jill_gately1

I would definitely write a contract outlining terms of payment....outlining the terms of the payment that you have discussed with them. I find that all corporations I have worked with have paid me on the day of the event. But I also think that it is pretty standard to get paid after the fact. It could be opening the door to a lot more business or at least a good reference. Hopefully it's a reputable company.

Hi Katie,

Check out www.archivalmethods.com. Their archival Accent Box is pretty nice and holds 200 prints. It's about $17 a box (depending on how many you order), so maybe it's too $$ then when you are looking for. I simply make it part of the benefit of ordering from me and make up for the costs in my fee. I think qaulity presentation is important so I am willing to purchase archival boxes. Another added benefit of ordering prints from me. I send my wedding proofs in archival Kolo boxes when I have to ship 500-700 prints. www.kolo.com.

 

I simply put these archival boxes in a shipping box packed with bubble wrap that I get from Staples. And if there is room inside the actual archival box that the photos are in...I put some bubble wrap in that too to prevent the pictures from shifting during shipment. I haven't had a problem yet.

I did a lot of research before deciding that WHCC was definitely my favorite for digital prints. Great quality (love the linen paper), tons of products to choose from, and very easy to order with the ROES software. Quick turnaround time, too. I shoot with D200's and recently ordered some 16x20's from them. Got them in yesterday and they are gorgeous--tack sharp. Color is perfect and they were carefully shipped to my house. Sometimes they even put lollipops in my shipment...? Not sure what that's all about, but my 2-year old son loves them. So rather than offering you other suggestions I am basically telling you that you would probably be safe sticking with them...at least if you are shooting digital.

Your web site and your work is great. I have seen some WPJA member sites that contain a ton of photoshopped images and portraits and shots of details. I can't imagine you not being accepted given what I have viewed. But if for some reason you aren't....Don't change a thing!!!!!!

Thank you Frank!! :) :)

I have both the Quantum Turbo Battery and the SD-8A. The SD-8A was given to me so I decided to test it out before I bought another Turbo. Both work great on my SB-800's. The only thing about the SD-8A is that it has two cords. One of the cords goes into the front of the SB-800 and then the other cord of the 8A goes into the same pc connection on the flash where I plugin my Pocket Wizard. The crucial cord of the 8A is the one that plugs into the flash and I let the other cord just sort of dangle when my pocket wizard is hooked up to the flash. Not having that other little cord plugged in to the pc connection of the flash doesn't seem to effect the flash recycling or the ability to use the 8A in my experience. I think the pc connection from the 8A just does something like confirm the flash. At least that was the best answer I found when I was searching for the answer to why there were two cords on the 8A. Apparently the pc cord is not necessary to make the SB-800 work with the batteries.

Yes, fast glass is key. I think confidence also comes in knowing that you have quality equipment. And even when you have all of the experience in the world and the best equipment out there you are still going to be critical and wonder how you could have done better. Take pride in the good shots and learn from the bad ones. That sort of self-criticism shows that you are passionate about what you do.

 

If you want to see some amazing stuff, go on the WPJA web site and see what others are doing. There are so many wonderful portfolios and quality web sites to look through. I find when photographing children and families that the family likes to walk away with a few traditionals but they obsess over the unique and creative portraits that they couldn't get anywhere else. Going outside a studio leaves you with endless angles and possibilites.

 

I learn something new everyday.

Hi Lindsey,

These are great. I have seen professionals charge twice as more for half of that quality. Half the battle in this business is confidence. We are our own worst critics.

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The only thing I noticed was that some of the vertical images looked too tightly cropped on the sides. I would leave a little room, but your composition is nice.

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Do you have a plan for shooting indoors? I see that most of your shots were outdoor shots, except the pictures of your own little adorable child where natural light was used.

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I like to shoot outdoors as much as possible, but I shoot indoors as well using my portable studio which consists of a few flashes on lightstands and umbrellas triggered by PocketWizards. I don't have a special set-up or anything....it all depends on the location but it saves me on the rainy or cold days. Plus I like to do a mix of locations.

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I like your images, the composition was nice and the colors were vibrant. I am sure the family liked them as well!

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Jill

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Hi Raymond,

I have often asked this question and searched this forum for the answer. I found in the end the answer is really just to use the system that you are most comfortable with and gives you the quality images you are looking for. Vague, right? But I have read so many Lightoom vs Capture debates that I ended up even more confused so I just had to test drive them both to see what worked for me.

 

My workflow looks like this.... I have two D200's and about six 4gig cards to work with. I also shoot RAW plus JPEG.

 

I download my images and sort them with Capture NX. I rename all of my files in date and time order with one click of a button in Capture. That way the images from both cameras merge nicely and are in order. This is HUGE. Then I back up everything a few times (on discs and another hardrive and eventually delete the bad ones) But I will leave the obvious steps out of my response and stick to the question. I make most of my initial edits (sharpening, auto levels, resizing...not necessarily in that order)using the batch process tool in Capture. I understand that not all of the images will require the same corrections, but I have a good idea of what work for me most of the time. And I can always go back and tweak the steps of the images after the batch process. I also find, for some reason, that I like the sharpening and contrast/brightness tool in Capture better than Photoshop. Capture seems to do a better job for me. I can then convert the images to jpegs/tiff's using the batch process tool as well.

 

Then when I am through with my initial editing I go to Photoshop for the enhancements.

 

Photoshop CS2 and CS3 goes over and above the Capture NX capabilities. I find that there are many aspects of Capture that I like and many aspects of Photoshop CS2 that I couldn't live without. I use both programs in equally.

 

Maybe get the trial versions and play around with both of them.

 

I have also read complaints about Capture being slow, however I haven't found that to be the case. I have a lot of memory on my computer and I freed up even more space by having all of my images on separate external hard drives. I got a 500GB harddrive on sale at Best Buy for $119. Totally worth it.

 

My answer to your question, of course, is totally up for debate. There are so many different ways to achieve the same results. In my search for the answer I found that both systems worked for me.....

 

Jill

www.jillgately.com

I use Labprints as the online ordering and viewing system for clients. You can set your prices with Labprints. Labprints takes 15% of my sales with every order, but they process the payments and mail the checks to me rather quickly. Then, once the order comes through I simply click a button on my Labprints storefront and it automatically uploads the order to White House Custom Color (my lab of choice).

 

You don't need Labprints to use WHCC, but I find it to be a nice work flow. Labprints has partnered with several photo labs, so you can choose to work with the one you like best. WHCC is one of their partners. WHCC has a 2-day turnaround (free shippin) and their quality is excellent. I love their linen paper. You will get samples of their paper from WHCC once you sign up to use them.

 

I always have the orders sent to me so I can do some quality control. Plus I like to insert business cards and a thank you note in the mailer with the photos. But I believe you can have WHCC orders shipped directly to the client.

 

One thing about WHCC, which I think is pretty common, is that you have to have a $12 minumum with all orders. And each size is considered a new order....so you will have to order $12 worth of 4x6's, or $12 worth of 5x7's...etc etc... you can't combine different sizes to meet the $12 minimum.

 

So check out the Labprints site to see what they have to offer and check out the WHCC site. You can print out a pdf of the price list on the WHCC web site. Labprints has album and framing partners as well.

 

Hope this helps. I did a lot of research to come up with the work flow I have now.

 

 

Good luck finding the system that works best for you!

Hi, I had responded to this same sort of question on another post, but thought I would chime in and offer my suggestion. I used Creative Motion Design. They have great templates for photographers that can be customized and it's relatively inexpensive. The customer service is out of this world. I don't know too much about web site design, so using them was a huge help. You can manage the entire site from the backend and make updates yourself. Very user-friendly. www.jillgately.com