:)

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.

Leatherbag

Loved this photo of Leatherbag I took for the Chronicle.

10 years as a pro photographer!!!

Today marks my 10th year working as a professional photographer!!! These are some of the photos that ran in the Austin Chronicle from my first official professional gig. You can find more here. They were taken with my Pentax K1000 on film and developed in the schools darkroom. The technical part was way off, but the chron liked them enough to keep me around. :) It's strange how a chance encounter with a writer in a parking lot at 17 can change the entire direction of a persons life.

Amanda and Mike!!!

Now that was a wedding! Green Pastures weddings always have the best food. It was hard to resist eating before the guests. The band live band was fun. They played all of my favorite classic rock songs. Ilios lighting did a great job of lighting the outdoor ceremony which was in the dark. Thanks daylight savings time. :)

Erin and Joey

My first bowling wedding, and it was FUN! Lighting was tricky - how many color temperatures can one building have? Thank goodness for multiple flashes. :) Erin's only complaint about the wedding was that she didn't get to spend more time bowling. Apparently it is nearly impossible to bowl in a wedding dress. Go figure.

Melissa and Patrick

Patrick proposed to Melissa on the 1st street bridge so it seemed like fitting place for an engagement portrait.