225 Photography {the blog} | Custom Lifestyle Portraiture for the Modern Family, Baton Rouge and South Louisiana's Modern Lifestyle Photographer » modern portraits for the modern family

I receive lots of emails wondering what exactly lifestyle photography is, what my images look like before I edit them, a couple of people have asked how I do my editing, why I watermark the images on my blog, a question about my pricing, and I even had one email wanting to know what kind of perfume I wear! Since I’ve been bad about letting these emails sit in my inbox, I’ll do my best to answer them here. Here goes:

What exactly is lifestyle photography?

I don’t think there is just one answer to this so I’ll do my best to give you what I think lifestyle photography is. Lifestyle photography is a very laid back style of shooting. I usually meet my clients at their home or the location they chose. I use natural light so no flashes, no backdrops, just me and my camera so my clients are able to relax. I will do a few posed shots if the mom requests them but for the majority of the session I interact with the children – watching, observing, following them, watching the light and watching the background so that I can control every single shot. Lifestyle photography captures true moments, the way you will remember your child. I love nothing better than shooting children and families enjoying some of their favorite things together: picnics in the backyard, making pancakes on lazy Sunday mornings complete with pjs, tea parties, Saturday afternoon trips for ice cream and a walk around LSU’s campus.

Editing:

I edit all my images in Light Room and then in Photoshop. I was asked to show a before and after image so here you go! This image was shot on a rather overcast afternoon so SOOC (straight out of the camera) it is rather dull:

After:

I have a DSLR. Why don’t my pictures look like yours?

Well, first things first: learn your camera. You can take great pictures with any camera if you understand how to use your camera and if you understand light. For starters I’d suggest you learn to take your camera off automatic and learn to shoot in manual. I will be offering a workshop this summer for people that want to learn to use their cameras whether it is a point and shoot or a DSLR. If this is something you’d be interested in, email me!

Why do I watermark my images?

I watermark the images I show on my blog to prevent them being downloaded, scanned and printed. They are copyright protected and should not be reproduced in any way, shape or form and yet it happens and that is stealing. A colleague had a client that swiped images from her blog, had them printed and then called the photographer to complain about the poor quality! Images posted on the web are 72dpi (lower quality to allow for webpages to load more quickly) while the images I send to the lab for printing are 300dpi.

Pricing.

Yes, I know there is a photographer in town that will sell a disk of images for $250. Yes, I know that you could go to XYZ studio and get a lot of prints for $49.99.

That photographer is either portfolio building or is seriously under priced. My prices are in line with PPA standards and are non-negotiable. When you eat dinner at a restaurant, do you negotiate the price of your meal? Do you negotiate the price of a pair of pants before you buy them? I appreciate that John Doe will sell you the entire digital collection for $250 but I stand firmly behind my work and believe you do get what you pay for.

In regards to the studio, I realize that there are more inexpensive ways to have your family photographed. I do not offer the studio experience. I offer custom photography. You can read more about what custom photography is here and better understand why the custom photography experience is more expensive.

I’ve been asked if I have a minimum purchase requirement. At this time I don’t but I am seriously considering it. A la carte prices are premium prices. Packages are discounted significantly. Occasionally I run a special which you can find out about through the 225 Photography fan page on Facebook.

And the perfume question.
Sweet M, the day I saw you I was wearing Kat Von D’s Sinner. It isn’t my usual but I received a deluxe sample at Sephora and love it. Thanks for asking my dear!

If anyone else has questions, leave them in the comments or email me. I’ll do another q+a soon. Don’t forget to become a fan Facebook — you’ll be the first to know about specials and contests!

I realize this blog has been rather quiet lately. After the craziness of Christmas I find myself welcoming that slow period that most photographers experience until Spring arrives. I’m spending this time hanging out with my husband and the kidlets since I know that Spring will be very busy for me (March is booking fast!). I limited my sessions in January and have spent the time refocusing my goals for 225 Photography and looking forward to the year ahead. Things will continue to be quiet around here as I do some behind the scenes work to be ready for the new year. Coming soon will be my What to Wear Guide, a Senior Rep program (I’ll begin accepting applications for Senior Reps – graduating class of 2011 – beginning in February so details on that will be coming soon), new model calls, and possibly Spring mini-sessions if there is enough interest. I’ll be updating my portfolio and fiddling around with the blog as well so if you stop by and things look a bit wonky, please pardon the dust! Don’t forget to become a fan of 225 Photography on Facebook to get all the news, last minute model calls, specials, etc!

I am now booking for February and March. If you’re interested in booking a Spring session please give me a call or send me an email. And while I’m not scheduling any sessions for the remainder of January, maternity and newborns are the exception and will always be fit in.

And because no post is complete without a photo, I’ve included one from the 365 project I’m taking part in where I take a picture every single day for one year and post it to my personal blog. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of these in the future as I’ve got 347 more days to go.

Things will be quieter here on the blog as this is my last week of work for the year of 2009! I have orders coming in every day and I’m getting them delivered as quickly as I can — I should probably just get a brown uniform and brown truck! Beginning Monday, I will be taking the remainder of the month off, as well as part of January so I can spend some time with my family. I am now booking February 2010 and beyond. Thanks everyone for an amazing 2009!