Come join us!
For the last few years we’ve struggled with a couple of things which our portrait clients were asking for. But we’ve finally sorted them out (the “things” not the clients), and your portrait experience will be much easier and more enjoyable in the future (we hope!)
First our biggest sticking point – digital files. When I used to shoot film I would never have given up the negatives, and now in the digital world, we’ve resisted releasing digital files. It’s a big “no-no” for a lot of professional photographers – and was for us as well. You see, when you’re buying photos from us you’re not buying a piece of paper or canvas with some ink on it – you’re buying a piece of artwork. I don’t want to sound pretentious or arty-farty (if you know me you know I’m not like that!), but as artists we put a lot of thought into what we shoot and why, and how it’s presented. In fact, the presentation is one of the MOST important things about photography – bad presentation can turn a great image into something quite.. blah…. Taking one of our carefully finished images to a local cheapo printer for a 4×6 is going to leave you disappointed (especially if the prints fade a year later!) So to protect our work and reputation, we have (in the past) refused to sell digital files.
But we recognize that it’s not necessarily about wanting to go out and get cheap prints made, or save a few bucks on a canvas – it’s about having your digital files to share with family and friends, or for archival purposes. We keep all your photos safe, we never delete – but we know that for your security you want to have the files yourself for safekeeping. So we now sell our digital files, along with our offerings of prints, canvases, albums and other products. Note, I say sell, not give – this may offend some of you, but if we give away our work we won’t stay in business very long! And while we’re artists, we are running a business, and to protect ourselves and properly service our clients we need to run a profitable and stable business. And of course selling our work is not just the paper or canvas, it’s the concept, execution and presentation of a finished image.
Oh how that question has driven us mad – really. We’ve tried to come up with portrait packages – but the thing is – people are different. And everyone wants different things. So when we created a “package” in the past, nobody has wanted exactly that, and needed to make changes! But now after a few years of experience, we think we’ve found the solution.
We analysed our portraits over the last few years, and came up with a list of the most popular products. Canvas is a big winner, so we have a canvas package. Duplicate prints for mum or grandma are popular – so we’ve packaged that up too. What’s most popular? Clients creating their own package – so we’ve got that too! We’ve now got a really broad range of options – something for almost every budget. Our portrait packages are all inclusive – design consultations, portrait sessions, viewing, and of course the artwork you will eventually take home. By the way, we call them “Collections”, not “packages”. Same thing – we just don’t like the word “package”. 
Our Designer Portrait Collections reflect the most popular options. Focusing on Wall Art and Albums, our Designer Portrait Collections give you the full experience. We start with a Portrait Design Consultation to determine your needs, a 60-90 minute portrait session for families, couples, individuals – whatever. You’ll have between 30-40 images to choose from to complete your Designer Collection.
Our Mini Collections are for those with a smaller budget, or maybe those who just don’t need the full portrait session. They’re limited to 1 or 2 people, and include a 20 minute photoshoot and approximately 10-15 images to choose from.
And last, but certainly not least, our BYO Collections. That’s Build Your Own. Like all of our Collections, BYO gives you a significant discount over our A la Carte pricing. But with BYO – you tell us what’s included! It’s sort of like a buffet menu – pick 2 from column A, 1 from column B… so we do give you some guidelines. But check the website for a couple of examples – the options are almost limitless! (If you’d like a BYO Collection, you’ll need to contact us for the “menu” of choices.)
We really hope that we’ve finally got it right with our portrait offerings – we love shooting your family portraits – it’s such a privilege to be invited into your lives.
(And yes – prices are online too)
