Quarrier Family

It is so much fun when I get to shoot a family like the Quarrier's. They are Chris, Amy, Madeline, Heidi, Macen, and baby Noelle. They are friends of the family we came to know from Shoreline (the coolest church ever). Erica and I are looking forward to hanging out with them at their house in Laurel Hill.

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
(This article has been very well received by the photography community, and is now referred to by many Photography websites across the country)

In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home "photo printers", when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time - How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store?

Here’s why.Simply put, you’re not just paying for the actual photograph, you’re paying for time and expertise.

First, let’s look at the actual time involved. If you don’t read this entire page, at least read this first part.

For a two hour portrait session:- one hour of travel to and from the session
- two hours of shooting- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive- 3 - 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs- 2
- 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex.
- For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours.You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.For an eight hour wedding:

- I won’t bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour.Now for the expertise.Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc.

And let’s not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera - and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself.

Think of it this way - the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional.What about the cheap studios at the mall? Please don’t compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won’t come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for.

The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you’ll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you’re there, you’ll also spend $200 on other things. They don’t have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door.ConclusionWe hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store.

Conclusion
We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store.

Seattle Comes to Mississippi

I had awesome photoshoot with Mandi, visiting from Seattle, WA. We ventured out to some old roads near Hattiesburg, Mississippi and found an old shed and ford pick-up truck. We didn't want to asume that we could just hop onto anyones property so we drove up the house, about 1/2 mile up the dirt driveway. When we pulled in the owner, Wesley Brown, and his daughters were outside. I handed him my card and introduced myself and Mandy. I let him know that we would like to do a photoshoot in front of his old shed. He jokingly asked how much I would give him and handed me his card: Wesley Brown, Elvis Impersonator, ELVIS FOR HIRE. So, if you know someone that needs an elvis, I know a guy! I proceeded to let him know that as a thank you, I would love to photograph his family. He agreed and we started our shoot. Mandi was an awesome model. She was very easy to work and so beautiful... hard on herself, but beautiful. Anyone would think so and the fact that she was sweet made it that much more. Anyway... some pics from the shoot are below.

Blessings

Good morning.... there was a reason that we call ourselves pure 7 and this morning brought us great news... we've booked more weddings in the Destin area. I am now working on getting the information out in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. We are so blessed... always. Erica is so great about calling me so we can share in the excitement. I don't think that it ever gets old. Knowing that our work is good enough for even one person to give us the honor of photographing their wedding, their family, their life... "what a compliment," as Erica would say. Lovin' it!
(Me, Erica and baby Gavin at the beach)

Beautiful Destin Weekend

We had a great weekend. Although the chaos of running around came into play, as every trip to Destin does... it was amazing. Ryan, Erica and I took advantage of the weather. Saturday afternoon we met with our new friend JD Mabry of JD Mabry Photography, another photographer in the area. We met at Panera for lunch and spoke of new ideas. We love this! We all agreed that coming together as a unit would be a great opportunity for all of us to share ideas and techniques... We feel extremely blessed to be associated with such a great photographer, like JD.

Later that evening we went to a concert in the park at Alys Beach near Watercolor... talk about breathtaking. When you think you've seen it all, the Emerald Coast seems to find a way of surprising you. It had Moroccan appeal, I felt like I was in a resort... absolutely gorgeous. We had a great time with our friends Chad and Kessin (sorry if that's spelled wrong). I brought with me my baby son, Kieran and my babysitter Noami. It was a great family type event. We copped a squat in the mosquito filled park, around a beautifully lit stage and enjoyed the instrumentals. But I gotta give props to the staff at Alys Beach, they were well prepared with the bug repellent. I don't believe that one person would have stayed too long if it wasn't for that.

Sunday morning, we started our day at Shoreline Church. This was my first time going to Shoreline. Erica, Ryan, Chad and Kessin are regular attendees, so I was invited by them... and I am so happy that I did. My son Kieran loved it. They had a special kids room with a bouncy castle and he told me that he got to paint and that he had a lot of fun. I, myself, have never felt so comfortable at church. Maybe it was the fact that service was held in a Movie Theatre? Or maybe the fact that I could totally relate to the pastor. Either way, it ended up with me in tears, completely moved by what he had to say.

Afterward we went to Zoes for lunch then headed for the beach. After a long walk, through the sand, with an artillery of beach supplies we plopped ourselves down near Whale's Tale off of Old 98 in Destin. The popular spot. We intended on playing volleyball, but had no volleyball... boo. So we enjoyed just being there together in the sunshine. So overall, a completely wonderful weekend in Destin. Best part - NO SUNBURNS!

Oh, and we took some awesome pictures! Cause that's what we do... :)

Pure 7 Studios starts in Hattiesburg, MS

We finally started shooting in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. We started at Tranquility Day Spa, shooting photos of the stafff and the facility. We intended in doing a small feature in the magazine that we design, "Southern Dream Weddings". Unfortunately we already had 2 other big spas being featured and it just wouldn't have worked featuring 3, it wouldn't be a feature in that case. So we will set something up to do one in the next issue. We were, however, able to do a feature called "All Natural" an article about custom invitations. We worked with the owner of Forrest Paper Company, Cheryl Fletcher. We set up shots of the invitations and she wrote an article about customizing your wedding invitations. Our other feature was about John David Williams who is a well-known artist/designer, and coauthor of Fearless Entertaining along with Catherine Strange. The two work together to create the most beautiful arrangements for weddings and other events. So make sure to check out the articles in the next issue of Southern Dream Weddings magazine available on the newsstands next week. We have over 1000 locations, so pick one up or email me at gina@pure7studios.com to receive a free copy.

Bluepoint Rocks Out

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan... you never cease to amaze me. The photos that you did at Bluepoint in the Destin Commons were awesome. They only go to show what a talented photographer you are. Keep it up buddy! We've come a long way, I am so blessed to be apart of our team!

just got back from a onelight workshop http://www.onelightworkshop.com/forum/index.php hosted by the talented zack arias. onelight is all about using off camera flash. it was an long day,we went from 9am to 1:30am the next day. i encourage any photographer to check out the onelight method. you can also go to strobist.com and find out some cool stuff.

bridal fair preparation

Well it's been a long two days. We have been stuffing folders/bags, editing photos, and printing flyers for the past two days straight. All the while still squeezing in three photo shoots. We can not wait 'til Monday, then we might get a little break. I know that it will be worth it because this is going to be great exposure for pure7studios.

pure7 official launch

We will no longer be Ryan Manthey Photography or Yra Studio. We are very excited for what is to come. We look forward to working with many of you. Please come and check us out!