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.

Design Aglow sites for ProPhoto are finally here! We know you’ve been endlessly searching for the perfect original, flexible and affordable site to present your photography business with minimal HTML hodgepodge.

Design Aglow’s all-new designs for ProPhoto deliver fabulous features, functionality and an incredible visual gallery that effectively showcases your photography. Plus, your beautiful new site will coordinate with some of our best-selling Marketing Suites and Client Welcome Packets.

Ready to get to know the super-high intelligence team behind all things Prophoto? Well, read on friends!

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT PROPHOTO?
We are small company of 6 people based out of Holland, Michigan.  Jared and Matt are the developers, tirelessly slaving away to improve and expand the functionality of ProPhoto.  Dan, Steve and Benjamin are the support team, typing away at lightning speeds (often going weeks on end without sleep or food) to ensure that our customers have the best ProPhoto experience they can have.  Janna is our expert installation ninja, getting ProPhoto sites up and running by fearlessly battling the evil forces of “server configurations” with the power of kindness.
Is this reckless commitment to excellence necessary?  We believe so.
Is it worth it?  For the sake of our customers’ satisfaction, yes.
Is it exaggerated?  Yes.
How are we so awesome?  Our three pillars of success are Super-High Intelligence, Coke Zero (real Coke taste with zero sugar), and craft beer.
You can read a bit about our history here.

WHAT MAKES PROPHOTO SO GREAT?
There are numerous companies offering sites with blog and gallery functionality, but here are a few things that set ProPhoto apart from the competition:
1. With over a thousand customization options, ProPhoto provides unparalleled customization flexibility within an intuitive interface, allowing our users to make the changes that they want when they want.
2. We are over the top with our support.  We have 100′s of easy to access tutorials, as well as a knowledgeable, responsive support team, ready to help you get the site you want.
3. ProPhoto is a one time fee.  No monthly or hidden charges.  You can choose to pay to upgrade to newer versions when we release them, or continue to use your current version without any additional costs.
A recent survey shows that dentists in the southwest Michigan area prefer ProPhoto 3 to 1 over other leading brands of photography website. (please do not try to verify this)

WHAT ARE THE COSTS FOR A PROPHOTO SITE?
Using a ProPhoto “add-on design” from Design Aglow requires that you own a ProPhoto license ($199).  Your only other cost is the cost of add-on design itself. (intro pricing this week only is $85, save $15!)

WHAT IS THE AVERAGE TIME SPENT CREATING A PROPHOTO SITE?
If you are with a good web hosting company (with an automatic WordPress installer), you can have a ProPhoto site with a DA add-on design up and running and looking incredible in just a few hours.  Times will obviously vary depending upon how much additional customization you intend to do.

WHAT ARE SOME OF PROPHOTO’S EXCITING FEATURES?
Contrary to what you may think, creating a simple minimalistic design can actually be more difficult than creating one with lots of design elements.  When there aren’t many design elements involved, the use of whitespace, fonts, and the overall layout of the design have to perfect or the design falls flat.  We think Design Aglow nailed it with their first three minimalist designs!

I think our favorite features of each are the use of the secondary menu for social media links in Modern Minimalist the use of custom icons with each of the primary menu items in Typographic, and then the creative photo-a-day options they have set up in the My Project Life 365 Blog design.

You’ve heard this one before: clients purchase a large order of loose prints, but say they’ll “just go to Michael’s” to have them framed. And in a sense, you’re relieved. What looks so simple and sleek on the wall seems so…complicated on the back end.

The new Design Aglow Frame Shop will help you reverse that trend and get that Michael’s money back in your pocket; from mats to measurements, selling guides, and grab-and-go collections, we’ve got you covered. We want to make your art look even more amazing by offering your clients high-quality yet affordable frames that are crafted in California, utilizing glass and top quality materials, rather than plexi or plastic. Our modern, clean-lined frame collections are specifically designed to increase your sales by 30-50% AND your time by providing a full-service shopping experience. We take the guesswork out of selling frames with bonus resources designed to promote your new contemporary frame line. As always, Design Aglow is here to support you every step of the way.

Sign up here to get your invitation for first access to the Design Aglow Frame Shop, launching soon.