abracanabra | Entries tagged with photography

At the request of a friend, I finally finished working out my wedding photography pricing*. Le voila!

If you chose to have me do wedding photos, the engagement photos are free--otherwise, see the extras section below.

725 - Wedding coverage, including wedding day preparation. Does not include reception. (Most reception halls are so dark that the quality of photos is poor. I would be delighted to attend as a guest--and would probably take photos--but it's not included in this package as an official, guaranteed thing.). Includes a wedding photo book with the best photos, an 8x10 framed print, an online album that people can go to (and if they want, download photos from), and the digital negatives.

2,500 - Wedding coverage, including wedding day preparation and reception through the first dance. Includes a wedding photo book with the best photos, two parent albums, an 8x10 framed print, 2 5x7 framed prints (suitable for display on a desk at work), an online album that people can go to (and if they want, download photos from), and the digital negatives. Includes curating up to 200 photos by guests and creating a photo book of the best images.
Optional (no extra charge):
* groom's dinner
* trash the dress session
* the day after (if there is brunch or other planned activity)

Extras (can also just do something from here)
(Digital negatives and online photo album included with all extras. Optional: photos can be included in wedding photo book. I can also choose the best photos from any of the below and create a photo book for just that event--pricing depends on size, begins at $45. Additional photo books available at a significant discount.)

engagement photos - 150

groom's dinner - 250

bachelorette party (includes commemorative 5x7 flip-books for up to 10 attendees, extras can be ordered at cost) - 1,000

wedding shower - 250

reception photos - 250

photo curating of guests' digital photographs (includes sorting out the best pictures, photo editing good pictures and creating an online album, and creating a photo book of the very best ones) - $45/100 photos

photo curating of physical photographs (such as developed disposable camera photos--includes sorting out the best pictures and putting them into a photo album) - $45/250 photos

additional wedding photo books - depends on size, etc.

trash the dress session - 250

day after - 500

Is there anything that people might be interested in that I've forgotten to mention?

Yes, the prices are roughly half what is the low price standard in the Twin Cities. Why? Well, I'm just starting out at trying to do this thing professionally. I could do with another couple of lens types and another camera body, some fancier flashes.... I don't have a studio. Things like that.

( But I've taken quite a few wedding photos. Let's take a walk down memory lane.... )

Planning on entering "Salvaging Scottwell" into a contest that requires cover art. What do you think? Yes, the original picture's mine--one I shot last weekend.

ETA: Title bar needs work. Hrmph.

So...this is what I'm thinking for wedding photography pricing. A coworker wanted a price quote.

$730 - Photography of the wedding, formal pictures before or after (your choice), and 2 hours of wedding prep. (I'd be happy to attend the reception as a guest and I might take photos while there, but I wouldn't be "on the clock"--no guarantees.) You'll get an 8x11 photo book with the best photos, a framed 8x10, and an online photo album that you or your family can order other prints from. After a year, you'll get the digital negatives on a CD. With your reserve-the-date down-payment ($100), you'd get a free engagement photo session.

It's on the low end for wedding photography, but a) I don't work with another photographer, b) I'm just figuring out the pricing and starting to set up an official photography website (that's another question--I'll need professional web-making help, I think, for allowing ordering online and photo albums and etc.), and c) well, if I get too many clients I'll raise my prices!

There are lots more options--all day for the wedding preparation, the groom's dinner, taking more photos and/or having a photo booth at the reception, trash the dress, parent/grandparent albums, and so on. And I'll put together a fairytale wedding package that has ridiculous perks. (No, really, some of these places go up to ridiculous levels--the $12,000 photo package includes things like them going along for the first day of your honeymoon to take pictures. I'd do it for less if they paid my travel costs...heck, I'd photograph destination weddings for free in exchange for hotel and airfare.)

Thoughts? Suggestions?

You know, a long rambling post where I write about where I'm at and what I'm doing and all the other things I think friends should know about each other but all too often don't these days. I encourage you to do one of these posts, too! I miss knowing these things about my friends (Twitter and Facebook have added a lot of little detailed information, but I think they've taken away some of the big picture).

( Read more... )

If I finish my work today (unlikely), I will make a snowman. And brownies.
Awesome vintage photos for those with a soft spot for polar bears: ping.fm/1aZ2Q
Best headline of the day: "Hollywood counters reality with decade of escapism"
The Daily Show has a brilliant India segment today
Adopt a terrorist? Yes, as in "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." bit.ly/8z6SDu

Gorgeous photography of East African wildlife (Scientific American): ping.fm/YJrw4

As part of my quest to make my life not seem like a never-ending drudge through work and projects that will never truly be finished (that's the problem with being writer, photographer, and primary-house-caretaker--none of those come up with their own achievable "finished" markers), I've started picking a set of (achievable!) goals at the end of which I'll be realio trulio done for the day. After that I can do anything I like, including just reading pulpy sci-fi novels or baking brownies or making that lightbox or, hell, doing my filing. This isn't a to-do list, it's a to-be-done-after list. The difference is crucial. The goal is to accurately estimate how much I can realistically get done in a day and still have free time left over. Because the free time is the real goal: it's the recharge time, the reward, the reason to really dig into the to-be-done-after list. When faced with an endless task, it's easy to become unmotivated and to grind very, very slowly, with lots of procrastination.

I've been trying this on and off for the last couple of weeks. So far, I can tell the motivation part is working. I've got lots more done that I was before, and I feel less depressed and bogged down in, well, life.

This, despite my not yet having actually finished everything on the list. I haven't yet experienced this motivating free time. So yesterday I decided to approach this all scientific-like and write down my done-for-the-day goals (which I had been doing), how much time I thought they'd take, and then my actual day schedule and the time they really took.

Let's just say I'm not good at estimating how much I can get done.

( Today's numbers. Probably boring for anybody not me. )

I would like to curl up on the couch with a book today (Green by Jay Lake, specifically) and cuddle with the cats and read, but I have four pressing projects that must be done instead of anything else.
( Read more... )

At least I got 11 hours of sleep last night. I really needed that--I feel much more balanced. Lack of excessive amounts of sleep makes me decidedly unbalanced.

x-post Fb/LJ--

One of my friends was writing about her knitting things for Christmas. Another friend was writing about her experiments in brewing what I can only hope/dread might be Christmas presents.

I need a hobby that can translate to gifts. (I only half-heartedly cross-stitch, and that *so* doesn't count--still working on the same thing I was, um, 3 years ago. It's a "pick up every few months for a few minutes" sort of hobby.)

Maybe I can give out coupons for 1/2 hour photo shoots! (Digital copies only.) Good for birthdays, parties*, dating site profiles, or engagements. Because aren't coupons everybody's favorite Christmas gift?

Or...

I could write a short story in which somebody was abducted by aliens or gruesomely killed.

...
..
.

Hmm. Maybe I should dig out my psanky tools and hand out Easter eggs for Christmas. Or not.

I have such talented friends.

* Side-bar: So, at the photo shoot this afternoon, one of the girls asked if I would photograph a quinceanero and what I would charge. I think that would be awesome, but I have no idea what sort of photographs would be wanted. I mean--she asked me while I was doing a fairly standard high school photo shoot. Am confused. But I have her email, so--who knows? Also, I really need a 50mm lens.

After a couple of hours taking photos of a girls volleyball team. Phil has excess vacation, so he took time off to assist.

Phil: "The girls were more difficult to work with than I expected."
Me: "They were easier than I expected!"

Sigh. I had to shoot all flash pictures, and I don't have a good quality flash. We'll see how they turn out--I am worried.*

* Note that I am always worried after a photo shoot. Always.

Loading photos for gig. Displeased by people who 1) put an ancient photo on their bio, and 2) don't wear nametags.

This morning I
* ate two meals while reading the internets.
* cleaned table-top in preparation for finishing it.
* called emergency room billing and gave them our (lacking) insurance information, so they can not bill us for the full cost.
* tagged, titled, and loaded the dozen photos from last year's orientation photo gig.
* scheduled an estimate meeting with a fencing company.
* emailed off a photo to use for the anthology that a story's coming out in.

Why doesn't that feel like enough? Why didn't I get more done?

Then I bused in to work, compiled and emailed in accumulated tracking spreadsheets, and now I (probably) have three hours of downtime before I have to go to my physical therapy appointment after work.

Some days really are mac 'n cheese from a box and green beans from a can days--and that's okay!
--The pack of feral neighborhood children is beating bees to death with sticks. In our yard/on the outside of their house. Sting, bees!
+ Drinking the first hot chocolate of Fall, creating a photo order record for Tuesday's photo gig.
I drink hot tea even during the summer--I'd forgotten how cooler weather makes a hot drink extra-nice. Warming for the hands and the throat.

This Relax Without Feeling Lazy: Kill Open Loops post makes an excellent point, and it brings to the forefront a lot of why I generally feel stressed. I put a lot on myself: writing; photography; maintaining a clean house (ha!) and providing basic services like laundry, clean dishes, and hot dinners; and eventually, a return to martial arts or another high-demand physical activity (I miss inhabiting my body in that way). I also have a ridiculously long list of miscellaneous to-dos.

At the same time, these are thing that will never be completed. There is always more writing; it's not like I finish a piece and then wait, fallow, for the next story idea to come to me--part of my writing process produces a huge backlog of ideas. There are always photos to load up to the stock photography site or a portfolio or a gallery display to create. My house will never be 100% clean.

So--today. I declare that my writing loop will be closed if I redmark and make editing changes to "Missing You In Pieces" and write 100 (+ whatever if I hit flow, which is unlikely in 100) words on "Tree of Life." My cleaning loop will be closed if I quick-clean the bathroom, do laundry, run the Roomba, do dishes, and clean the nightstand. My photography loop will close if I upload a photo to iStock and research camera flashes and reflectors etc. My to-do list will close if I finish paying bills and update my books-to-borrow list from library receipts and Science Fiction Book Club mailings.

Hrm. This may take some work. That looks like more than is reasonable to do in one day--but at least I know where the end point is.

+ Brunch of cinnamon-sugar French toast and CSA cantaloupe . Now Earl Gray tea and photo-work. Later, much socializing.
Useful article about microstock photography (dps): bit.ly/328oPI

09:32 --- Do *not* need dreams of dealing with housing contractors, thieves, and raped friends who show up on my doorstep for help, thankyouvmuch!
13:41 +++ Kitten stopped playing, went "Whrrrt?" and trundled across the room at high speed to use his litter box . Good kitten!
14:44 22.4 GB of photos = Very Unhappy computer with only 28.1 MB of space left. Lots of warning messages. Very bad. Very sad Abra.
14:52 -- Think I need 2 TB hard drives. #1 to keep older photos on. #2 to backup all photos/writing and keep at friend's place in case.
15:18 1 mo. post-surgery, I find that they *did* mail me pre-surgery instructions--in May. My to-do pile ate them. Bad to-do pile.
18:33 Phil, during a debate about whether kitten's butt needed cleaning: "I didn't say I was a good mama cat, honey! I'm a boy cat!"

13:16 + Carrot cake at work. This whole "working in an actual office" thing could be hazardous to the waistline.
15:55 DPS article on jumpstarting photo creativity: bit.ly/dIAJc
16:22 ---Now compulsively checking Gmail status, instead of trying to load Gmail: www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en #gmail
19:32 Gmail, I missed you! Don't ever leave me again!

I love Digital Photography School's articles--quite useful in gaining photo techniques. This one is useful enough that I'm posting it for my own reference so that I can work on integrating it into my standard photography practices.

Level up your photo skills by learning to keep these things in mind: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/10-questions/

x-post Fb/LJ--

The knee surgery to replace my ACL is scheduled for this coming Monday, and I can hardly think of anything else. It's worse because I know what to expect this time around (I had the other knee repaired about a year and a half ago). I have no energy, no willpower, and my impulse control is remarkably poor. I think all my strength and willpower is going to the not-freaking-out-about-imminent-surgery project. With mixed results.

I've dealt with work emails. I've gotten my teeth inspected and (my very first) cavities taken care of. I've bought skirts and loose-fitting pants for post-surgery work wear. My family visited us and we visited Phil's family. I went to the opera, the zoo, and the Walker Art Museum*. I went to a nice restaurant with Phil last night for the last time for a while. I have a bed.

There's no way I'm hitting my Vicesteed editing goal before surgery--I'd hoped to finish this draft, but I'm only to Chapter 20. And writing/editing/anything time will be pretty much non-existent for the next couple of months, mostly because I'll be too muzzy-headed to do anything quality. I suppose I could write short stories, because it matters less if I muck those up.

There are still other things I want/need to get done before surgery. I'd like to get my bike fixed, so I can use it for physical therapy during the recovery (once I'm somewhat mobile). I'd like to get the dishwasher fixed, but that requires one more part to arrive and then a scheduled appointment with a repair guy. There's a wedding, and the surrounding events. There's the MNSpec writing meeting and critique session (the day before surgery), that I still need to get critiques done for. I need to finish uploading and labeling at least the 2009 orientation photos. I'd like to go to the MoA and look for more post-surgery clothes and comfortable dress shoes and tiny earrings, but that seems a distant possibility. I'd like to go to Fire Roast Mountain coffee shop in the afternoon this weekend, but other events may interfere. Oh, and I need to pay bills and see about that property tax refund and...and...clean the house really thoroughly one last time, and--.

* While I'm still a walker. Get it?

I am not sure what it says about me that I
1. took photographs of my gross, bloody biking injuries, but
2. deleted them because I thought they didn't have a high enough artistic value.

Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Being the journal of an all-too-human writer, reader, and eater of deliciousness

Wedding Photography

Salvaging Scottwell cover?

Wedding Photography

State of the Abra

No Snowmen for Me

East African Wildlife Photography

How Long Things Actually Take

I Need Clones

Making Gifts

Photographing High School Girls

If you don't wear name tags, I will invent a name for you.

Why Can't I Get More Done?

Hiding from feral neighbor children. With hot chocolate. (Me, that is, not them.)

Closing Loops

+/- Foods and Friends and Photographies

Points of Interest: Kitten Progresses, Everything Else Fails

Points of Interest: Jumpstarting Creativity

10 Questions to Ask When Taking a Digital Photo

Surgery on Monday

Self-Knowledge is Tricky

Profile

April 2025

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags