The pictures from both Day One and Day Two of the Tallassee Holiday Market are now on their way! You can also view the pictures online by clicking your day above.
If you would like to purchase more prints of your pictures, they will cost an additional $1 per 4x6. You can also get your picture as a .JPG file via email with full rights to use it however you choose for $5. Please email me (p e c a s p e r s @ g m a i l . c o m - without the spaces), call 334-452-3PEC (that's 334-452-3732), or message me on facebook to make arrangements.
Here are some things I learned from this event:
1) Always have a back up.
2) Take allergy medicine the day before because I will inevitably be downwind from a smokey grill.
3) A tripod will make editing simpler.
4) Doris's tent does go higher!
5) Go even bigger on the backdrop/scenery.
6) I need a seating option that is both wider and more stable.
7) A festive, fun thing for little kids to hold is great, but it would be better if it was something they could keep. (I had a few little ones who didn't want to give back my jingle bell.)
8) People like to buy things they can take with them, but most will not place an order for you to send them stuff.
9) It would be good to have a calendar to make portrait appointments on the spot.
10) Long underwear will make you sweat during set-up, which will leave you with cold feet later.
It was a great experience. Tripp Storm of the Tallassee Farmers Market was a pleasure to work with. I made some other good contacts. We did little more than clear expenses, but I think we'll see the benefits further down the road. Thanks to all who came by the booth!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Holiday Market Day One Done
Alright folks. The first day of the Holiday Market is done. I've downloaded the pictures to my laptop. I'm charging batteries. I'm about to reformat all my memory cards. Then, I'm going to sleep. I'll be up about 5 AM to be ready to go set up about 6:30 to be ready to shoot by 8AM. That's what I call early.
Today wasn't a rousing success. I think I probably cleared the cost of the business license. However, I talked to a lot of people who are planning on coming by with their kids or grandkids before or after the parade tomorrow. I'm expecting big things for day two.
You might have seen my facebook post about needing to borrow a camera. My camera stopped working right before activity started to pick up for no discernible reason. It had happened momentarily earlier in the day, but this time it seemed to be a complete failure. Only Jessica's prayers can give any explanation to why it started working again after a half hour of not. Nonetheless, it's working again. I was able to finish out the night taking pics. I probably missed four or five opportunities for photo sales, but I'm pretty sure I'll catch those folks again tomorrow.
No fear for tomorrow. Richard Patterson of Village Photographers was on his way in our general direction and Jessica met him at the interstate to borrow a pair of cameras, just in case. Also on tomorrow, I realized the tent can go about a foot higher! I'm stoked, because that means I can actually have people standing if the group is too big. It just occurred to me that it also means I'm going to have to do something extra to keep the backdrop from blowing in the wind. I think I can handle that, though.
See you tomorrow!
Today wasn't a rousing success. I think I probably cleared the cost of the business license. However, I talked to a lot of people who are planning on coming by with their kids or grandkids before or after the parade tomorrow. I'm expecting big things for day two.
You might have seen my facebook post about needing to borrow a camera. My camera stopped working right before activity started to pick up for no discernible reason. It had happened momentarily earlier in the day, but this time it seemed to be a complete failure. Only Jessica's prayers can give any explanation to why it started working again after a half hour of not. Nonetheless, it's working again. I was able to finish out the night taking pics. I probably missed four or five opportunities for photo sales, but I'm pretty sure I'll catch those folks again tomorrow.
No fear for tomorrow. Richard Patterson of Village Photographers was on his way in our general direction and Jessica met him at the interstate to borrow a pair of cameras, just in case. Also on tomorrow, I realized the tent can go about a foot higher! I'm stoked, because that means I can actually have people standing if the group is too big. It just occurred to me that it also means I'm going to have to do something extra to keep the backdrop from blowing in the wind. I think I can handle that, though.
See you tomorrow!
Holiday Market Is TODAY
Tallassee's Holiday Market starts at noon today! You should come out and have your picture made before the Christmas Parade. If you do, it'll look a little something like this:
See you at the Market!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Holiday Market Is TOMORROW!
The Tallassee Holiday Market begins tomorrow at noon at Veterans' Park. That means we are less than twenty-four hours away. Drop another couple of hours off for the fact that vendors can set up as early as 9:30AM, and we find ourselves in the middle of crunch time. So why am I posting about it?
Simple, I want to see you there!
The Holiday Market will be open at the park from noon until around six o'clock when the Tallassee Tree Lighting ceremony will occur on Friday. Then on Saturday, the Holiday Market will be open from eight in the morning until around noon when the Tallassee Christmas Parade will come through town. Saturday's market will be on the sidewalk in front of the Mt. Vernon Theater.
@PEaCe Photography will be set up taking pictures much like we did for Trade Day as well as taking orders for a small selection of local and/or seasonal photo prints. I'm really excited that we'll be working with a much cooler backdrop and better lighting. The results will be fantastic, I guarantee it.
Come get your picture taken for only $1, and I'll mail you a 4x6 as a postcard. Bring your whole family and get a picture taken to use as your Christmas card. I'll cut you a deal on large orders or sell you a high resolution image, just talk to me at the market.
And, here's our third option for postcard boarders! I'll post full mock ups with the actual back drop later tonight.
Simple, I want to see you there!
The Holiday Market will be open at the park from noon until around six o'clock when the Tallassee Tree Lighting ceremony will occur on Friday. Then on Saturday, the Holiday Market will be open from eight in the morning until around noon when the Tallassee Christmas Parade will come through town. Saturday's market will be on the sidewalk in front of the Mt. Vernon Theater.
@PEaCe Photography will be set up taking pictures much like we did for Trade Day as well as taking orders for a small selection of local and/or seasonal photo prints. I'm really excited that we'll be working with a much cooler backdrop and better lighting. The results will be fantastic, I guarantee it.
Come get your picture taken for only $1, and I'll mail you a 4x6 as a postcard. Bring your whole family and get a picture taken to use as your Christmas card. I'll cut you a deal on large orders or sell you a high resolution image, just talk to me at the market.
And, here's our third option for postcard boarders! I'll post full mock ups with the actual back drop later tonight.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Scripture Pictures
Here are a few pics I've coupled with passages from the Bible. I'll be coming up with more of these as I go along, but this is what I've got so far. These will be available at my upcoming Holiday Market photo booth and a framed print would make a great gift idea. Prints will not have the huge logo.
"Consuming Fire"
"Dead End"
"Light of the World"
Holiday Market Is on Its Way!
The Tallassee Holiday Market is coming up on December 2nd and 3rd, and I'm planning on being there with a photography booth much like I had at Trade Day back in October. I've been emailing with the market manager in an attempt to get power so I can use my Novatrons this time, but I'll survive if I have to make do with a Village Photographers Metz.
For some strange reason, I'm still awake. (See the time stamp on this post.) During this insomnia episode, I've come up with a few options for the boarders around my Holiday Market pictures. Here are the samples:
I already see a couple of issues with them, so these are not final. And no, I will not be using the same backdrop and scenery as I did for Trade Day. It's just that it's hard to come up with a sample picture for something you haven't done yet, and Peter's really cute!
I expect Holiday Market to be better than Trade Day, as I hope to get better (both photography skills and business success) with each event/gig. I'm really looking forward to it.
For some strange reason, I'm still awake. (See the time stamp on this post.) During this insomnia episode, I've come up with a few options for the boarders around my Holiday Market pictures. Here are the samples:
I expect Holiday Market to be better than Trade Day, as I hope to get better (both photography skills and business success) with each event/gig. I'm really looking forward to it.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Prices and "Packages"
[This post is out dated. For the updated version click HERE.]
I've been talking with a number of people about setting up photo shoots in the coming weeks. It seemed like a good idea to explain on here how I'm going to handle pricing and printing pictures for my customers.
Session Pricing
The way I am currently pricing photo shoots is as follows:
$25 for less than an hour without regard for how big the group is. If I think I can show up, set up my equipment, shoot the pictures, and be packing up in less than an hour, then I'm only charging $25. That gets you a relatively small number of simple portraits; there won't be a lot of artsy stuff, but you'll have some good pictures and it won't blow your whole morning/afternoon/evening.
All other prices are photographer defined based on expected time and energy investment. That is to say, I will give you a price based on the amount of work I think your shoot will be. If you have a bunch of people, that's going to cost more. If you have more kids than you have adults to wrangle them, that'll cost more. If you expect me to come up with picture ideas for three solid hours, that'll cost more. If you want me to supply multiple backdrops or you want to change locations, that'll cost more. If you want to come away with a wide array of poses and options to choose from, that'll cost more. And as I gain experience at setting these up and ending up with satisfied customers, the prices will slowly go up. (However, it is my desire to stay at the budget end of the professional photography spectrum.)
Packages and Printing
Traditionally, photographers charge you a fee for the time they shoot (usually called a "sitting fee"), and then they offer to sell you prints in pre-defined "packages" with different quantities and sizes. Photographers originally did this, I think, because they were trying to be sure whole sheets of photo paper were used as they processed the packages of pictures. We don't live in that world anymore, and I see no reason to force you to buy prints you don't want of images you already paid to have taken. Therefore, I have two printing options for my customers after they've paid to have me take their pictures.
The Easy-for-Me Way: I'll pick the best images, do any necessary editing, and burn them to a CD which I give to the customer; the customer takes that CD to whoever s/he wants (Sam's, CVS, ShutterFly.com, etc.) and gets whatever prints s/he likes. The Easy-for-Me Way is included in the cost of the photo shoot because it requires no additional time on my part.
The More-Expensive-for-You Way: I'll pick the best images, do any necessary editing, burn them to a CD which I give to the customer, (here's the difference) then the customer tells me what sizes and quantities s/he wants and I'll take them to Sam's to be printed and deliver them to the customer. Because of the added time and effort, The More-Expensive-for-You Way carries a higher price per print than you would be able to get yourself. However, this is still a pretty good deal compared to what many photographers charge to print your pictures, AND you still get the CD of images to do whatever you like with in the future.
Prices Per Print for The-More-Expensive-for-You Way:
Wallets: $1 for 4 prints
4x6: $1
5x7: $2
8x10: $4
11x14: $10
12x16: $12
16x20: $20
20x24: $25
20x30: $30
Additional Fees
The No-Logo Fee: I place a small company logo in one of the corners of each picture. If you would like all your images without the logo, it will be an extra $10 (total, not per image). That logo gets people to say, "Hey, who took this great picture?" And not having it means you are a little less likely to get the opportunity to send clients my way.
Out-of-Town Fee: If the photo shoot location is much more than a 15 minute drive from my house, then there will be some additional charge for the time it takes to get there. This is not a mileage based fee; it is based on the time I spend traveling. Expect about $5 for each additional quarter hour of drive-time.
Way-Out-of-Town Fee: For shoots at locations that are a significant distance from Tallassee, I'll expect a reimbursement for the actual mileage I drive to and from the site. The IRS Standard is currently $0.555 per mile. That's not a typo, it is fifty-five and a half cents per mile. What's a "a significant distance"? It's intentionally vague. Roughly speaking, you are Way-Out-of-Town if it's going to take me more than thirty minutes of interstate driving to get to you, but you are just regular Out-of-Town if I'm driving for an hour down county roads.
Scenery Fee: I have a number of simple back-drops which can be used with no additional cost. You are welcome to contribute your own props (think blankets, shakers, music instruments, uniforms, furniture, weapons, etc.) with no added cost. The Scenery Fee is for times where additional scenery pieces are used which I must supply. For example, you want baby pictures of your daughter on a pink fleece blanket surrounded by white feathers. That's no problem. For things I already have, I'll charge you a small fee intended to cover the wear-and-tear on my stuff and the added effort of bringing it and setting it up. But if I don't currently own a pink fleece blanket and white feathers, then I will pass on to you some (but likely not all) of the cost of purchasing those scenery pieces. Why "some (but likely not all)"? Most things I expect people to ask for are likely to be things I can use repeatedly. The some offsets my immediate cost so I'm not losing money on your shoot. I say likely because I'll expect you to cover the whole cost if it is something that I don't foresee other people asking for or that can't be used again. You want a photo shoot surrounded by pink flamingos? Sure, but you're paying for the flamingos. More realistically, I saw a one-year-old picture where the little girl had purple icing on her face and was sitting with a giant, smashed cupcake. The fee on that would cover the cupcake and probably the cost of the sure-to-be-stained cloth she was sitting on.
I'm sure there are more things I will add to this list. @PEaCe Photography is still in its early days and I'm new to the pricing side of this business even though I've been behind the camera for over 7 years. I hope this helps.
I've been talking with a number of people about setting up photo shoots in the coming weeks. It seemed like a good idea to explain on here how I'm going to handle pricing and printing pictures for my customers.
Session Pricing
The way I am currently pricing photo shoots is as follows:
$25 for less than an hour without regard for how big the group is. If I think I can show up, set up my equipment, shoot the pictures, and be packing up in less than an hour, then I'm only charging $25. That gets you a relatively small number of simple portraits; there won't be a lot of artsy stuff, but you'll have some good pictures and it won't blow your whole morning/afternoon/evening.
All other prices are photographer defined based on expected time and energy investment. That is to say, I will give you a price based on the amount of work I think your shoot will be. If you have a bunch of people, that's going to cost more. If you have more kids than you have adults to wrangle them, that'll cost more. If you expect me to come up with picture ideas for three solid hours, that'll cost more. If you want me to supply multiple backdrops or you want to change locations, that'll cost more. If you want to come away with a wide array of poses and options to choose from, that'll cost more. And as I gain experience at setting these up and ending up with satisfied customers, the prices will slowly go up. (However, it is my desire to stay at the budget end of the professional photography spectrum.)
Packages and Printing
Traditionally, photographers charge you a fee for the time they shoot (usually called a "sitting fee"), and then they offer to sell you prints in pre-defined "packages" with different quantities and sizes. Photographers originally did this, I think, because they were trying to be sure whole sheets of photo paper were used as they processed the packages of pictures. We don't live in that world anymore, and I see no reason to force you to buy prints you don't want of images you already paid to have taken. Therefore, I have two printing options for my customers after they've paid to have me take their pictures.
The Easy-for-Me Way: I'll pick the best images, do any necessary editing, and burn them to a CD which I give to the customer; the customer takes that CD to whoever s/he wants (Sam's, CVS, ShutterFly.com, etc.) and gets whatever prints s/he likes. The Easy-for-Me Way is included in the cost of the photo shoot because it requires no additional time on my part.
The More-Expensive-for-You Way: I'll pick the best images, do any necessary editing, burn them to a CD which I give to the customer, (here's the difference) then the customer tells me what sizes and quantities s/he wants and I'll take them to Sam's to be printed and deliver them to the customer. Because of the added time and effort, The More-Expensive-for-You Way carries a higher price per print than you would be able to get yourself. However, this is still a pretty good deal compared to what many photographers charge to print your pictures, AND you still get the CD of images to do whatever you like with in the future.
Prices Per Print for The-More-Expensive-for-You Way:
Wallets: $1 for 4 prints
4x6: $1
5x7: $2
8x10: $4
11x14: $10
12x16: $12
16x20: $20
20x24: $25
20x30: $30
Additional Fees
The No-Logo Fee: I place a small company logo in one of the corners of each picture. If you would like all your images without the logo, it will be an extra $10 (total, not per image). That logo gets people to say, "Hey, who took this great picture?" And not having it means you are a little less likely to get the opportunity to send clients my way.
Out-of-Town Fee: If the photo shoot location is much more than a 15 minute drive from my house, then there will be some additional charge for the time it takes to get there. This is not a mileage based fee; it is based on the time I spend traveling. Expect about $5 for each additional quarter hour of drive-time.
Way-Out-of-Town Fee: For shoots at locations that are a significant distance from Tallassee, I'll expect a reimbursement for the actual mileage I drive to and from the site. The IRS Standard is currently $0.555 per mile. That's not a typo, it is fifty-five and a half cents per mile. What's a "a significant distance"? It's intentionally vague. Roughly speaking, you are Way-Out-of-Town if it's going to take me more than thirty minutes of interstate driving to get to you, but you are just regular Out-of-Town if I'm driving for an hour down county roads.
Scenery Fee: I have a number of simple back-drops which can be used with no additional cost. You are welcome to contribute your own props (think blankets, shakers, music instruments, uniforms, furniture, weapons, etc.) with no added cost. The Scenery Fee is for times where additional scenery pieces are used which I must supply. For example, you want baby pictures of your daughter on a pink fleece blanket surrounded by white feathers. That's no problem. For things I already have, I'll charge you a small fee intended to cover the wear-and-tear on my stuff and the added effort of bringing it and setting it up. But if I don't currently own a pink fleece blanket and white feathers, then I will pass on to you some (but likely not all) of the cost of purchasing those scenery pieces. Why "some (but likely not all)"? Most things I expect people to ask for are likely to be things I can use repeatedly. The some offsets my immediate cost so I'm not losing money on your shoot. I say likely because I'll expect you to cover the whole cost if it is something that I don't foresee other people asking for or that can't be used again. You want a photo shoot surrounded by pink flamingos? Sure, but you're paying for the flamingos. More realistically, I saw a one-year-old picture where the little girl had purple icing on her face and was sitting with a giant, smashed cupcake. The fee on that would cover the cupcake and probably the cost of the sure-to-be-stained cloth she was sitting on.
I'm sure there are more things I will add to this list. @PEaCe Photography is still in its early days and I'm new to the pricing side of this business even though I've been behind the camera for over 7 years. I hope this helps.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Pre-Trade Day
It's the day before Trade Day in Tallassee, AL. My wife and I are preparing to work a booth taking pictures and selling prints to the visitors of this fun and very random street festival. This will be our first public activity as @PEaCe Photography, and we are wavering between excited and scared.
I've got about fifty different photographs of which we're going to be taking orders for prints. I'll also be taking pictures on location in front of a backdrop and some fall scenery. Those pics will be mailed out as postcards for the low, low cost of $1.
Here's roughly what the postcards will look like:
I've got about fifty different photographs of which we're going to be taking orders for prints. I'll also be taking pictures on location in front of a backdrop and some fall scenery. Those pics will be mailed out as postcards for the low, low cost of $1.
Here's roughly what the postcards will look like:
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
First Post
I'm only posting so that there will be something on here for Google to start indexing. Well, that and so that I can get a better feel of what the blog will look like with some content. And I guess I kind of want there to be some content even if it is completely uninteresting.
There you have it folks. I now have a blog for my personal art photography and freelance photography company.
Perhaps I'll start taking "photowalks."
There you have it folks. I now have a blog for my personal art photography and freelance photography company.
Perhaps I'll start taking "photowalks."
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