How about a little Q&A about Kathy McCloy Photography? Here we go…
"What do I get for the $100 sitting fee?" Your sitting fee includes my time and talent during your photo shoot, photo enhancements and retouching, an online gallery to view your proofs (and to share with friends and family), and my travel expenses.
"What do you mean… photo enhancements and retouching?" Let’s let the photos do the talking on this one. I spend hours going through each photo from your shoot individually making sure they are the best they can be. I don’t want to change the way you look, just enhance what’s already there. Here is a set of before and afters so you can get an idea.
1. Lovely self portrait of myself on a shoot the other day. The image on the left is straight out of my camera (cropped square) and the one on the right has had the following… color boost, eyes enhanced, teeth whitened, dark circles under eyes cleaned up, tiny (and I emphasize tiny) wrinkles around the eyes airbrushed, and my skin smoothed out. There you have it… the magic of digital photography… I just magically got a weeks vacation at a spa!
2. Image on the far left is straight out of my camera. Center image hasn’t had much more then a color boost and a little bit of eye enhancement (ahh… to be young again). The third image (my personal favorite from this shoot) has been converted to black and white, and then the white spots lightened and the dark spots darkened.
3. This next set shows you the time I spend on each individual image. The one on the left (straight out of my camera) has wires and telephone poles and just general YUCK in the background. Notice that it is all missing in the second image. The second image also had a color boost and a little burning on the road and the tree in the upper left hand corner. The first image would be nice if you’d never seen the second. But the edited version blows it out of the water.
4. This wasn’t a planned photo shoot. Brandy had on no makeup, didn’t have her hair fixed, and had on dirty clothes from the barn. Cole… obviously didn’t dress up for the occasion either. Funny thing is, this is one of my favorite pictures of Cole yet. It’s just proof that what you wear isn’t important… the connection between the people is what makes a great photo. The first one is straight out of my camera. The middle one has been converted to black and white, the extremes made more extreme, and the corners burned… oh ya, and Brandy’s sock painted out of the lower left hand corner! The third photo is the middle photo simply turned to a spit tone (compliments of [b]ecker). Kind of a mix of sepia and black and white.
"Why is your sitting fee so much more then JCPenneys or Sears?" If you read the answer to the previous question, you probably already have figured out the answer. #1. TIME. I spend hours working on your images long after I leave you. #2. TRAVEL. Most shoots require me to travel hours from home. #3. CONVENIENCE. I come right to your front door and am game for anything. #4. FUN. There is no rushing and no stress at a Kathy McCloy photo shoot. I want you to look at your final images and remember what a fun day that was. I want your kids to be sad when I leave. I want you to change clothes until your heart’s content. Stress free, fun, and wonderful final images. That is my ultimate goal.
If you want more info, check out my website at www.kathymccloy.com or email me.
***FYI*** because of a schedule change and recent inquiries in the Marshall, Missouri area, I am adding an extra weekend of sessions there this fall. I have times open on September 19th and the weekend of October 26th-28th. Drop me an email to book your session.
by Kathy
jada - those are so good