OMG - TMI

My goal for this week is to consolidate my 7 TERABYTES of information. The last three years I've changed file management systems three times and a full overall is long overdue. At the end of the week I'm hoping to have 2 copies of all "historic" files and a new systematic approach to handling live files. If everything goes as planned I'm going to put together an art show of "lost files". :)

Our old house...

Our old house is back on the market. For just over $650k it can be yours! After we moved 5 blocks away in the summer of '06 the new owner made a "few" improvements - like mahogany cabinets and 2000 sq ft. We walked through the house a few times while it was under construction and have peaked in the windows since its completion. It looks nice inside, but the lot is TINY! The only thing about the old house that I really miss are the ancient live oak trees. :)

oh fun

:) have a nice day.

Honeymoon Planning

Wow! I have a new found respect for my grooms (and brides) who plan honeymoons. We are going on a trip in February (not a honeymoon - just a trip) and I've been AMAZED by how much work it is to plan a big trip.

We knew we wanted to go to Costa Rica and we booked plain tickets months ago, but we didn't make any other plans. :) We've spent the last few days scouring Trip Advisor looking at info about the different parts of Costa Rica. Scott wanted to go surfing and spend time in remote Osa. I want to spend time riding horses, reading books and walking on the beach. Scott is much better at being "cut off" from the world so we've decided we are going to spend part of our trip in Osa at an eco-lodge and the rest of our trip in Mal Pais.

I booked our hotel rooms and regional flights today. It is soooo nice to have the planning done. Now it's time to do some shopping! A girl needs a great back pack and some lovely dresses for being on the beach.

Advent

Hey look who it is!!! I photographed her wedding AND her lovely daughter's wedding. :)




Today I photographed an Advent service at a local Catholic school. The photos are going to be used in the schools brochure. I'm going to do gym and technology photos in the spring. Yippee.

Nikon vs Canon

I read an amazing blog post at Photo Business News about the new Nikon D3 vs Canon 1ds Mark III. I've been a loyal Canon user since I started taking pictures 10 years ago. I regularly upgrade my equipment and until now Canon has been the best option for top of the line gear - especially in low light. Now Nikon is offering a body that is better in low light than anything Canon has to offer. I had never thought about leaving Canon until all of the recent problems with my Mark 1d Mark III. My camera body has been back to the factory for service 4 times in 5 months. For a product that costs $5k that is UNACCEPTABLE. Now I'm starting to entertain the idea of becoming a Nikon girl. I'm not happy with the low light primes Nikon offers, but the reviews of the new D3 have been VERY positive. One of my local photo friends (who shall remain unnamed) is making the switch to Nikon. It's very tempting.

Kate and Baker

Chumby!!!

Yea! Scott surprised me with a very cool birthday gift... a Chumby. I'd never scene or heard of the Chumby before today. Here is the description from the Chumby site...

The chumby is a compact device that displays useful and entertaining information from the web using your wireless internet connection. Always on, it shows — nonstop — what's online that matters to you.

I've already downloaded a few fun widgets - I have icanhascheezburger , Chumby 9000 and The Daily Puppy. (remember when Disco was on the Daily Puppy?)

The Chumby software is still in beta, but it will auto update. Yea! I'm going to try and add my Do512 widget and see if it will load on my toy. This is REALLY nerdy -- My user name is Mary on the Chumby site. :) I love getting to be Mary on websites/social networking services.

27 Dresses

Ok. I admit. I love wedding movies. Who wants to go to see 27 dresses with me?? The movie comes out in January. I hope it has wedding photographers. I find it very annoying when wedding movies don't have photographers.

Happy Birthday - To me!

Today is my birthday. To celebrate I'm having a party on Thursday. If you are reading this I'd more than likely love to have you stop by and say hello. Leave me a comment if you need times/directions. Hearts and stars! Thanks for another great year.

More time please...

Ok. I promised a post about Kate's wedding today. I edited most of the photos, but didn't quite get all the way through. There were just TOO many great ones. :)

Fun times!

Kate and Bakers wedding yesterday was AMAZING! I'll put lots of photos up tomorrow.

:)

There will be DINOSAURS!!! I photographed the Wisemans for the annual Christmas card at the Dinosaur museum on campus. It has been fun to watch little Peter and Daisy grow. :)

Happy Everything!

This is not going to be the "official" card this year. :) The official card is BEYOND funny. I'll post it after the holidays.

Wedding...

Last night I had the unique task of photographing a wedding with only 4 people present - bride, groom, priest and photographer.

Website is Live

Up up and away. The new website is now online! If you know anyone who is looking for a great wedding photographer in Austin Texas be sure to send them to www.sleddweddings.com .

Thanksgiving

Ohh... Miss Satya Rose came to town for a little visit. :) I'm always amazed how much she looks like my brother. She even has the same super frown. It was TOO cute for me to remember I should capture it in a photo.

Website

New websiteOld website

I've decided it's time for a new website. I LOVED my old website. I made it "by hand" and my friend Charles made it live for me. The new website is a Bludomain site... I don't like that TONS of other photographers in town use their templates, but it was the path of least resistance. The new site should be live soon.

Babies!!!

Just wanted to show off my very cute new designs for birth announcements.

High Key

This photo made me smile.

Owens Family Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday. Our tradition is to have a gourmet meal with Scott's sister and brother-in-law and a handful of college friends. We pick up a Cajun turkey from Sambetts and make oyster dressing, brussel sprouts with prosciutto, purple jello (my favorite), warm rolls and a salad. YUM YUM YUM. Can't wait. Went shopping last night. :)

I need to talk to the owner....

One of the perks of having an address on S. Lamar is the surprising number of people who wander into my studio trying to sell me things. Usually I'm nice and listen for a minute before politely declining. Today I was in the middle of editing a time sensitive project so I told the Osarka sales guy "This is a private office. We aren't interested". He wouldn't take no for an answer. He kept saying he wanted to "talk to the owner." Guess it didn't dawn on him that I might be the owner.... After an awkward minute of me giving him the stink eye he left. Guess I should put up a NO SOLICITING sign. :)

Chad and Kim + The Bump

Remember when they got engaged? Remember the wedding? Well... now they are having a BABY!!! We had lots of fun in the studio and then we went a for a little walk. The baby is due on Christmas. :)

Adrienne and Jim

Photographing Adrienne and Jim at Lou Neff Point yesterday was fun. Jim got mad at me for calling him Jeremy. Ooops. It's hard to think about all of my camera settings and flash settings and still remember names. :)

Bucking the price trend...

This is an email from Jim my account manager at Printroom. He believes raising my prices will cause more sales.

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Hi Mary. I wanted you to imagine for a moment that I had a wine bar and you visited it. I offered two glasses of wine--one I was selling for 60 cents, the other for 6 dollars. Which glass do you automatically think has the better wine within it?

Now imagine that I let you know both glasses were poured out of the same bottle. If you were a wine drinker, you'd obviously order the 60 cent glass. However, you wouldn't order 10 glasses. If I only offered you the $6 glass, you'd think you were getting the better vintage and I'd maximize my profit.

Online photography sales are a lot like that. Your customers will value your photography more as your price is raised. Fine art is that way, too. It appears to me that photography is a lot more like fine art than it is like produce. (I'll typically buy more artichokes when their price is lower). Your customers are motivated to buy your photographs not because of your price, but because you captured the images they want to own.

If you raised your 4x6 price to $6, I predict you would not only notice more profit, you might notice more sales! I've seen it happen in several Printroom professional accounts. The photographer raises his prices and gets more sales. I'm still amazed when I see it even though I believe I understand the economic model for it.

As your account manager, my job is to help you grow your online sales. I'd strongly encourage you to consider raising prices.

If a $6 4x6 print seems pricey to you, let me assure you, it's not. I normally recommend little league photographs be offered no less than $6. If you raise your 4x6 print price to $6, you increase your sales and your customers still get a table pounding value.

--Jim

Holiday Orders

Please remember to get these orders in early! Aren't these two sooo cute!

Seasons Greetings!

It's that time of year again. If you would like super-duper Sledd Photo holiday cards NOW is the time to schedule a sitting! I only have a few more spaces available for this year. Holiday sitting fees are $200 per session and include 25 custom designed holiday cards. Extra cards can be purchased for $1-3 each depending on style.