Archive for the ‘From Kim’s Desk’ Category

Men of the Rockford region, I have the perfect gift idea for your wife. She will love you so much for giving her this, and the best part is, she will have a reminder of this wonderful gift for the rest of her life. What is this gift? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not a Keurig (even though that’s an awesome gift idea, too). It’s a 2012 portrait session! An individually brewed cup of coffee will grow cold, but memories of your family will warm her heart forever!

All jokes aside, I am super excited about offering a limited number of exclusive gift certificates this month. I always sell gift certificates, but this month, in celebration of Christmas, I am going to offer 12 $200 Gift Certificates (covers an entire portrait session) that will lock in 2011 prices. These can be redeemed at any time in 2012; and not only will these lock in my current session fees, they will also lock in my entire current 2011 price list for ALL products. (Which you can see if you click on the Pricing and Services link under the Info menu above.)

Graduating in 2012 and haven’t scheduled your senior pictures yet? Snag one of these for yourself and get more bang for your buck.

These will be available for purchase through December 23rd, or while supplies last. If you’d like to have your certificate sent to you in the mail in time for Christmas, you’ll need to place your order by December 12 to be safe. Otherwise you can arrange to pick it up in person *before* Christmas Eve.

To purchase your gift certificate, use this handy dandy paypal button, and make sure you include your correct mailing address (if you’re not sure how to check this in paypal, send me an email with the address where want your certificate mailed.

Small Print:

All sales final. No cash value. Recipient is responsible for contacting me and scheduling their portrait session in 2012. Put your certificate in a safe place. You will not be able to redeem your certificate without a valid # and the original certificate. 

A little while back, we had some really bad weather. If you live in the Rockford region, I’m sure you remember exactly what I’m talking about. One particular night we had to go to the basement because the weather was particularly bad and there was a threat of a tornado. I grabbed my son out of his bed, then I went back upstairs and grabbed my bible, my camera bag, and my laptop. Oh yes, family, faith, and photography… you can see what my priorities are!

Many of us hold onto those things dearly. I think some of us take them for granted. Recently I read an article about a girl who visited a special home for teen moms regularly to take pictures of their babies. These young moms did not own cameras, so this girl gave these moms so much more than snapshots of their babies. A simple thing, like a photo album of your kids growing up, can mean so much. Similarly, for some families, a professional photo shoot might mean so much more that it would to anyone else. It could be a family about to lose their father to a terminal illness. It could be a single mom who has sacrificed everything for her kids. It could be a family who doesn’t have much, yet gives everything they have to help others, even if it’s their time.

I’ve been planning on giving away a photo session when my Facebook page hit 750 likes, and then again when it hit 1000. Well today it hit 750 likes and instead of hosting a contest (like I sometimes do) or holding a random drawing, I want to do something different. I would like for my “fans” to nominate one special person or family that they believe would overwhelmingly appreciate or benefit from a professional portrait session with me. If you know someone like this, I would love for you to sit down for a few minutes and compose a brief essay on why this person or family deserves to be treated to a portrait session.

I will be reading all of your nominations, and with the help of my good friend and photographer Heather, I will carefully select one. This person or family will not only receive a free session, but I will also gift them with a box of 4x6s of all the photos from their session, and a print credit of $250.

In addition, I will be awarding the person who submits the chosen family/individual’s story a $50 gift certificate.

Please email your nominations to me by Labor Day, September 5th.  Please send them to Kimberly.Neyer.Photography@Gmail.com with the subject line “Giveaway Nomination”

I offer some pretty unique products in addition to my custom photography services. One of my favorites is the mini accordion album. These come in wallet or square shapes – fit 10-14 photos and are perfect to stash in your purse. I absolutely love them and I carry one of my son in my purse all the time. The frosted slip cover keeps it nice and the magnet inside the cover keeps it shut. There are tons of cover options, too. This one has a baby blue linen cover.

Last week I revamped my collections! I am so excited about my new products, and my new motto is, “I will spoil you.” Now instead of a boring old disc, I’m offering three different digital collections, and they all feature gorgeous image boxes. I ordered a sample just so I could show you all how awesome these are.

Pictured below is the image box set that comes with Portrait Collection I (I know, I should come up with a cooler name than that, but I was stumped!) This digital collection comes with five digital images and five corresponding mounted prints (5×7). The box itself is super smooth: I kept running my fingers over it! On the side is an elastic closure that keeps the box shut tight so you can display it upright on a shelf or mantle.

On the inside cover, there is another photo and design, and it’s raised a tiny bit. The box is filled with five mounted 5x7s, resting on a black ribbon to make them easy to lift out.

The mounted prints can be left in the box or framed. They are thick and sturdy!

Underneath the mounted prints is the disc and the print authorization card.

When you order one of my digital collections, you get to pick which digital images you would like out of your gallery, and you also get to choose which photos are featured on your image box. I will also send you a proof of the box design before I send it out to print so you can make sure you love the design. I can add special quotes, verses or names, etc to the box – just ask!

One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is the day a client’s order arrives and I get to finally deliver the culmination of all the hours spent preparing, shooting & editing. Today, I had two different orders arrive, so it was twice as fun. I thought I’d take the opportunity to snap some pics of what you have to look forward to when you book a session with me.

First off, every full session comes with a proof book. Every edited image is included, and it is spiral bound so it’s easy to take with you to work or show off to your family. Plus, your proofs are protected by a plastic cover and thick cardboard backing.

All the proofs have the file names on the back, which makes it really easy to pick out your favorites for when you order. I always order these books as soon as I’m done editing the session.

When a client orders prints, they get the royal treatment. Everything comes in a pretty little box like this:

I print through a very high quality lab and always upgrade the paper to the linen finish, because it looks amazingly rich and almost reminds me of canvas. And of course, everything is in protective plastic.

Now you see why I look forward to getting these orders in the mail so much!

I always love looking at other photographers’ before & afters – as in, before  & after editing. When I was working on one image from Jacob & Kylie’s engagement, I realized it was a perfect example of how spending some time really perfecting an image can make a huge difference in the overall impression it gives.

In addition to the usual edits I make for contrast and color, I took the time to clone out the mailbox and the numbers on the door frame, since I found them distracting. Removing them helped shift the focus back to Jacob & Kylie – you’re no longer wondering what street they are wandering on. I also added a little bit of extra sun flare for a dreamy look.

Once in a while this question comes up, so I thought I would answer it here on the blog to eliminate any confusion. Booking a portrait session is now easier than ever. I use a platform called ShootQ to organize everything. If you fill out the contact form here on my website or on my Facebook page, I’ll send you a link to my pricing page. On the pricing page you can pick out what you would like for a session, submit it, and shortly after I’ll send you a booking proposal. The booking proposal is totally online: you confirm your session details, the collection you wish to purchase, and you pay your session fee, all in one spot. You even sign the contract digitally. It’s so simple and it’s instant.

My favorite part is planning the session itself. Once we pick a date, we can start talking about locations, settings, clothes, etc. I have a few locations that I always like to use, but I am always open to suggestions. Sometimes, if the client wants an indoor session, I’ll just have them come to my home where I set up a studio as needed. Other times, usually just for newborns, I’ll travel to the client’s home.

The best place to start is my contact page. The more information you can give me about what you’d like to get out of your session, the better I can serve you.

And because I can’t post a blog without a picture… check out what my garage looked like today. It’s the biggest snow storm I can remember!