As most of you know who stop in from time to time I’m all about fall foliage in a big way!  I mean Yankee Magazine took to calling me Jeff Foliage (Folger/Foliage you get the link , right?)

Well I’m on the road a lot between now and the end of Oct but during this time I try to take time to make wonderful fall family portraits.  I take what I do naturally and I apply it to photographing families and or their kids.

Whether you have a backyard full of bright maples or we hit the road and use my expertise to find a great location for the perfect fall foliage backdrop, I think you’ll be happy that you stopped by to chat with me.  At Vistaphotography,

I spend a lot of time

making sure you are happy with the final outcome and I put my customer service as my most important aspect of my business.  I mean it when I say “if you are not happy, then I’m not happy” and I strive to make sure the portrait you take home will be something you treasure not just through this fall but for many years to come.

I have a limited number of openings during the weeks ahead so if you’ve ever though that a fall portrait of the kids or family would be nice then now is the time.  Email or contact me through my info below.

From now through the end of  Oct my fall portrait sessions are only $75 (plus tax is applicable) and this includes the sitting fee, travel to the destination* and two complimentary 5x7s .

If you have any questions please contact me soon to ensure I have the date free and I can book your session.  I’ll be on the road much of the season so please be flexible for after school pictures in the afternoons when the light is the best for portraits and fall foliage.

Jeff “Foliage” Folger
Vistaphotography
Jeff.foliage (at) gmail.com
978-578-5562

I don’t shoot “models” as a rule since I’m not a fashion photographer but when I’m shooting a client’s portrait I treat them as if they are models. I want their best side to come through and I like any other photographer, want them to go WOW! when they see the pictures. It’s the same whether you are working with adults or children as seen here.

I’m going to pass on some of my photography tips about when I’m shooting clients.

The first and most important step is to make the client comfortable (Male or Female). [SinglePic not found] During the first photo session, this is the time to get to know them so get out from behind the camera. If they don’t know you and don’t [SinglePic not found] feel comfortable with you looking at them, the resulting pictures are going to reflect this feeling.

 

I met Brandy at work and she consented to model for me. I know she liked my art photos but she wasn’t sure about portraits since no one had taken good ones of her before. [SinglePic not found]

We worked a couple of lunches during the summer and she was pleasantly surprised by the results. Up to this point we were building a working relationship and her trust in me, to not let her look bad was beginning to come through.[SinglePic not found]

Then I asked about shooting during a late afternoon at the beach (one of her favorite places) and the pictures came out even better.

I was still inexperienced at shooting portraits, so it was [SinglePic not found] good experience for me and she got the benefits of have very good shots of her taken. We were exploring this new trust and it was new for both of us.

This is one of the lessons that I’ve learned, if you build on that trust with a client they will come back to you forever. I recently was attending a portrait class… Yes I continue to take [SinglePic not found] classes when ever a good teacher has an opening. I try to never assume I’ve learned all there is because I’ve been slapped upside the head enough [SinglePic not found]times to know better. We were coming to the final class and the teacher had no model for the last class so I thought to check Brandy’s schedule and she was happy to try this.

If this had been anyone asking her to model in front of an entire class of photographers she would have never done it. As it was she got to work with some very talented photographers who shot different aspects of her personality. They saw her differently than I do so she was able to see herself to many different eyes that night.

So lesson one is to build a lasting trust with a client and you will build that into a friendship that will last for years.

I read this in a professional photography magazine, (no I don’t use words like this normally). And last night on Craigslist in the wedding forum several past brides admitted to having received their CD of images and it was now gathering dust in a drawer. Does this sound familiar to you or someone you know? Then they are disenfranchised!

I found out recently that this applies to Bar/Bat Mitzvahs also. I had a referral come to me and the mother admitted that over three years ago her older son had his Bar Mitzvah and all the pictures were still sitting in the closet gathering dust. Then she picks the package that includes a nice leather, digital flush mount album. Now she has to deal with the problem that she doesn’t have one for the older son and how that looks to him. All because we think we’ll have time down the road to be creative. What happened? Life happened, that’s what. Work, kids, husband and friends to name a few.

Today too many photographers take the easy route and miss out on opportunities to have closure with their clients. I too have clients from this year who probably feel they have all the time in the world to create their own personalized albums. I won’t say they don’t but I wonder how many have the time, after dealing with their home projects, finish a day at work and all the multitudes of things that subtract time from your day, how many pull out the cd and start ordering prints for that Michaels/AC Moore $25.00 album?

What I try to do is keep the cost of an album reasonable and not holding the client hostage with prices that are up with the national debt. I use both digital flush mount and coffee table/magazine style albums that appeal to many couples in today’s marketplace. Whether you come to me for a professional album or go to an online book maker and have them design one for you (there are some on the knot) These designers have many albums to pick from and it’s a fairly easy process to complete that day which is often termed the most important day of your life. Yet if it was so important why do you have no physical testament to that day?