Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A few more of Hillary

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Just a few more photos from my photo shoot with Miss Hillary!

Her eyes! I LOVE her eyes!

Thanks again Hillary, you were an amazing model!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Hillary-Portraits

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Hillary is one of my little sisters friends and she asked me if I would do a photo shoot for her! We'll if you know me, you know I never say no to taking pictures!!! So I jumped on the opportunity! I've been wanting to shoot downtown for the longest time and decided thatGastown would be the perfect place for Hillary's portraits!! Hope you like them!!!










P dot S...still more to come!!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Beauty

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I think these photos speak for themselves. I took a moment to take in all the beauty that Spring has brought to my yard!




Saturday, April 18, 2009

Life with a 2 year old

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Oh the life with a 2 year old! Its never dull that's for sure. My son came up to me today and said, "Mom! Look at my mustache!" My only reaction was to laugh. I mean what do you expect, when you leave a 2 year old alone with markers?? Luckily they are crayola, non-toxic and will all wash off!!

Yes, that's his "nice" smile
Typical 2 year old boy

 
 

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Why are professional photographers so expensive?

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I found this online and thought I would share it with all of you!

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?

In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home "photo printers", when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time - How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 (actually more then what I charge) for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store?

Here's why.

Simply put, you're not just paying for the actual photograph, you're paying for time and expertise. First, let's look at the actual time involved. If you don't read this entire page, at least read this first part.

For a two hour portrait session:

- one hour of travel to and from the session
- two hours of shooting
- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive
- 3 - 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs
- 2 - 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex.
- For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours.

You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.

For an eight hour wedding:

- I won't bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour.

Now for the expertise.

Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc.

And let's not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera - and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself.

Think of it this way - the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional.

What about the cheap studios at the mall?

Please don't compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won't come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for.

The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you'll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you're there, you'll also spend $200 on other things. They don't have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door.

Conclusion:

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Author: Shawn Richter

http://www.caughtonfilmphoto.com/costofphotography.html
And now a photo to brighten your day if you've been stuck in the rain like me!



Friday, April 10, 2009

Rainy Day Play Day

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We got teased with a glimpse of summer last weekend. It was beautiful weather! I even got a nice tan. A tan in April!! But that weather soon disappeared and we were back to the rainy weather us Vancouverites are used to in Spring. So Ryder and I stayed inside all day and we had a rainy day play day. Here are a few pictures from my little mans room.


My Other Album Arrived!!

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So I mentioned before that I had ordered two albums from Pictage! Well after a few weeks of patiently waiting, my WillowBook album has arrived and I am absolutely in LOVE with it!!! The thick, flush mount pages, the genuine leather, the collage pages, mmmm its delicious!!





Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Spring Promo-EXTENDED!!

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Wow! What beautiful weather we have been having! I love spring!! And with all this weather I've been in such a good mood, I couldn't help but extend my spring promo!

Book and hold a photo shoot with Kayci Gough Photography between now and May 31st and receive a second photo shoot for FREE*!! Keep it for yourself or give it away to a friend or family member, its up to you!!

If your interested in this great promo and would like to book a shot or maybe you just want more details contact me!!

*Not valid on wedding sessions
*Valid for one year