When clients come to me to see if they want to hire me as their newborn photographer, I take the time to explain my whole experience from beginning to end. Often times, clients initially just want to digital images and haven’t really taken into consideration the beautiful products that my service offers. It’s merely because they don’t know better. Digitals have become synonymous with the 8×10 from film days. But what happens time and time again is that they receive their digital images either on a USB, a CD (do they still make burnable CDs?) or an online gallery. Once received, a very well-meaning new mom might remember to share them on their Facebook page. They’ll get all the “ohhhs and ahhhs”, the “how cute” and “adorable” for a few weeks. But before long, time has passed and so have those adorable images. What is she left with? Empty walls, a shelf with an open space and memories left on a computer drive.
This mom is not alone. Even as a photographer, I’ve found myself forgetting about the photos taken at last year’s Christmas visit from Santa or that family session I forced my family to participate in despite the tantrums and sighs from my teenager. I still have walls that blankly stare at me reminding me constantly that they long to be covered in family memories. Our lives are so busy now. We can’t find the time for much these days including filling our home’s walls with the people we treasure the most. So with each of my newborn clients, I do my best to remind them that I’m not just a photographer giving them pictures. I’m serving them with treasured memories meant to be printed and cherished forever.
Anne and Mike hired me for their first baby, Owen’s newborn images. Knowing how hard it is coming to my studio after just having a baby, I do everything I can to make my new mama’s life simple and easy. That’s why I offer complimentary hair and makeup to each of my moms along with use of any of my maternity gowns for their session. Anne got to sit back and relax while my makeup artist did her magic. Mike got a nice little break too while I started with baby Owen in my studio. Anne ended up looking like a Goddess for her family images. Even their fur baby Chloe became part of the session. Anne had brought a small ceramic ornament of their heavenly fur baby, Charlie to incorporate in the session as well. Finally, we finished the session off with photos of the entire family, Anne, Mike, Owen, and Chloe. Talk about a sweet family!
A few weeks later, I visited Anne in her home to chat about what we could do with her images. She and Mike had chatted about filling their remodeled home with the images from the session. Using my iPad and an amazing program called Shoot and Sell, I was able to create several wall layouts with the images from Owen’s session. I designed some with canvases, some with framed prints, others with a mix of both. The program gives clients a chance to see exactly what artwork will look like on their walls before I order it. I can change sizes, change out the photos, change frame colors and sizes. The possibilities are endless, which for my clients, gives them peace of mind, knowing that their walls are filled with the people that they want to see every day.
I sent Anne a few options and gave her and Mike time to decide on what they wanted. It took a couple of changes in photos and placements before she decided on the option she wanted. Her goal was to create a layout that she could easily add to as Owen grew. Knowing that we could include images from a future sitter session or a cake smash session at his first birthday, the option she chose, simple black framed prints with 3″ wide mats, would allow for growth on her wall that creates a beautiful story of Owen.
As a complimentary service, I offer to come into your home and install your artwork. For Anne, this was a blessing for her. She was eager to have the artwork installed, but wasn’t confident about doing it herself. Once her frames arrived, I scheduled a time to deliver and install them. Finally, the day came and I arrived excited to see the final artwork find it’s permanent home on her walls.
The day I delivered, of course, I forgot my actual camera to take good photos of the final results. So I had to settle for a cell phone picture. But I love how it turned out! I couldn’t be happier for Anne and Mike. It was the perfect finishing touch for their home.
Thank you both for allowing me to be part of your journey and I can’t wait for the next steps!
