Lotus Rain Photography

First of all, I must say that waiting 5m+ for a new roof has been tedious.  Finally last week the dumpster and supplies arrived, in the midst of the remnants of tropical storm Faye that seemed to stall out over north Georgia all week.  Given the rain schedule & holiday weekend, we were certain the roof would be done starting on Tuesday of THIS week.  Nope.  Started it on Saturday…fast forward to today and *finally* there is an end in sight.

Since I couldn’t see several of the clients I had originally intended to see this weekend (studio/proofing and some doula clients as well), I stayed busy inside.  I’ve been working on a “green” version of my welcome packet.  Something online which eliminates the need for paper copies and is easy to read, in contrast to the small space allotted on the flash portion of my gallery site.

Can we say HTML, good buddy?  Wow.  I’ve changed up the front page, you’ll notice the addition of a “welcome” tab as well as a complete color change.  Inside the site, the color change continues and instead of digging through the scroll-boxes for the information on pricing and session planning, I placed links to other pages.  Follow those links and you’ll find easy-to-read, clearly designed pages detailing our pricing and policies.

Some pricing has changed as well.  Notice that The Lotus Collection (our digital package) is here to stay!  After much angst and uncertainty, I implemented the digital collection a few weeks ago.  The response has been more than positive, to say the least!

I’ve done quite a bit on the back-end as well, working to improve LRP’s google-ranking by tweaking a few things here and there.  It’s certainly working.  Site traffic is up by over 15% in just one month!

Take a look around…start with the new welcome page.  I am open to suggestions and constructive criticism, as always.  If you find any typos, please let me know!

Reagan, her parents and Gigi visited me last night.  She is 4m old and full of fun!  She’s a sweet girl with an infectious giggle…she had all of us laughing with her more than one time during her session.

I hope you enjoy seeing Miss Reagan once again!

I don’t post my own children to share very often…however today was one of those days that just needed to be captured. Today was the first day of school here in Cumming and of course, all three of my boys were up bright and early awaiting the bus. While they were gone, UPS kindly brought me a new softbox (Yeah! I love new toys!) so I figured this evening was a great time to test it out.

After a lovely dinner at the IHOP in celebration of the new school year and a grand dessert consisting of Oreo McFlurries (all at their request…I personally would have gone for the white chocolate volcano at Chili’s but what do I know, I’m just the mom ) I corralled them into my studio to play with my new toy. All’s fair, yes?

Anyways…here they are in all their goofiness. My middle child especially is something else…see if you can figure out which one he is LOL…

Miss Sara came to visit me this past weekend.  She’ll be 5 this fall and I’ve not taken any photographs of her since she was newly 4.  We spent some time together in my studio.  Sara loves pink and is such a fun little girl!

In late September, join me at Pottery Barn Kids inside North Point Mall in Alpharetta!  I’ll be shooting on September 24, 25 & 26 inside their store, on behalf of Precious Time Photography.  On October 13, 14 & 15, I’ll be shooting inside Janie & Jack, also in North Point Mall!  I’m thrilled to be joining PTP for this exciting event!  PTP orchestrates shoots in-store for PBK and J&J twice each year around the country, utilizing local professional photographers to do the mini-sessions!

You can get a FREE session plus a FREE 8×10 with a qualifying minimum purchase in either store (contact store for details.)  The free mini-session will be with me and will be held on those dates, in-store!  I’ll have my studio equipment in the stores all day each of those dates.  Viewing and ordering will be at a separate appointment the week following each session, and will be scheduled the date of your session.

Some may know I have been an affiliate photographer for the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation for some time. If you are unfamiliar with the organization, please take a moment to familiarize yourself…www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org

NILMDTS is a non-profit organization comprised of professional photographers who offer our services at no charge to families facing infant loss. There are a myriad of reasons why infant loss may occur…but the reasons are not relevant to the work we do. We take time to capture forever moments of time the family will never forget. Often, the memories we preserve are the only things they will be able to take home from the hospital.

Tomorrow I do a session in Cumming with a Hospice Atlanta patient. As I prepared for it tonight, it dawned on me that I should bring some attention to NILMDTS on my blog.

If you or someone you know is facing such a loss…either during pregnancy, at birth or sometime afterwards, please contact myself or visit the website to find an affiliate photographer near you.

The work I do for NILMDTS and the families we serve is a blessing…not just to the families whose images we preserve but to me as well. It’s hard work…poignant, painful work that leaves an indelible mark on me for some time, but work I am drawn to do. I am forever grateful to have a gift I can share with people, making a difference in their lives in this way.

When planning for our 3m session, Hudson’s mommy mentioned that she would like some photographs of the two of them, together…maybe interacting somehow but not the typical “posed” shots.  Sessions of that style are “Lifestyle” portraiture and are some of my most favorite of all.

I met Hudson and his Mommy this morning at their home to capture some of their morning together.  Poor little guy wasn’t on top of his game today but I don’t think you can tell from his portraits!  He did a great job and allowed me to capture his mommy doing what he loves best…being his mommy!

What is a mini-session, you ask?

Good question. It’s quite literally a “mini-session,” lasting 30 minutes and providing 5-10 images for proofing. All proofing is done online (not in-person, as is my standard for proofing images.)

This is a bit different from my typical. As you know, I typically take 2-4 HOURS per client, just in shooting time alone! My prices certainly reflect the amount of time I take with your family and the level of attention to detail you can expect.

With a mini-session, you can expect the same level of attention to detail, however on a much smaller scale.

Mini-sessions are not appropriate for families, they are best for one child or maybe two at a time. One backdrop and one outfit.

I will begin offering these periodically, in clusters (several on one day) in-studio. The first series of mini-sessions will be on SUNDAY, AUGUST 3.

A typical studio session is $125, includes up to 3 hours of shooting, 20-40 finished proofs and no prints. A mini-session will be $100, includes 30 minutes of shooting, 5-10 finished proofs and a small package of prints (1 8×10, 1 5×7 and 1 sheet of wallets.)

The ala carte pricing on the prints alone is $75…mini-sessions are a great deal and are perfect for marking birthdays or for gifts!

Contact me NOW to secure your spot! I have a limited number of appointments available. I first advertised these in my newsletter a couple of weeks ago to my current and past clients so the spots are quickly filling. At the time of this post’s publication, I have only 3 more appointments open!

Yesterday I played with Katelyn and her big brother Luke, at a park near their home. Katelyn has grown so big! I’m sure you’ll love her “love rolls” as much as we do! Katelyn is a member of my Growing Collection, so you may recognize her family from previous sessions.

Effective immediately, clients have the option to purchase the LOTUS COLLECTION. The LOTUS is a collection of 5×7 archivally printed Gift Prints from your session plus a CD of your session images. On the CD you will receive both the low resolution images, suitable for web-sharing and emails, as well as the high resolution images suitable for printing up to 11×14.

In addition, you receive a written release for printing your images as you choose, up to 11×14. For images 16×20 and larger, I ask that you contact me.

Clients who purchase the LOTUS COLLECTION will further receive 25% off of ala carte prints and enlargements/canvases as well as 50% off of the digital slideshow shown at their Proofing and Purchasing Appointment. No other discounts apply to the LOTUS COLLECTION.

My images are color-calibrated to my lab so I cannot guarantee color matching if you use a corner pharmacy or big-box retailer for printing. I provide the set of 5×7 images from your session so you will know how your images truly look when printed professionally and hope that you will recognize and appreciate the quality a lab such as the one I use can provide you, however you are granted the rights and file sizes appropriate to print up to 11×14.

As an introductory offer, the LOTUS COLLECTION sells for $650 plus applicable sales tax as required. Clients will also continue to have the option for studio sessions ($125), on-location sessions ($150) and mini-sessions ($100.) Session fees are in addition to print/file purchases.

I am pleased to offer the LOTUS COLLECTION and hope it meets your needs. I’ve had increased requests for digital images from clients who prefer to archive for themselves and am pleased to honor your requests! The LOTUS COLLECTION is being offered initially on a trial basis to determine popularity. It may be removed without notice at any time.

The LOTUS COLLECTION applies to images from ONE session. While we certainly appreciate clients who return for multiple sessions and contract with us for our GROWING or BEGINNINGS collections of sessions, as with print orders, we can only accommodate one session per print/file package (ie. each session will generate it’s own print or file order…one print or file package may not be spread across multiple sessions.)

I am scheduling now for HOLIDAY PORTRAITS, starting in August so call today to secure your session date and time!