What's That Price Again?

Recently, a customer booked us for a portrait shoot after investigating several alternatives, including photography at a well-known department store and another big-box retailer.

We've all seen the photography specials at these stores; they promise dozens of portraits at a ridiculously low price. In fact, the price they offer is often below our actual printing cost for the same amount of portraits.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And in this case, that's exactly what our client found.

First, she was limited to a single pose. That wasn't going to work for her; she had three children that she wanted in individual poses, she wanted a family shot, a photo of her and her sister, a photo of her parents, and a large group shot. Oh, and could she include her pets?

Wow.

The single pose was out of the question.

She wanted multiple prints of those multiple poses. But at the department store, she was limited to prints from a single pose without incurring extra costs. And to top it all off, she was limited to a small number of poses per session.

The big-box retailer seemed to offer a good price and selection, until she asked if she could buy the rights to use the photos on her own. That price alone pushed her simple package above the cost of ours.

In the end, she became our client because we were not only cost-competitive, but for what she was looking for, we were actually cheaper. Her final package included a one-hour photo session, well over a dozen different poses, over 100 4x6 proofs, a copyright release for all her photos, and all her pictures on a CD-ROM. She can place orders directly from us, through a secure website, she can print them at home, or use her favorite photo processor.

Just as important to our client was the service she received, and the individual attention. Working with two dogs, three children and four adults is a challenge, but one we took on willingly and with a lot of fun. She wasn't pushed through on a schedule, and we took the time to give her a great experience.

That's the difference between having your portrait taken at our studio versus the store where you bought your lawnmower. Give us a call, and compare our pricing. We're sure we'll see you soon when you do.

Pet Photography

Our newest YouTube video features highlights from some of the pets we've photographed at LaVere Media. Remember: We'll come to your home, or you can bring your pet to our studio. Either way, we love working with our furry friends.

Building Community With Social Media

Note: This article was originally intended for publication in the Elmira Star-Gazette's "Twin Tiers Business" publication. That publication is no longer being published, so the article is presented here instead.

When discussing social media websites with people who haven't used them or haven't been exposed to them, the question I'm most often asked is some variant of "what's the point?" It's often phrased as: "Why do I need to know if someone's going to the grocery store"?

I don't always have an answer at the ready—or at least I didn't until recent news events made it painfully clear how these websites are changing the face of how we communicate and connect with each other. Anyone who doesn't "get" what the new social media is all about would be wise to learn from what happened on April 3, 2009.

On that day, a gunman entered the American Civic Association building on Binghamton NY's Front Street and opened fire on the occupants, ultimately killing 13 and injuring four more before turning his gun on himself. The news was horrific, unexpected for a small quiet town like Binghamton, and the news spread quickly over social networking sites across the Internet.

That afternoon, an e-mail alert arrived from a Facebook friend: "I have to find out what is happening in Binghamton - something about 4 dead and a dozen wounded after gun fire. Doesn't sound good." I immediately went to Google News, where it was the lead story. What happened next illustrates both the positive and negative aspects of the immediacy of the Internet.

I checked Twitter's search page, where "Binghamton" was the top trending subject, meaning that people were currently searching for "Binghamton" more than any other keyword. From there, I followed the entire life cycle of the story that afternoon.

Twitter updates came in at the rate of hundreds every minute. Information and misinformation alike spread at unprecedented speed. From the Twitter page, I followed links to the CNN website, which featured local live news broadcasts. Another link led me to a broadcast of Binghamton police scanners. For a few hours that afternoon, my regular work came to a screeching halt as I clicked my way through various online news sources to try to answer the questions of "What happened?" "What is happening?" and "What's going to happen?".

Slowly but surely, a pattern emerged. A new piece of the puzzle would appear as a Twitter update, which was often ahead of the traditional media, but unconfirmed. It would be repeated several times, then a link would appear to an "official" news source that would either confirm or the rumor, or simply repeat it. Sorting through it all became a difficult yet fascinating exercise.

Ultimately, however, it showed the power of community. For a while, it seemed as though everyone on Twitter was either from Binghamton, or had a personal connection to the city. Shock was expressed. Stories were shared. Condolences were offered. Offers of assistance poured in. The idea of an Internet as a "global village" became more than an abstract idea-it became real.

So now when someone asks, "What's the point?" I have a ready answer. It's about community.

The Bird Show

In addition to my regular duties at LaVere Media, I also dabble in more personal creative pursuits, and recently decided to take the plunge and submit an original photo-illustration for consideration in an upcoming gallery exhibit in Corning, NY.

Today, I received notification that my work, titled "Free as a Bird" was selected for inclusion in the show.

This is a first for me, and I couldn't me more thrilled. The exhibit opens Thursday, April 2; more information is available at the website for the ARTS Council of the Southern Tier.

Hope to see you at the opening on Thursday, or stop by when you're in the area.

Feature

LaVere Media was featured in The Sunday, March 15 edition of the Elmira Star-Gazette.

Check out the full article here.

Wedding Video Highlight

As part of LaVere Media's "Deluxe" wedding video package, we include a highlight video of the day's events. It's an overview of the much longer video of the day.

This is one of my favorites. The wedding was held at the library of Elmira College, and the reception was at the Elmira Country Club. A great couple, and a great day.


Wedding Video Highlights from LaVere Media on Vimeo.

Doggone Nice

We love hearing from satisfied clients, and we're particularly happy when we get a handwritten note from one of them.

Today's mail takes the cake. Regular readers of this blog will remember Suze:


We filled an order for prints of Suze for Valentine's day, and today the following note came in the mail:


You're welcome, Suze! Happy Valentine's day!

Today's Question: What's the best thank-you note you ever received?

New Ad

A look at the new ad we're running starting this week:

Pet Photos: Suze

The complete set of photos from last month's pet photography shoot with "Suze" are now available for viewing (and ordering) on our Shutterfly page.

As always, your comments and feedback are appreciated!

Social Media

The first in a series of columns on Social Media was published by the Elmira Star-Gazette in their "Twin Tiers Business" publication. A special thanks to Peter Wallin for giving me the lead that got this particular ball rolling.

Here are a few highlights from the article:

In the first wave of the Internet, companies created and promoted simple websites to drive people to their business. Today, businesses use tools to drive people to increasingly complex and informative websites. The days of creating a website and hoping people find it amidst the overwhelming number of similar sites are over.

As audiences move away from traditional media outlets, they are increasingly moving towards social media as a means of gathering new information and informing themselves.

As a result, your competition is probably already using social media in some form. Your customers definitely are. Facebook is part of the social fabric. Sites such as vimeo and YouTube allow individuals and businesses to distribute video to customers for free. If you haven’t heard of “twitter”(a site where people share brief updates about what they’re doing with lists of online friends), your kids definitely have.

Smart businesses embrace these tools as low-cost or free alternatives to paid searches, expensive and difficult-to-manage search engine optimization, and slow-moving forms of information distribution that often reach the wrong audience with a “shotgun” approach.

If you don't get the Twin Tiers Business publication, drop me a line and I'll be happy to send you a copy. You can also call the Star-Gazette at (607) 734-5151 and get added to the distribution list for this free publication.

A Race To The Bottom?

With the economy limping along over the last few months, people are looking to cut corners wherever they can. Photography services are no different. What we've noticed in the past few months is a "race to the bottom", with photographers cutting services, scaling back packages, and offering less...for less.

There's also a new phenomenon—plenty of people with inexpensive Digital SLRs are offering photography services at rock-bottom prices, often before they have the experience or the knowledge to offer quality services.

We think this is a mistake.

This weekend, LaVere Media will attend the Arnot Mall Bridal Expo in Big Flats, NY. We'll be competing with many photographers...some new, some old, and at a variety of price points. While we recognize the need to save money during difficult economic times, we also recognize that 20 years from now, when you're looking at your wedding album with your family, a substandard set of photos won't make up for the few dollars you saved in hiring the equivalent of "Uncle Bob with a camera". We don't believe you need to go overboard, but there is such thing as cutting back too far. We often talk about the temporary nature of what goes into a wedding—the cake gets eaten, the flowers wilt, the dress gets put in storage. How do you share the memories of that day? Through photographs and video.

With that in mind, we've re-worked our photography packages to reflect the realities of the current economy, while offering what we believe is the best combination of quality and price in the region.

So here's our pitch:

We offer quality photography and video services at a very reasonable price. We offer a basic "digital-only" package, but we don't just shoot the photos and dump them on a DVD. Each photo is reviewed, color-corrected and edited if necessary, and provided to you at high resolution. We offer upper-tier packages with options for albums, proofs, reprints...all at very reasonable prices with quick turnaround.

We never impose a time limit on our services. When you hire LaVere Media, we're there all day—no matter which package you purchase. We always send two experienced photographers, which lets us shoot in different locations simultaneously. We attend your rehearsal. We generally shoot between 1500 and 2000 photos per wedding. We offer a video option with every photo package, and our video-only packages are the most competitive in the area.

At LaVere Media, we don't compromise personal service or quality for price. There will always be someone with a lower price; that's just the nature of a competitive business. We think it's more important to find a photographer that you can work with, who you want to spend your entire day with, and who will offer great service at a great price. We've been photographing and videotaping weddings and special events for over 20 years, and we believe that once you give us a look, you'll like what you see.

Stop by this weekend, or give us a call. We'd love to talk with you.

Pet Photo Shoot

When you've got a subject as cute as Suze, you can't help but share the photos:





For more information about pet photography from LaVere Media, e-mail us.