My new sample frame came in this morning I could not stop jumping and screaming..... It is so exciting to see how my pictures look in a finished product as opposed to just prints.  My frame supplier is so fantastic! (i have to rave about them ..sorry!!!)  They are able to create bespoke designs of any mount based on the images I have chosen (for this one, I chose to have nine images in a frame), everything is done super fast and the finished product is delivered packaged in it's own carry case!!! ready to be delivered to my clients  without me having to lift a finger (except to spot check and make sure everything is ok before it is hand delivered to the client) ..talk about good service.... I love them 'cause they make me look good and i don't mind paying them what needs to be paid hence the prices I charge for my products.....It's the little things that count...... 

I love the white frame and mount combination...I wanted something different from the sometimes boring black and natural wood frames.....  I wanted the images to really stand out and I think the white frame and mount combination did this......

I get my signature stamp on there as well.......

Frame, just before the carry case is closed up for delivery to client.......

Right! off to continue with preparations for the Grand designs exhibition next week........

Once in a while, I tend to get comments about my photography pricing; and once in a while a member of the bride's family or a parent from a portrait session would complain about my reprint prices. (a bit pricey, rip-off and "outrageous" are my favorite comments so far) Luckily, these come just once in a long long while. I thought I would shed some light on the situation and show some examples of what I do.

as photographers, we tend not to show the 'less favorable' images because you do not pay us to show you crappy images which is why i think sometimes we get comments like : "all you do is just point the camera and shoot so why is it so expensive"; everyone can get their hands on a digital camera and sometimes semi-professional ones as well so sometimes photographers are seen as redundant. So, below are examples of images before retouching and after to prove that we actually do work!

The images at the top are straight from the camera without retouching; the second images have received some love specially from me in Photoshop........

straight from the camera with just a black and white conversion, this image looks fine...but, with a sepia conversion with a hint of blue as well as a contrast and sharpening, the image comes alive below.....

the image below looks great straight from the camera.....

but with a little work around the eyes, adding a slight blue tone, bumping up the contrast and slight sharpening and voila......

The following picture was taken on a gloomy winter's day...it was cold and there was a slight colour cast to the image.....

but with colour correction, bumping up the colour and contrast as well as sharpening.....

So, what is my point?  you can probably get your prints from Snappy Snaps (and apparently they also do photo-shoots as well) for next to nothing but for the amount of time, effort and skill spent in Photoshop to make your images look like what you want it to look, I really don't think the reprint prices are 'pricey'

I am more than happy to give my brides a disc of  unretouched high resolution images (after the album has been delivered) and include it if they ask ....so if you do not appreciate what i can do with your images, I still give you the option to get your images printed on your own. I will be posting more on this later.....