitter! I will blog once I have it set up : )

They should have added "own a Mac" in there too.

Why does custom photography cost more?

The digital revolution has brought amazing flexibility and ability to control various factors during the image taking and making process. Photographers, the hobbyist, the professional, the amateur all benefit from this ability to manipulate pixels. However, with flexibility comes a price. Digital camera equipment is still considerably more expensive when you factor in its' lifespan, the need for additional resources for processing those images, the time it takes to get a usable image and the effort that goes into creating a work of photographic art. We all know that you can go to the local Walgreen's and pay a $1.99 for a print – as a client you may wonder why you may pay upwards of $50, $70, $90 for a custom photography print. Photographers hear this statement every once in awhile:


"How in the world can you charge $60 for an 8×10 if it costs me less than $2 to print at x store?"



The truth of the matter is the answer to this question is multifaceted. Much of the cost of a photographic print produced by a professional photographer has a lot to do with the time, equipment costs, artistic vision and reputation of the photographer not to mention expertise and the usual costs of running a legitimate business. The cost of TIME Approaching it from a time standpoint, let's imagine that you have hired a photographer who has work that you love. This photographer is traveling an hour to your destination to photograph your session. Here is an example of a time break down:



booking time: 30 minutes to one hour (client contact time + paperwork)

pre-session prep time (30 mins – 1 hour, includes equipment and back up equipment checks + vehicle checks)

one hour travel time TO session

15-30 minutes prep time at client's home

90 minutes-2 hours with client photographing subject

one hour travel time FROM session

30-45 minutes uploading time from digital cards from camera to computer

30-45 minutes time spent backing up the original images

2-5 hours editing time to present you with a diverse gallery of edited images

1 hour prep time getting ready for ordering

2-3 hours time with client for ordering images

1 hour sorting through and checking order

30 minutes-1 hour prep time for delivery

30 minutes-1 hour getting order shipped

any additional phone time or time needed for add on ordering, shipment issues, quality issues

In this example, the time spent per client can range from just under 13 hours to 19 hours – dependent on the photographer's level of service. This is time dedicated only to ONE session. When the photographer charges $150-$300 for the photo shoot (aka SESSION FEE) you are not just paying for the two hours of session time, you are paying the photographer for 12-19 hours complete time for your session.

Article written by Marianne Drenthe.