Great Blog Post by Brooke Snow

I know that I mentioned Brooke Snow before when I wrote my entry about taking the PLAYshop. I'm a pretty avid follower of her blog, although I've been behind on all of my blog reading lately. I was SO thrilled to come across this post from her. It really hits the nail on the head when it comes to pricing and custom photography. Brooke said it about 10,000 times better than I ever could, and she even has evidence to back everything up. She sums up in the post how the in-and-out, volume studios (like Portrait Innovations, Sears, etc) operate and price things and how different custom photography is.

Seriously, go read it. I made it easy and this whole little paragraph is a link to the post. It's worth reading, whether you are a client or a photographer or just someone who likes to look at blogs.

Privacy Matters : Kansas City Boudoir Photography

This post was prompted by some e-mails I received requesting passwords to my private boudoir galleries, and I just wanted to let you ladies know how seriously I take your privacy (I take all privacy seriously and will not blog anything or use it on my website without permission, but especially boudoir privacy due to the nature of the shoots).

All images on my blog are used with permission from the women I've shot. You by no means have to allow me to blog my favorites from your shoot. I'll love you forever if you do agree to it, but there are no hard feelings if you are uncomfortable.

I never use first and last name combinations in any way - file naming, gallery naming, on the site, on the blog, etc. I do everything on a first name basis. If you prefer that I do not use your entire first name, I can refer to you with the first letter of your first or last (or even middle) name - just using my initials, for example, I could be Miss C, Miss J, or Miss R. I name my files based on your first name only (Jane001, for example), so nobody could search Jane Smith and come up with JaneSmith001 and find your photo. Basically what I'm saying is this: people won't search your first and last name and come up with your photos on my website.

Since I have made the switch to in-person rather than online ordering, I am able to protect your privacy even more - boudoir galleries no longer go online for proofing except for marathons and any out of town sessions. I will have printed proofs to show you at your ordering session (and these are shredded if you do not purchase them, they are not just casually thrown in the trash).

If you do opt to have an online gallery (or are part of a marathon or are an out of town client), your gallery is always password protected and I DO NOT hand out this password to anyone but you for ANY reason. Ever. Sharing the password and gallery is at your discretion - if you would like to show your friends, you are more than welcome to, but I will not ever give the password to anyone except you.

I take your privacy quite seriously. I will go to all of these measures and any more that you can think of to protect it. You are not required to let me show off how gorgeous you are on the blog or on my website.

And a big thanks to Kathleen for letting me use this fabulous shot so I don't have a post without a picture :) Loooove her hair, the curls were perfect - they look so messy sexy in this picture! And if you aren't jealous of those eyelashes, I don't know if I can speak to you again!

Love It!

I got something gorgeous in the mail a couple days ago. Once I opened the mailer box it got shipped in, I found a few packing peanuts & this:

What came in such an adorably gorgeous little bag? Let's take a peek...

Is that a touch of pink I see? Oooooh, I wanna see more!

Yes, yes that is definitely a hot pink mini-album. And it's soft leather (sorry, PETA - it does have a linen cover option). And it came in such a pretty bag! And there are some other gorgeous colors! And you want to see inside? Ok!

PS - that is beautiful Jess you see in there. I had to practice making an album with her images and it was pretty tough to narrow them down! But you want more than a peek inside? Sure thing.

This is the 4x4 mini album and it is adorable. The bigger albums (8x8, 10x10, 12x12) will lay flat when open, this little mini adorable baby album is just not heavy enough. It has some nice thick pages though, and basically everyone needs a mini-album for their purse/diaper bag/back pocket/whatever so you can pull it out and show off your senior/baby/sexy self. Hopefully soon I'll put together one of the photo cover option albums and have it to show you too!

The New Site is Up!!

After a few problems with images and links working, the newly designed site is finally working! And that means I can finally tell you about some of the new changes!

First off, I am going to be focusing mostly on boudoir (that's the big one), seniors, and maternity/newborns/children under 2. Why? Because those are my favorites to shoot and are what I really want to focus on. I'll still shoot other types (kids over 2, families, couples - especially couples - etc) on a case by case basis though.

On the boudoir note, I'm going to be working really hard at getting the sexy little party rolling! I don't have a better name for it right now and am open to ALL suggestions. I want it to be a new option for a bachelorette or birthday party, or just a fun girls day out/in. What is it? Well, I'll tell ya :) It's a party for up to 5 girls. Each girl will get a 30 minute mini boudoir shoot. There will be snacks involved (not during the shoot, during the waiting) and I do have a hair/makeup artist available for an additional fee. After every girl has been shot, there will be a break for a couple hours while photos are edited (a more basic proofing edit) and then the girls will come back and each will have her individual slideshow premiere. Ordering will take place then and there, and then I'll get the purchased images fully edited, the albums designed, and products to the gorgeous ladies. The cost is $250 per girl ($100 covers shooting/snacks, $150 goes towards products). There's even a special price list for the parties so that the $150 print credit is maximized. I'm way excited about them, and I have big plans that I can finally get rolling because I have some promotional materials designed, and hopefully I'll have more exciting announcements coming soon!

So check out the new site and let me know what you think!