Yearly Archives: 2013

Design Aglow’s week of epic giveaways, celebrating the launch of our new website, has come to an end. While we wish we had the giving power of Oprah (“You get a car! You get a car! You get a car!”), Rafflecopter could only select a few random recipients for our awesome prizes.

Here are the winners:
A $500 Gift Certificate from ProDPI: Leila Wylie
A $500 Gift Certificate from The Define School: Brittany Chasteen
A One Year Business Plan from Squarespace: Kari Lewis and Vanessa Fukuyama
An iPad Mini with App from Preveal: Orimadegun Taiwo
A Dark Truffle Leather Brixton Bag and Presidio Strap from ONA: Aurora Lampson
A $500 Gift Certificate from Finao: Nancy Steele

Why the sad face? We’ll be giving away some more great swag soon. Make sure you like us on Facebook and join our exclusive email list so that you’re the first to know.

For Apertura’s Ray and Erwin, capturing the raw emotion of the moment and all those little unexpected details are what keep these two former industrial engineers on their toes. And while these are the kind of photos most brides would expect from their wedding photographer, Apertura is anything but traditional.

With a photojournalistic style that is nothing short of genius, Apertura gives their entire attention to telling each subject’s story. They afford the viewer a unique perspective that conveys timeless, emotionally charged chapters in the life of each blissful couple–and their clients couldn’t be happier with the results. Looking through their portfolio you truly get a glimpse into the lives of those they photograph. Storytelling is their specialty, and while they don’t use words to spin their tales, their methods are just as effective as any celebrated author. Truly, if a picture is worth a thousand words, Ray and Erwin have written some amazing novels.

Here, Apertura share sage advice to help you keep your sanity and please your clients on busy wedding days:

• Understand your equipment like the back of your hand and know the technical basics to produce the images you want. Understanding lighting is crucial. Know what kind of exposure you need when a certain lighting condition exists in your shot.

• “Gaffer’s tape is one of the greatest inventions ever made.” Keep a roll of the stuff on hand. It’s invaluable in a variety of situations. Since it doesn’t leave a residue behind, it makes securing that flash to the wall–just where you want it–a breeze.

• Be aware of your surroundings. Ray once had the misfortune of breaking a giant vase full of water during the father/daughter dance.

• Shoot from the heart but compose with your mind.

• Never stop learning. When you shoot and are thinking you have a particular style, keep in mind that it may need to mature.

• Find your inner voice and shoot that way. When you do find your style, be true to it, but stay open to new ideas.

• When you stop learning and become protective of your work,that’s when you become stagnant – at that point you can no longer grow and improve.

• Finally? Be original, say the duo. “Don’t copy something because it’s trendy. Be true to what you really believe in and it will pay off in spades. Trends come and go, but solid photography lasts forever.”

To see more of Apertura’s work visit aperturaphoto.com.

It’s the first template of its kind in the Design Aglow shop, and the ultimate upsell: announcing the Wedding Day Client Magazine. With stunning design up front and utter simplicity on the backend, we present you with the ultimate in moneymakers.

We’ve created this magazine to slide immediately into your current product line and pricing, with the minimum of time and effort. The included professionally written client questionnaire allows for easy, efficient insertion of your clients’ answers into the template.

Want to know how to showcase the Wedding Day Client Magazine? Here are some possibilities:

• Use as an easy upsell for your wedding packages–add to your top-level package as an incentive to upgrade.

• Keep in your back pocket as a seal-the-deal incentive for client bookings.

• Offer as a tempting à la carte add-on.

• Market your studio virally for referrals and future clients.

• Gain hundreds of email addresses via the sign-up link to view your clients’ online wedding gallery.

The beauty of the magazine format is that the issue can be delivered digitally–either through download or email–or in print. And with your clients’ choice of three logos, all customizable with their initials, the magazine’s style is all up to them.

Try the Wedding Day Client Magazine for yourself, now with introductory pricing. We’d love to hear you make the magazine work for your business.

*Special thanks to Judy Pak Photography for the lovely sample images.

There’s no doubt: stick a multi-page client guide into a welcome packet, and they’re bound to be impressed. Booklets communicate that you’re pulled together and considerate of every detail. And booklets are much, much harder to throw away than a flyer or postcard. Who wants to toss something that pretty?

On that note, we’re excited to announce our newest giveaway: one lucky winner will receive 200 full color, 8 page booklets on 80# text from Copycraft Printers. As a leader in commercial printing, Copycraft offers competitive pricing, high quality, speedy production, and personalized service–on booklets and beyond.

As a bonus, Copycraft is also giving a 10% discount on all first time orders with the code “AGLOW15″.

Ready to win? Check out our Rafflecopter widget below for multiple ways to enter. And be sure to log in! We want your entries to count. If you have any questions or just want to tell us how excited you are about the giveaway, please let us know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click here for Official Contest Rules.

*Templates shown are from the Tres Chic Marketing Suite, Rustic & Romantic Marketing Suite and Typographic Marketing Suite.

“Oh what a wonderful job you have, to cuddle babies all day long!”

Why yes it is!  Most newborn photographers will agree, but not without a few disclaimers!  Being a top rated, successful newborn photographer–like with any specialization–takes time, dedication, patience, skill, and a bit of investment. Oh, and did we say patience?  Patience!

A typical session:

• 15 minutes intro and gossip

• 15 minutes figuring out whether we can lay down the baby without crying

• 3 minutes of shooting

• 40-50 minutes of feeding, pooping, changing, shushing, feeding, shushing, peeing

• 3 minutes of shooting

• 10 minutes of shushing

• 20 minutes of shooting

• 10 minutes of pack up and chat

SAFETY: Without a doubt, one of the most important qualifications and criteria for being a successful newborn photographer is the ability to handle a newborn in a way that ALWAYS guarantees their safety.  There really is no room for debate here.  Professional newborn photographers understand that many shots require a second pair of hands for support, or that they need to create a composite (the blending of two images).  Photographs such as hanging swaddled babies on a tree branch are breathtaking–but the ‘behind the scenes’ should always involve a second pair of hands, a baby suspended just inches above a bean bag and a composite shot of the branch itself.  A professional photographer should never place a baby in something like a glass vessel that could break, or rest them on a shelf without support or other safety measures in place.  Even walking away from a baby asleep on a bean bag should not happen unless mom, dad or an assistant is within arms reach.

SKILL: With that out of the way, the next key to producing beautiful images comes down to skill. Some newborn photographers specialize in posed bean bag or prop images where a [usually] sleepy baby is curled up and propped either on the soft surface or tucked into a container or basket with beautiful blankets, wraps, hats and perhaps other props.  Others focus on a more interactive feel where the shots are either more lifestyle, or posed with parents and siblings.  Regardless of the style, it’s critical that the photographer understand flattering lighting, correct exposure, skin and color correction, as well as posing and compositional beauty.  Of course, style plays a role here and it’s wonderful to see both whimsical and creative sessions as well as those that are timeless and traditional.  It can take years of practice and portfolio building to really master the newborn session and all the components that can truly differentiate a newborn photographer from his/her peers–and those years aren’t replaced by a photographer that simply attends a workshop.  It’s hands on, experience, practice, and many, many sessions!

AN INVESTMENT:  For almost all newborn photographers, building a stash takes time and… you guessed it, money.  Unless a photographer shoots completely bare bones and lifestyle only, almost all newborn photographers come prepared with some level of props.  This can include a favorite blanket or mat, or a few cute hats.  At the other end of the spectrum, those shooting more posed or bean bag sessions entail a significant outflow of cash to purchase backdrop stands, faux flooring, bean bags, blankets, hats, wraps, diaper covers, baskets and whatever else their prop set up requires.  And it’s not a one time investment, because all of these items need to be cycled out as they can become soiled beyond cleaning, or worn out, or just generally appear too often in a portfolio.

PATIENCE: Newborn photographers have to have patience.  Even the fastest of lifestyle shoots rarely wraps in an hour and some more posed sessions can last upward of three to four hours.  That said, only about 30-40 minutes of that is shooting, the rest is waiting, shushing, changing, and feeding–even for those sessions where sleep is not a requirement!  Add on to that the back-end work after the session.  Whether it be at a studio or a client’s home, what you bring in must come out, often with items requiring a wash or scrub, then an iron–blankets folded, props stored, backdrop rolled.  And then there is the editing.  Editing newborn sessions can be incredibly time intensive if the baby has newborn acne, jaundice or excessive peeling, so whereas a family gallery might be completed in a snap, not so much for a newborn session.

All of these factors speak to why superior newborn photographers are often priced higher than an average family photographer, or request an increase in session fee for newborn sessions. Which brings us full circle: while newborn sessions are a tremendous amount of work, they reward photographers that are up to the challenge with the privilege of capturing the fleeting first weeks of life. Newborn portraits, much like images from a wedding, take pride of place on a family’s walls and become heirloom treasures (“Mom, that was really me?”).

And yes, there are all those sweet newborn snuggles, which, as they say, are priceless.

*Special thanks to the following photographers for the precious sample images: (first row, left to right) Oh, Hello! Photo, E.E.Smith Photography, Natalja Katsaga Photography, (second row, left to right) Laura Veno Photography, Kristen Elizabeth Photography, Kristle Leigh Photography, (third row, left to right) studiofotografie, Lynsey Peterson & Lindsay Lee Photography.

~ The F Stops Here is an exclusive collection of articles by Design Aglow, designed to be used and shared by photographers. Look for this column twice monthly here on the Design Aglow Blog and feel free to grab & share on your site, blog and/or social media pages with a byline and link to DesignAglow.com.