Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Portrait Session Giveaway

October 26th, 2011

South Bend, Indiana Child Portrait Photographers Everyone loves a fun giveaway. I know I do. With so many new changes that were announced this morning (that will affect any contract being signed as of November 1, 2011), I thought it would be fun to do a fun giveaway to say thank you to all of [...]
 

South Bend, Indiana Child Portrait Photographers

Everyone loves a fun giveaway. I know I do. With so many new changes that were announced this morning (that will affect any contract being signed as of November 1, 2011), I thought it would be fun to do a fun giveaway to say thank you to all of my amazing clients that have supported us over the years and have encouraged us to really strive to be better photographers, business owners and friends.

The rules are simple:

First, you have to like our Facebook Fan Page.

Second, tag our page in your status asking your friends and family to like our page.

Third, your friends and family have to comment on our wall, tagging you, saying that you sent them. Entries will be taken until November 1, 2011 at 2pm EST.. At that time, I will write your name on a piece of paper for every time your friends tagged you. When Josie gets home from school, she will draw the name of the winner and we will announce it at 3pm EST on our blog.

Added BONUS: when your friends tag you, they will also be entered in our drawing.

The winner will receive 25-30 digital images on a disc and a complete stylized shoot with me.

Good luck to all of you!

Tags / Categories / Comments

breaker

Time for Changes

October 26th, 2011

The fall has always been my favorite time of year. The colors are absolutely gorgeous and everyone wants pictures outside because, well, it’s gorgeous! I have had so much fun growing my business, but more importantly, myself this past year. I have come to terms with what I am good at and what I am [...]
 

The fall has always been my favorite time of year. The colors are absolutely gorgeous and everyone wants pictures outside because, well, it’s gorgeous! I have had so much fun growing my business, but more importantly, myself this past year. I have come to terms with what I am good at and what I am not so good at and instead of trying to build on my weaknesses, I’ve decided to build on my strengths. Thus, it’s time for changes. The changes that I am about to announce has been put off for some time now and it’s time to just put it out there and be confidant with my decision. One of my favorite things about running my own business that it’s my business and I get to make the rules.

So, without further stalling, here we go.

Effective November 1, 2011, our portrait pricing will be changing with the following session fees:


The next change will be our portrait policies.

Booking : In order to consider your session booked, 50% of your session fee is due with a signed contract (taken care of online through our online studio management system).

Session Planning : Our sessions will be taking on a new style and breaking away from being so traditional A questionnaire will be emailed to you after booking your session and is due 1 week prior to your session. I will then take the information and put together a theme for the session. (more information include in our portrait contact)

Image Viewing Session : We will have you over to the studio to view your images (and to pick up your disc) 1-2 weeks after your session. Any prints or canvases purchased during this meeting will receive a 15%. No other item is subject to this 15% discount. The discount will expire the moment you leave.

Editing :  We will be going back to our roots of simple edits. All images will receive color and exposure correction and minor adjustments. Anything else will be charged at $15/hour for things such as: swapping heads, skin retouching, etc. Any product ordered through the studio or through client’s Pictage online proofing site will receive minor edits to clean up skin. These images will not be placed on the disc.

Disc of Images : The disc of images is included in all of our photography collections and will be submitted to client after they have picked the appropriate number based on the session they purchased (please see above). Client can request minor edits before the disc is submitted to clients.

Questions that I can see coming up:

What if I want a specialty product? We are working out the details on how we can supply our clients designs to then have printed at MPix.com (where we recommend all of our clients to print their images through).

What about products that you’ve offered that you can’t get from MPix.com? The same thing will go, you will be charged based on the design.

What if we book our session on a Monday for a session on a Saturday? I need your questionnaire 3 days prior to your shoot in order to stylize your photo shoot.

 

We are looking forward to ending this year and continuing into next year with some amazing portraits for our clients.

Tags / Categories / Comments

breaker

New Chapter

July 11th, 2011

If you follow us on Facebook, you probably know by now that we moved on July 3rd. It was such a liberating feeling to finally get back on our own and starting our family on a new journey. I knew the process would be difficult for Bryce, but I didn’t realize just how difficult it [...]
 

If you follow us on Facebook, you probably know by now that we moved on July 3rd. It was such a liberating feeling to finally get back on our own and starting our family on a new journey. I knew the process would be difficult for Bryce, but I didn’t realize just how difficult it could be.

Last week, there were boxes piled miles high. As Chris worked hard to edit the weekend before that’s wedding, I tried to unpack what I could because the boxes were upsetting Bryce.

I really thought that Bryce was starting to improve, but he just seems to be back tracking to where he started. Today, as I tried to keep Josie occupied with a craft project for their room and get caught up myself, Bryce just walked in circles whining. Whining is like nails on a chalk board for me and I don’t do well with crying and can get snippy when I’m stressed. As I try to keep my cool and be a good mommy, I realized that this is what he use to do to self-soothe himself. It was one of the things he did that I realized that there was something more wrong than we had thought. Talk about your hard dose of reality.

We’ve had quite the eventful day. Our new mattress and box spring was delivered the same time maintenance was here trying to fix the leak in the kids’ bedroom from the air conditioner. I believe this to be the main reason for Bryce getting so upset. Now that it’s slowing down for the day, I just pray that things go a little better.

Thank you to all of our amazing client’s that have been so patient while we get things caught up. Thank you to all of our friends and family that have been praying for us during our move and while we get acclimated to our new journey. We are getting there, but please continue to pray for Bryce.

Tags / Categories / Comments

breaker

The Right Kind of Inspiration

May 18th, 2011

It’s no HUGE secret that I’m not a big proponent in going to a seminar or workshop for some kind of inspiration (ie. Get Rich Quick Scheme), but last night, I heard the right kind of inspiration that the world needs more of. I feel like the talk that Jim Davis-Hicks gave to our South Bend PUG [...]
 

It’s no HUGE secret that I’m not a big proponent in going to a seminar or workshop for some kind of inspiration (ie. Get Rich Quick Scheme), but last night, I heard the right kind of inspiration that the world needs more of. I feel like the talk that Jim Davis-Hicks gave to our South Bend PUG was what I needed to feel comfortable with some of the hard decisions that I’ve had to make recently.

As time moves forward, sometimes it’s hard to believe that days become weeks and weeks become months. If time would just slow down, I would…spend more time in therapy with Bryce and appreciate some of the simpler things in life. Each day, I have been watching my son fall deeper and deeper into his Autism and I watch on helplessly. This has led to many countless nights of trying to figure out who is going to do what and not enough time to fulfill all of our obligations. Thus, our hard decisions.

I’ve had to write down everything that I’ve had going on and figure out whether it serves the right purpose. Last night, that’s exactly what Jim Davis-Hicks talked about and it confirmed that what I’ve decided is the right thing for me and my family. Ultimately, no one knows what tomorrow brings. Although scary, what’s amazing about that is if you serve your purpose and model your lifestyle around that, you will be your happiest. By putting the things that don’t serve the ultimate purpose in my life, I feel freer to spend the time that Bryce needs of me. Though this is no easy road and there will be plenty ups and downs and scary moments, I believe that God will bless my efforts in every way possible.

It funny how God can take something that feels like a boulder and turn it into a pebble. That’s how I feel right now. There are still more things I need to consider taking off my plate or delegating, but it’s a freeing thought to know that I can let it go if it’s going to hinder my purpose.

So, what is my purpose? I believe that God gave me a beautiful little boy that needs me just as much as I need him. I believe He blessed our family with Bryce and all the hard moments, break downs, and trying therapies to teach us to slow down and appreciate EVERY MOMENT that God gives us. We are all touched on some level by someone special, regardless of the special part about them being as different as Autism, it’s what we learn from them that matters.

God put it in Jim’s heart to start a mission, to provide water in countries that have contaminated water. His mission is called Thirst Relief. For $5.00, you can give clean water to 1 person for life. Does that not blow you away? This amazing mission is something that touched my life. Though, my son has access to clean drinking water, a roof over his head and parents that love him very much, it’s a reminder that even something as simple as water is taken for granted. I want to take this time to publicly announce that regardless of a self-imposed deadline or anything else that comes up with work, my son will always come first. I am easily stressed by this from day to day, but that is why I am cutting back. Big changes are coming for Katie Whitcomb | Photographers so stay tuned. Until then, HUGE THANKS to Jim Davis-Hicks for speaking last night giving me a sense of peace that what I am doing is right. It always help to have confirmation.

 

katie-whitcomb-photographers_gardening-kids

Tags / Categories / Comments

« More Entries