What to Wear Wednesday | Jackson, MI Photographer

Coordinating outfits is all about those few select items that just jump right out. You don't want everyone wearing one, but done right and in moderation, it can really make the portrait without looking too cheesy. Below is an example of a semi-muted color palette, with just a taste of something wild. The neon handbag and shoes just add that little umph to send this over the top! Now, I'm not saying rush out and buy everything I just posted, just consider the styling, color combination of the pieces and how a little goes a long way.

Purple with Neon Green2 by nattyjphotography featuring long sleeve silk shirts

New, New & News | Jackson, MI Newborn Photographer

There are some things that you just can't resist in life...one of mine just happens to be newborn props. They're just so tiny and cute...and things miniaturized just for them! So of course I had to get some new items for the new year and there's some stuff that I bought towards the end of last year and didn't get to use that often, if at all. That's a whole lot of new :) I won't post pictures of the items until I get to use them, but I'll drop some hints: gentlemen, girly girls and earthy. You'll just have to wait to see what I mean!!

But in the meantime, I've got some pretty sweet news to share...I sold my first piece on Etsy!! I'm sure you remember reading awhile ago that I started an Etsy Store, Something Tangled Studios. In it, I've listed some small crochet pieces and a few of my landscape photographs. Well, yesterday someone bought The Loyal and it went all the way to Washington (I'm in Michigan). How cool is that?! Okay, maybe not as cool to you, but I think it's fabulous lol.

Baby It's Cold Outside | Jackson, MI Infant Photographer

I haven't ran a contest in quite awhile and I think it's about time! There will be two winners this time, one from each category; newborn to one year old and one year to two years old. What will YOU get?! Winners will receive a portrait session FREE of charge (a $120 value). Prints will be available for purchase, but there is no obligation to buy. So here's the rules:

• Your baby must be between newborn (or due in the next month) and 2 years old.
• To enter, post the photo of your child on my Facebook wall with their age. If you're pregnant, post your adorable pregnant belly with your due date :)
• Photos need to be submitted by midnight on February 8th. Voting will begin on the 9th at noon.
• Image with the most "likes" will win. If there's anyone using a like generator you will automatically disqualified.

What to Wear Wednesday | Jackson, MI Photographer

I absolutely love this, I got the idea to do the What to Wear Wednesday from a photographers group on Facebook. I thought it would be fun, especially since I always get asked the question, "What should I wear for my session?" So here's the first week!! The 2012 Pantone Color this year is Tangerine Tango, so I wanted to start off right by embracing the lovely color. I don't know about you, but I adore orange! Below are some easy outfits (perfect for an engagement or high school senior session) you can put together to make your photos just pop. Now most of the stuff listed might be a little on the high price side (what can I say, I have expensive tastes lol), but you could easily find something comparable to what's in the picture.

casual orange accents by mirapaigew featuring flat shoes

Men's Gray with Orange Accents by nattyjphotography featuring unisex shoes

The Knot | Jackson, MI Wedding Photographer

I am VERY pleased to announce that I am officially listed on The Knot! For those of you who don't know what The Knot is, it's the place to be online if you're engaged. They have TONS of resources for engaged couples ranging from vendors, to inspiration boards, and forums where you can talk with other engaged couples to get their take on things. The great thing is even after they get married a lot of them still go back to The Knot and talk about their experience, what they loved and what they'd do differently. They're an amazing resource all around. Plus, their staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, I think I talked to my area rep on the phone for at least an hour! You need an account to see the full thing, but if you do check out my listing!

The Great Debate

There's been a post going around amongst photographers the past couple of days from an upset bride in Seattle, Washington. Here's the original post, I doubt it will stay up for long, but below is what it says in case it gets deleted:

WHY is finding an amazing wedding photographer so difficult? :/

I am a Bride who is getting married this summer and have yet to find a decently priced, exceptional, amazingly talented, fun photographer.

WHY because the word "WEDDING" is involved photographers think they can change you $ 3,000.00 for wedding photos? Oh, because no bride is going to go without so they are going to pay it, because they HAVE to. They are ripping people off for all they have! Why when you want to get married it costs you AT LEAST 15,000 after all is said-and-done? Its such CRAP!! I love all you $ 3,000 photographers out there but i think your prices are WACK. All your doing is hanging out at a wedding taking tons of photos and editing them.. and thats worth $3,000!!! You're making so much money its crazy. I just wish people would be more realistic. I mean the "average" persons salary for 1 freaking month is somewhere around $3000. (Thats making 19$ an hour) So you're going to take someones WHOLE MONTH paycheck for one flippen day of photos? Just because you CAN!!?????? So that maybe they will not be able to feed themselves or pay any other bills they have, right? It makes me SICK!

I know im speaking for more than just myself right now. Alot of brides out there think the same thing. & I bet all you fancy photographers wont even read this. oh-well.
Maybe there are cheaper photographers that will read this and LOVE to take my photos :)

I have to admit when I first read this I was kind of angry, but then I realized why she felt this way; she hasn't been educated on what goes into taking those "amazing" wedding photos she wants. So let's break it down...my college degree is in Photographic Technology, just a fancy way of saying that I am a photographer. I had to pay for school to learn my trade, we'll go on the low side and say about $1,700/semester. It was a two year program so that would be $6,800 (and it took me four years to complete so that number is REALLY on the low side). I had to buy professional equipment so I can take the photos, $2500; that includes a main camera, a backup camera (accidents happen and I don't want to be stuck telling a bride I can't finish her wedding because my camera broke, but that's a whole other post), memory cards, hard drives, flash, and two portrait lenses. I had to buy Adobe Photoshop and even with my student discount it was $300 and lastly a computer $1300. Now if we add that all up that's $10,900 just to get started doing photography!!! I haven't even included ALL the overhead costs either. I've left out the prices of a website, web designers, marketing material, advertising, legal services, insurance, and MANY more. But we'll leave it at what it is, so say I shoot 20 weddings a year, that puts the overhead at $545/wedding.

Okay, so now to break down a wedding. I might catch some grief for putting this out there, but I want to be honest and show that we really don't make what the Seattle Bride thinks. My wedding collection prices aren't anywhere near $3,000, but I'll base it off my prices anyway. So take the middle package I offer, the I Do Collection for $1,500. It includes 8 hour coverage from two photographers, fully retouched proofs in an online gallery, $175 print credit and a 10x10 leather album. I pay my assistant $160, the online gallery costs $145 to run, the album is around $260 and the couple is getting $175 worth of products/prints. So right off the bat that takes the overall price down to $760. Most of my weddings are within a half an hour drive time of my home so that takes $20 in gas. You figure an hour's drive time total + 8 hours of shooting is 9 hours of work, a typical work day for the average adult. Then take out the $545 in overhead out and that leaves $195.

Then what the client doesn't see, the editing part. I allow myself one month to edit the images and post them to the gallery. There's roughly 1500 images to go through between mine and my assistant's images. I look at each one and choose the photos that make the cut. Then I retouch them, ie. color correction, exposure correction if needed, etc...so if I take the remaining $195 and divide that by the 30 days, it comes out to be $6.50/day. Does that really sound like we make $3,000?! I could only dream of making that much. I think the Seattle Bride forgets that we have bills to pay and mouths to feed as well, $195 doesn't go very far these days.

Just some food for thought on this wonderful Friday :)

FEATURED VENDOR {Beck's Flower Shop & Gardens}

I was first introduced to Beck's Flower Shop and Gardens from their daughter, we played roller derby together. They had hosted the team a couple of times for various fundraisers and I couldn't believe the size of their store. Beck's has an awesome selection too. I love to garden, despite killing almost every plant I've owned hahaha, but they helped me pick out plants even I couldn't mess up and even designed it for me! The photo below is what I went with, I adore succulents and just think they're the cutest little things ever. They're very photogenic so that must be the reason for my love of them lol.

Family owned since 1946, the Beck's know their stuff! They have fabulous customer service and go out of their way to help out their customers. A friend of mine was getting married and didn't have a bride's bouquet, I went in the day before the wedding and ordered one. They had it ready to pick up the next day before the wedding and it was beautiful. I also had the pleasure of photographing one of their daughter's wedding and it was by far one of the most beautiful weddings I've seen. As you can tell by the images below their arrangements were stunning. I'm pretty sure that bridal bouquet weighed almost 8lbs!! But totally worth the workout because it photographed so well (but I might be a tad biased lol).

I would highly recommend going to Beck's for all your floral needs, from floral arrangements to outdoor plants. And don't forget Valentine's Day is right around the corner, you can get that special someone in your life a gorgeous bouquet and see their amazing customer service for your self!!

2322 Lansing Ave.

Jackson, MI 49202

(800) 211-7871

www.becksflowershop.com

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