Family and Child Portraits

Contrary to what it might look like given all the senior stuff on our blog, we do all kinds of portraits!  We’ve just added a gallery of family and child portraits above to browse some samples.  You can see more at our website, www.michaels-photography.com.

Meanwhile, it seems to be baby season, so I’ll leave you with some images of recent baby sessions we’ve done!

       

Getting creative with your senior pictures

For senior portraits, we will often do some artwork or fun effects on a few of your proofs.  We might give you some images in black and white, maybe sepia, maybe some other tones.  Any of those, of course, may be ordered in normal color with or without the effects.  But remember that we can ALSO put ANYTHING into black and white, sepia, and other tones.  Sometimes, by thinking outside the box a little and getting creative, you can stumble across a gem.  Take Emily, an ‘09 senior at Central Noble who came in yesterday to place her order.  She had a list of images that were in color in her proof book that she wanted to see black and white.  One was normal color taken outside, gorgeous just the way it was, but when we converted it, suddenly we had a striking, classic black-and-white image before our eyes:

 

Then there was an image we’d given her in both regular color and with high contrast.  She had the great idea to convert it, and again we had an entirely different look:

  

Now, I’m not saying you should come in asking to see every image every different way (please).  But alterations like this are super-easy ones that can make a dramatic difference.  One of our 2008 seniors, Jessica of Concordia Lutheran High School, did this same thing, and the image ended up being a favorite that got chosen as the face of her graduation open house invitations:

 

A small change can open up a whole new world!

2009 Senior Survey

2009 Seniors:

Input from clients and prospective clients is essential to a business.  We’ve put together a few questions for you to help us get a feel for what the new seniors are thinking and doing.  We’d love to hear your answers to the questions below.  You can send your answers to info@michaels-photography.com.  If you’re interested in receiving a special deal for filling out the survey (all questions must be answered to qualify), make sure to include your name and contact info.  Currently, special deals for the survey will only be available to ‘09 seniors.

1. From 1 to 4, rank the importance of the following for your senior portraits, 1 being the most important and 4 being the least important: (a) style/look of portraits (b) print/product quality (c) price (d) scheduling/availability.  If your parent(s)/guardian(s) would disagree, how would they rank these?
2. Why would you choose Michael’s Photography?  What would make you choose a photography studio in general?
3. What are you looking for in your senior pictures?
4. What are your friends doing for their senior pictures?
5. Are you male or female?
6. What school do you attend?  In what city/town?

Everything we ever hear from seniors, their parents, their friends, ends up helping us at one time or another.  The more info, the better!  Thanks, guys!

More ‘09 Seniors

Here are some highlights from three ‘09 seniors we’ve done in the past week.  This is David, a senior at Concordia.  We’ve done his older siblings.  He had one casual outfit and one formal.  His mom needed an ASAP appointment because she promised him that after pictures he could do whatever he wanted to his hair!

 

This is Sara, a senior at Bishop Dwenger.  Her session was fun–she had a lot of ideas and things that she wanted to do with props and accessories.  Her two brothers also popped in to take a picture with her, each in his/her respective school sweatshirt.

  

And this is Samantha, a senior at Elmhurst.  She brought her dog in, a huge, adorable boxer with a red bandana.  It was a family affair–she had lots of people coming in to drop off props for her and hang out while her pictures were being taken.  Her pictures came out really well!

  

Summer’s passing so quickly…!

SENIORS…I hate to remind you, but school starts in 5 WEEKS!  (Terrible, I know…or awesome, depending on how eager you are to be done with this high school business.)

So what does that mean?  It means that you need to be thinking about your senior pictures!  You’re tan, relaxed, happy not being in school, and your schedule is probably not as chaotic as it is during the year (if it is, I feel for you).  We still have plenty of appointments for the summer, but as each day passes we have fewer and fewer, so you should call now! 

(260) 482-2660

What sets Michael’s Photography apart from the rest?

As a business, we have to pay attention to what other photography studios are doing.  I want to highlight some things that make us different from a lot of photography studios out there–not just for senior pictures, but for families, kids, and any other types of portraits.

• We give you unlimited backgrounds for your pictures.
• None of our regular sessions (not including our all-in-one Economy Package) has a limit on the number of poses taken.  We will take as many as we think are needed, based on your outfits, accessories and props, your wishes, location, and enthusiasm!
• Senior proofs are ready in 2 business days, bound in a hardcover book, and when you pick them up you’ll receive your password for online viewing.
• With us, a separate senior session for yearbook-style formal portraits is only necessary if you’ve purchased an on-location session.  Otherwise, we will gladly do yearbook photos during your session no matter what, with any type of in-studio session you’ve selected.
• We book all of our sessions for a certain amount of time, but we will never push you out the door when time’s up.  We do our best to arrange our schedule so that there won’t be problems if we run over the allotted time.
• We are not a chain.  Lots of studios are regional or national chains.  They choose only the cream of the national crop for the samples in their mailers and websites, which means that not only are the people you see probably not from your area, but that those pictures weren’t taken by the photographers in your area.  Those samples don’t let you evaluate the work of the people who will be taking your pictures. What you see in our mailers, on our websites, and in our studio were taken here or on location by Michael.

2009 Senior Files: Bowling Balls and Cats!

Here’s another ‘09 senior we just did.  She’s a bowler and brought her gear…and she brought her cat!  (Which, by the way, was full-grown but teeny and so cute.)  I’ve picked out a few images: examples of cool stuff we can do with color and contrast; a picture with the cat; some fun senior digital artwork; and a picture with her bowing gear.  She’s lucky she came when she did, because the storms rolled in later on.  Enjoy!