$99 Child sessions, includes a 5x7 and an 8x10. Proof sets from this session will be available for an additional $100 (up to 20 proofs). Enlargements available at my a la carte rates.
These are local rates. Out of area sessions will be charged travel fees. Contact me for details!
I may make this promotion available permanently if it works out the way I envision it to :)
Just a reminder, I no longer do senior sessions. I specialize exclusively in childhood portraiture.
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I have been thinking about something that is very important to me, and in fact have put off booking formal portrait sessions most of this year trying to really listen for what I'm called to do in this field. I treasure my work and the images I create, but even more precious is what the photographs reflect, and that is time. Those reflections of time are invaluable, and are much more important to who the art was created for than to expanding my portfolio. Once we freeze a moment into something so invaluable as a way to visually recount an experience, it becomes something more than just a photograph. It becomes a direct avenue for remembering, not just the moment itself, but the befores and afters and all that was happening surrounding the image. Seeing a photograph allows us to breathe, to see how we have grown and things that have changed. It teaches us things.
Having been given a gift to understand people and to translate that into photographs is something I feel I may have, at times, taken for granted because of how much it means to express myself and the things I see. Yes, to have an exclusive career in this means it is necessary to make money in order to survive. My prices vary and when I'm hired commercially (bands, fashion portfolios, for garment shoots, editorials, etc) I do and will always price accordingly, factoring in budget, use of the images, and all of those other details such as travel, post-production time, you get the idea. When it comes to photographing children, however, I feel that every family should be able to afford an opportunity to have such artwork upon the walls of their home. To remember them as they were, innocence fleeting, changing moment to moment. Their very existence art in itself.
Continuing on, these times are trying financially.
I'm reconsidering all of my current prices. My Grandmother's recent passing has taught me a lot of things about who I am and what I want to offer in this profession. Where most businesses up their pricing every year, and I was one of them, I'm reconsidering. It sucks I've spent so much money printing out my pricing literature, haha, but.... it will be worth it to me to offer my time producing portraits of children in a way that I feel is more of a gift. I have no regrets in doing so.
I am not yet sure about how I am going to restructure my Portrait Collections, I'm just feeling it out as I go along, and the current special rate as described above will be my only solid pricing outside of my a-la-carte system which I am re-vamping. "Not a very well thought out business move to admit you are unsure about your pricing" you say? I digress..... this is exactly what I am being led to do and until I figure out exactly where I'm going with it, the current sale remains. I'm going against everything I've studied about pricing formal portraits, but it feels right.
This is so very important to me. My time is important, memories of children as they once were are MORE important. 
Friday, July 10, 2009
SALE - Booking August/September Child Sessions, under a new mentality
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
MODELS NEEDED + FREE BAND PHOTOS
Sunday JULY 26TH, 2009 WE WILL BE HOSTING A GROUP PHOTOSESSION OUTING IN ZANESVILLE OHIO between the hours of 10am and 4pm. The group shoot is presented to you by thehideoutforum.com and several of our members will be featured on-site that day, including:
Jessica Price
Michelle Black
Kina Williams
Sara Patton
Todd Eko
Janie Yoder
Laura Dark Photography
Tim Kruskamp (tentatively)
Kevin James (tentatively)
Rachel Lauren Photography
Other photographers are more than welcome to join! Please email me to:
michelle [at] michelleblackconcepts.com for the studio address and we will hand out the schedule for the day when you arrive that morning!
We will meet at Michelle Black and Jessica Price's private studio in Zanesville and then migrate to 2 different downtown locations. Some shooting may take place in-studio if there is an interest. We will break for a casual sit-down early dinner at The Olive Garden from 3-4 and anyone who wishes to join us back at the studio later that evening for wine, finger foods, and socializing is welcome.
We are looking for semi-experienced models ages 18+ to be photographed by our team of featured photographers, and are also open to working with area bands. THE EVENT IS FREE FOR ALL!
Purpose of this event is merely for networking, entertainment, and portfolio building.
Makeup Artists Attending:
Emily Blake
Scheduled Participating Models:
JEREMY
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Looking for a place to start off my workshops....
Jessica Price and I anticipate to have our first workshop date solidified for the weekend of October 16, 17, and 18.
We have a basic agenda but would like to ask that you let us know what you would be looking for in a workshop so we can elaborate and customize. *This is not a workshop that will be offering technical instruction* - This class is exclusively for opening your mind to creativity and using your intuition behind the camera, relationships that exist between all aspects of image creation, and refining your own personal vision.
That said, we are super excited!
We are considering using one of the following destinations for our first workshop tour date. Please reply if you are interested. The area that shows the most interest will be booked first and we will progress with the other cities in time.
Nashville, Tennessee
Miami, Florida
Houston, Texas
OTHER AREAS ON OUR LIST SO FAR
Boston, Massachusetts
San Fransisco Bay Area
Portland, Oregon
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Interview: Carmen Gonzalez
This week's interview at The Hideout Forum is with the lovely Carmen Gonzalez, also 'Solea' on flickr. 
Q: What are your Future Aspirations?
A: To keep learning and to keep enhancing my photographic skills. To stay creative, innovative and to be able to establish a permanent name in the world of Art.
Please register to participate and talk to Carmen this week at The Hideout! :D
http://thehideoutforum.com
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