http://www.blairblanks.com/blog .
This blog will no longer be updated!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Come over to the NEW blog!
The new blog is up and running...come on over!
http://www.blairblanks.com/blog .
This blog will no longer be updated!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
http://www.blairblanks.com/blog .
This blog will no longer be updated!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Now booking March weekend dates
I just checked my calendar and I do not have any weekend slots open until March (but I do have weekday morning slots). For those of you thinking of booking a session and needing weekend appointment, booking at least 8 weeks in advance is HIGHLY recommended!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.com
Know about events, specials and giveaways! Click here to add Blair's Facebook page to the pages you like!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.com
Know about events, specials and giveaways! Click here to add Blair's Facebook page to the pages you like!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Daddy's Girls
All this daddy wanted for Christmas was pictures of his girls, ALL his girls, together so rarely, loved so dearly.
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~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
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~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Last days before the big debut
I get to photograph this little one on the OUTSIDE next week...one of my most favorite families I work with. She looks so lovely pregnant... I STILL don't know if baby is a boy or girl. I didn't ask because I want to be surprised when they walk in the door!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
Monday, January 17, 2011
My husband got a Kindle, and I got to thinking...
My husband just got a Kindle and it got me thinking...I have a lot of clients who understandably are confused as to why professional photographers charge what they do, for digital images or for prints.
So here goes...
Books, up until recently, were just paper and ink...people bought books not for the paper and ink, but for the ideas, the creativity, the insight, the wisdom, the artistry, the experience contained within those pages. Now, books are going electronic. E-readers are all the rage. But the price of an e-book is still only slightly less than the cost of a bound paper book (and e-books are MORE expensive than used paperbacks, and you can't lend out an e-book to a friend)...why is that? Stupid question, right? Everyone knows the money you pay for an e-book is for the ideas and artistry contained within the words of the book, so you can have them to read over and over again and enjoy for many years to come. Book authors surely deserve to get paid for the products of their hard work, right? Right!
It's the same for digital photos. Some people wonder why professional photographers charge for the digital negatives of the photos they create. I've even had people tell me they would be happy to kick in $2 for the cost of the CD! That is like telling an author you will pay him for the cost of the paper in his book, or like telling him that the e-book should be free since there is no cost to the author. When you buy a digital photo, or even a print, the bulk of the price is not for the cost of the CD or the paper the photo is printed on. Both of those are very small costs. You are paying for the years the photographer has spent learning and perfecting his or her craft, the way she knows how to get your cranky baby to smile, the way she has learned to pose you so you look your best, the tens of thousands of dollars worth of camera bodies, lenses, lighting, backdrops and props in her studio, her studio rent, utilities, insurance, taxes (we self employed photographers fork over 30% or more of our profit to Uncle Sam), her computers and massive hard drives needed to store so many digital files, child care, marketing, continuing training and education, and so much more.
Consider that for every shoot in the studio, which, with me, lasts up to three hours, a photographer will spend around four or five more hours before and after the session, communicating with the client, preparing for the shoot, then after the session, sorting through all the shots, backing up the files, editing the images for the perfect crop, color, saturation, removing imperfections, blogging the images or posting sneak peeks on Facebook; then, during the ordering process, creating a proof gallery and publishing it to the web, uploading orders to the print lab, packaging prints and shipping them to you. It's A LOT of work! The session fee only compensates the photographer for a fraction of the work she does in creating your images. She depends on sales after the session for her income. It's kind of like the waitress who gets paid less than minimum wage by her employer, but earns her living off tips. Her tip income depends on how well she does her job, and a photographer's print sales are the same. (I do offer a Time and Talent session, which is a flat fee all-digital session that takes into consideration all of the many, many costs of producing and executing a photo session.)
In the marketplace today, there are many hobby photographers who will photograph you for "fun money." Many are just starting out, inexperienced, working off the books and under the table, and do not yet realize all the true costs of operating a portrait photography business. I was, about nine years ago, one of those very people who thought I only needed to charge just slightly over my lab costs in order to be successful, until I realized just how much my "business" was actually costing me and my family.
So, remember, you pay your photographer not just for the price of the paper your images are printed on, or the CD they are burned to, but for her artistic eye, her creative heart, and the hours of her life she spends making portraits that you will cherish until you are old and gray and bouncing great-grandkids on your knee. And she's worth much more than a $2 CD.
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
So here goes...
Books, up until recently, were just paper and ink...people bought books not for the paper and ink, but for the ideas, the creativity, the insight, the wisdom, the artistry, the experience contained within those pages. Now, books are going electronic. E-readers are all the rage. But the price of an e-book is still only slightly less than the cost of a bound paper book (and e-books are MORE expensive than used paperbacks, and you can't lend out an e-book to a friend)...why is that? Stupid question, right? Everyone knows the money you pay for an e-book is for the ideas and artistry contained within the words of the book, so you can have them to read over and over again and enjoy for many years to come. Book authors surely deserve to get paid for the products of their hard work, right? Right!
It's the same for digital photos. Some people wonder why professional photographers charge for the digital negatives of the photos they create. I've even had people tell me they would be happy to kick in $2 for the cost of the CD! That is like telling an author you will pay him for the cost of the paper in his book, or like telling him that the e-book should be free since there is no cost to the author. When you buy a digital photo, or even a print, the bulk of the price is not for the cost of the CD or the paper the photo is printed on. Both of those are very small costs. You are paying for the years the photographer has spent learning and perfecting his or her craft, the way she knows how to get your cranky baby to smile, the way she has learned to pose you so you look your best, the tens of thousands of dollars worth of camera bodies, lenses, lighting, backdrops and props in her studio, her studio rent, utilities, insurance, taxes (we self employed photographers fork over 30% or more of our profit to Uncle Sam), her computers and massive hard drives needed to store so many digital files, child care, marketing, continuing training and education, and so much more.
Consider that for every shoot in the studio, which, with me, lasts up to three hours, a photographer will spend around four or five more hours before and after the session, communicating with the client, preparing for the shoot, then after the session, sorting through all the shots, backing up the files, editing the images for the perfect crop, color, saturation, removing imperfections, blogging the images or posting sneak peeks on Facebook; then, during the ordering process, creating a proof gallery and publishing it to the web, uploading orders to the print lab, packaging prints and shipping them to you. It's A LOT of work! The session fee only compensates the photographer for a fraction of the work she does in creating your images. She depends on sales after the session for her income. It's kind of like the waitress who gets paid less than minimum wage by her employer, but earns her living off tips. Her tip income depends on how well she does her job, and a photographer's print sales are the same. (I do offer a Time and Talent session, which is a flat fee all-digital session that takes into consideration all of the many, many costs of producing and executing a photo session.)
In the marketplace today, there are many hobby photographers who will photograph you for "fun money." Many are just starting out, inexperienced, working off the books and under the table, and do not yet realize all the true costs of operating a portrait photography business. I was, about nine years ago, one of those very people who thought I only needed to charge just slightly over my lab costs in order to be successful, until I realized just how much my "business" was actually costing me and my family.
So, remember, you pay your photographer not just for the price of the paper your images are printed on, or the CD they are burned to, but for her artistic eye, her creative heart, and the hours of her life she spends making portraits that you will cherish until you are old and gray and bouncing great-grandkids on your knee. And she's worth much more than a $2 CD.
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Max is a big brother!
Because I know his mom and dad are anxious for a little taste from our session, here is Big Brother Max and HIS new baby sister... sibling shots can be kind of a crap shoot, but really, it doesn't get any better than this. That look in his eyes, it melts me...
Also, I'm just getting back into town after traveling to Louisiana for a funeral, so if you are waiting to see your proofs or wondering where your prints are, please forgive me while I catch up over the next few days!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
Also, I'm just getting back into town after traveling to Louisiana for a funeral, so if you are waiting to see your proofs or wondering where your prints are, please forgive me while I catch up over the next few days!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Unspeakably gorgeous...maternity photo session
When she approached me with the idea of henna tattoos for her pregnancy session, I loved the idea! I'm always up for something a little different. But when she walked in looking like this, well, the word "exquisite" is what came to mind...I think you'll have to agree.
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
~blair blanks | baltimore baby photographer | blairblanks.comClick here to add Blair to your Facebook Friends List to know about events and specials!
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