Sticker Shock over Prices

Do you have a digital camera? Do you take photos of things..family, fun, friends on a regular basis? Most people in the US now have the means to have a good digital camera, most starting at only $60, and be able to print photos from Wal-Mart or Walgreens or ShutterFly for very little a print. We are talking as little as $0.10 a print, and they get sticker shock when they look at a professional photographer's website and see the cost of a 4x6.

Would you go to a salon and ask the hairdresser what brand of scissors rocks her world, go purchase them and then assume the world thinks you are a professional hairdresser just because you have the same as her? Then why would you assume everybody with a black DSLR with a flash is a professional?

I have a very specific skill set. As a professional wedding photographer, I know when to expect things at weddings, looks that parents give their daughters when she is about to become a Mrs., looks brides give their handsome grooms. Over the years I've learned that what is most important is maintaining a professional appearance, without anyone remembering I was there.

Why are your photos so expensive? I have based my pricing on my area, we are not a large metropolitan area like Nashville. We are a wonderful community in beautiful Southern Kentucky.  I want families to offer families a chance to make an investment in their photos. Would you go and have barber drill your teeth?

Don't you get your photos printed at Walgreens? As a professional, I do not go to Wal-Mart, Walgreens, or Shutterfly to print those oh so important photos. I go to a company that offers higher quality control, beautiful papers and custom framing with any order I place.

Why can't I preview my photos like they do at large chain store's photo studio right after I get them taken?  As a professional, most of the photos I take are outside, and my camera is not plugged into a tower with preset sizes and layouts to offer 1 photo per sheet.  What I do offer is quality control, time invested in your family, and a chance to have your photos taken with a lot of artistic freedom. Have you ever noticed that every large chain stork studio print looks cramped and every family from certain years always have the same backgrounds? Don't you want your family photos to be as original as you are?

Helping you create memories one photo at a time.

xoxo

Cindy
www.photosmithsphotography.com

Is it in focus?

As a photographer, I've seen good photos and bad photos posted by "professional" photographers on Facebook, and even their own websites and all the while people are oohing and aahing over bad photos. When I first started out, my most important critic was my husband and he would never let me get away with putting fuzzy out of focus photos on my website for my clients to review. I was reviewing a friends photos she had professionally taken, and well I was disapointed for her that the "professional" had hidden a lot of her flaws with black and white and even posted out of focus photos.  As a photographer myself, if my photos are not tack sharp, they don't get the time of day I could be putting towards other more deserving photos. Don't you deserve a photographer who takes the time to make sure your photos are wonderfully in focus, and can be blown up to a 20x24 gallery print size if you want it to, without it looking fuzzy?

I hope you take the time to invest in a photographer who knows how to properly operate her/his equipment and software, as well as takes the time to not to post bad photos of you to Facebook or their portfolio.
xoxo,

Cindy
www.photosmithsphotography.com
Proud member of OPLOVE

I've joined OpLove!!!!

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I've been thinking and thinking about how I can give back to my military community, we have lived near Fort Campbell, KY for the past 11 years and have seen many many deployments. I have see our army come and our army go, and each time it is heart wrenching to see children tell their dads bye, and wives kiss their husbands that are meant to last a minimum of a year. So with the help of OpLove, I hope to bring some of the financial burden off of our great army community, and help them with photos of their loved ones. How wonderful is is going to be to help a deserving military family capture photos of their love for one another. I hope you will take advantage of this great offer, and not let the fear of cost keep you from creating memories, one photo at a time.

xoxo,

Cindy Smith
PhotoSmiths Photography
Hopkinsville, KY

Oh the things...

Oh the things that a mother does not see when she has her back turned on her little kids. I decided to photograph my mobile office today, aka my mini-van, and this is one of the photos that I caught,

When you where a kids what did you do in the back seat of your parent's car? I remember on long road trips, we would count the different license plates that passed us as we traved from our little home town to visit a family friend in D.C. or we would play the different color car game. My sister would always pick purple, because that was her favorite color. Me, I would pick red :) and always I would let her win, even though there might be no puple cars out there, but because I loved her.

Encourage your children to turn off the iPods, put down the PSPs, and look out the window. You will never know what they might see if they just look. Happy travels!

Five reasons why you should never skimp on wedding photography.

tLet’s face it. Weddings are so expensive. I’m all about finding ways to save money, and there are lots of ways you can do so. But if you only splurge on one thing for your wedding, LET IT BE PHOTOGRAPHY.  Why? Because its true! If you live in southern Kentucky, chances are you know someone who is a “photographer” and its tempting to hire them for cheap or even have them shoot your wedding as a wedding gift to you to save money, but hear me now and believe me later, DON’T DO IT!!!

Here’s why:

1. You will not get this chance again.
This is your wedding, a day little girls have looked forward to since their first glimpse of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Where else will a large family gathering be? Think of those photos you want to capture, like with your great-grandmother or even your mom. Those moments will be gone in a blink of an eye, so capture them while you have time.  Wouldn't you want to invest in memories for you and your children and your future grandchildren? Invest in memories that will carry down through the generations.

2. It’s not just for you, its for everyone who loves you.
Your day will last forever, via photos. And think of all the family who couldn't make it, share your wonderful day with them with a great wedding photographer's work. It will help them feel like they were there if they are shown excellent work that bursts with excitement and love and care for your wedding day.

3. A wedding photographer can anticipate what will happen next.
This is why you should not only get a great photographer, you should get a great wedding photographer. A wedding photographer can tell you exactly what is going to happen next, and if they are really god, they can anticipate those extra special moments that normally Uncle Bob won't think to capture. Wedding photographers know how to work a crowd, without being part of it.

4. A great photographer can turn an ordinary wedding into an extraordinary wedding.
When you are on a budget, a good photographer can make your wedding photos look like you spent at least 2xs the amount you did. They turn your wedding into something graceful, and makes it pop with effort to capture those special moments.

5. If it doesn’t turn out well, you don’t want to have hard feelings with a friend.
If you have a friend take your wedding photos, they might get side tracked, because they are the "photographer" and take control of your wedding day, not letting you enjoy your time with family and friends. Instead of working, they are there are friends, and want to be part of the inner circle, when they should be looking in, and seeing that the day is not about you and them, but just about you. They might get a little upset when you tell them, back off, or they might get upset when 3 months down the road you are asking where are your photos at. Remember cheap or free = no motivation to get the job done quickly, especially when a paying gig comes up.

So how much does a great wedding photographer cost in South West Kentucky? This depends on what all is included. Some photographers quote their rates for shooting only, while others quote packages that include both shooting and prints, albums, digital images, etc. When you are researching photographers you should keep this in mind and make sure you are comparing apples to apples with regard to pricing. That being said, I know a couple of great photographers whose coverage starts around $1,000, but you should not be startled at a base price of $3,500 either. Sure that’s a lot of money, but what you get in return is priceless.