Q: So what brought you to photography?
A: When I was in the fourth grade my eighteen year old sister got married. One of my biggest memories from it was the wedding photographer. I was so entranced with how much fun it looked. Skipping to my early teens, I can remember still not having a camera so I would take pictures with my iPhone and edit them in photoshop just for fun. I would research and look at different photographs and wonder how they got it to look that way. This could keep me interested for hours! Now skip to my junior year. I finally get my first camera, it was a whole new world from taking thousands of pictures with my iPhone. And this is where it all began. I have been doing photoshoots ever since.
Q: How long will it take to see my online gallery with my edited images?
A: This all depends on the season but on average it only takes about a week for sessions and two weeks for weddings.
Q: How are your turnaround times so fast?
A: I am very proud of how fast my turnaround times are. What makes them so much faster than other places are I make sure to space out my shoots with the appropriate amount of time for editing. Shooting a session only takes one evening but the organizing, uploading, and editing time can take several days. Many photographers do sessions everyday of the week but then that leaves them zero time for editing until they have a free day or stay up every night for several weeks until they are caught up. This can still delay you on getting your photos if your at the end of the queue to waiting months for just a simple session. I have even seen brides have to wait over a year to get their wedding photo's back! It took my wedding photographer 2 years to get my wedding album to me. Being through something like that I promised myself that I would never let that happen to one of my brides or clients.
Q: So why doesn't every photographer space out their time like you?
A: Honestly it is really hard to tell people you are booked if they don't schedule in far enough advance. Plus, many do it for the money because more booking means more session fees. I am however honest with the fact that I can only take in so many clients to give the clients I do have the attention and care they deserve. Plus not over booking myself gives me time to answer emails in a timely fashion, prep for shoots ahead of time, and so much more. I want to offer the best experience all around to my customers, not just gift them with beautiful photos. Overbooking is one of the many reasons some photographers get burned out and end up ending their business. It can get stressful if your editing all day, shooting in the evenings, weekends, and keeping up with all the business aspect such as emails, advertising, website upkeep, backing up, billing, ect. When it comes to owning my own business I have to make sure to allow some time for life and family. That is why I try my best to make sure everything is well balanced.
Q: So why do you charge more than so and so?
A: Every photographer's price is different and there is a reason for that. First and foremost to take into consideration is this is my full time job. Because this is my full time job I can put more time and effort into each one of my clients. Before this was my full time job I went to photography school where I graduated with a degree in Applied Sciences in Photography Technology. Because I went to school I have mastered all the technical things to being a photographer. That education was not free and just like with any job you can expect to be able to charge or get paid more with a higher education. Another thing that makes me worth more is the equipment I use. There is a huge difference in quality from a $499 rebel camera from Walmart vs the over $15,000 in equipment that I use to shoot your session or wedding with. I could go on to all my expenses but if you are a business owner yourself I think you might get an idea, especially when it comes to tax season, yikes! The main thing it comes down to is supply and demand and being able to make enough to cover what I put into my business plus my cost of living. If people really like my work and believe I am worth my price then we can both be happy. I understand not everyone can afford me and while that makes me sad I have to make sure my baby Hope Photography stays alive and can thrive. Some people even ask me why my prices are lower than other photographers. The reason is based mainly on I am trying to build my portfolio. I graduated in December of 2014 and even though Hope Photography has been in business since 2011 being in school has not let me grow my portfolio to it's full potential. With every year that goes by and as my portfolio builds you can expect my prices to increase.
Q: I don't see my gallery from a session in the past, is there any way you can put that back on to order?
A: Most definitely! Just text or call me and I will put your album up on the site for order.
Q: Why do you do mostly colored photos?
A: This is mainly my artistic preference. Plus it is a lot easier to make a color into black and white vs the other way around. There is an option in your checkout cart if you would like to make a color into a black and white. I will usually do a black and white if I feel a photo will only look good in black and white or if I feel it would be more powerful that way. Not all photos look good in black and white so I want to make sure you have a chance to see them in color first.
Q: Where will we shoot our pictures?
A: Wherever you like, we may take them at your favorite spot and if you don't have one, I have plenty of places we could shoot at. Some places to consider is State Parks or if you or your family has private land that could be a special place for us to take them at.
Q: What is a Digital Download? And why don't you do CDs?
A: CD's compress your images to make them less quality. Plus, they get scratched and lost. A Digital Download can be downloaded straight from your computer and can be stored on whatever backing up system you use such as a thumb drive or hard drive. They can be copied on multiple devices without the worry of lost quality. Digital Downloads come with full printing rights and can be printed off wherever you would like, as many times as you would like. I do have some suggestions on where you can get the best bang for your buck and they would be Mpix, Shutterfly, and my personal favorite Nations Photo Lab. Plus you won't have to wait for your images to come in the mail, you will be able to download them instantly.
Q: When do I need to pay my deposit for my wedding package?
A: As soon as you know I am the photographer for you I would pay it along with submitting your contract in order to officially reserve your wedding date. Because I am a growing business, my prices tend to go up and when you pay your deposit you lock your price in before it goes up as well.
Q: How many pictures are included in my session?
A: This is actually a really tough question. It is always different. For example a model of a senior might have more pictures than a family of 6 with 3 under the age of 5. However I put the same amount of energy and editing into all of my sessions. On average there is around 50 different shots come from a session.
Q: How much do you charge?
A: Take a look under my investments tab, keep in mind prices are subject to change until your session is officially booked.
Q: How long does it take my professional prints to get to me?
A: It depends on what shipping you choose at checkout. It is anywhere from 2 to 10 buisness days, depending on what you choose.
Q: What should I wear?
A: One of my best pieces of advice would be don't wear anything with words on it. The focus should be on you and not what your words on your clothes are saying. For group pictures I would choose colors that go well together. I would just make sure they are not to matchy- matchy. Instead have everyone where the same color pallet To make your pictures more personal try picking out a main color and a secondary color for everyone in the group to wear. I personally think different shades of neutrals as my main color and then a pop of color looks the best. I have a Pinterest board that I created that will hopefully give you some inspiration on what photographs well.
Here is the link: http://www.pinterest.com/d2theanielle/hope-photography-outfit-inspiration/
Q: When should I pay you?
A: A $50 retainer must be paid to officially reserve your date. The rest of the session fee must be paid before your shoot and you will pay for your prints online.
Q: Do you have online ordering?
A: Yes I do! It even ships straight to your house. It is also nice to be able to order as many times as you want.
Q: What time will our photoshoot be?
A: I shoot during the hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. This all depends on what time of year it is. To find these times you can google it.
Q: Can my family members purchase pictures as well?
A: Yes they can, just give them the access code I sent you and they can have their prints shipped straight to their house.
Q: Do you have coffee mugs or any other specialty items that I can put my prints on to purchase?
A: Yes, I have lots of products that I haven't even named on my site because there are too many to name. When you're adding prints to your cart you can see all there is to purchase. Some off the top of my head are shirts, stamps, coffee mugs, photoboxes, calendars and so much more!
If there are any questions I did not answer I would be happy to answer them for you on my contact tab. :)
