Photography---I'm a believer.....

I actually found this little article on Natali's face book page and appreciated it so thought I'd share it:

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?????

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Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 9:46am

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive? In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home "photo printers", when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time - How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 (actually more then what I charge) for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store? Here's why. Simply put, you're not just paying for the actual photograph, you're paying for time and expertise. First, let's look at the actual time involved. If you don't read this entire page, at least read this first part. For a two hour portrait session: - one hour of travel to and from the session - two hours of shooting - 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc. - 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data) - 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive - 3 - 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs - 2 - 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex. - For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours. You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour. For an eight hour wedding: - I won't bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour. Now for the expertise. Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera. Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc. And let's not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera - and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself. Think of it this way - the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional. What about the cheap studios at the mall? Please don't compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won't come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for. The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you'll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you're there, you'll also spend $200 on other things. They don't have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door. Conclusion We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Author: Shawn Richter


I must say that the PROFESSIONALISM is what you are paying for. I appreciate great professionalism. Someone who knows their particular profession well and executes it . I pay for them to be 100% competent and skilled. Knowledge. Quality end products. Pride in their work. I payed for my wedding photos and it was worth EVERY penny!! Natalie Montez is the BEST professional photographer out there in my opinion. She sent us a contract with details of what to expect months ahead. Communication of time and dates was always clear and accurate. She was on time and ready to roll. The shoot was a BLAST. My HUSBAND even had a great time at our photo shoot! She made it extremely enjoyable and comfortable. I never saw and unedited photo. I didn't have to search through 1000's of pictures to choose 10 I liked. THAT WAS HER JOB ! She had tons of prints ready for us to display at our wedding. I absolutely love my wedding photos and cherish them!! Check her out: www.photosbynatalie.blogspot.com!! She is amazing in every sense of the profession!

Husbands playing hooky

Barry got FREE tickets to see a D-backs game in the middle of the day, twisted Bret's arm to skip out of work with him and we all went to the baseball game!! FUN! They lost, but it was a good game.

Lake again! I love it!

Barry and friends=Rich and Seth
Our man Seth concentrating REALLY hard. SO FUNNY
Lauren and I tubing. Lauren is a MEAN tuber. She knocked EVERYONE off!!
New friends Rachelle, Me, Lauren, Natalee

SUMMER FUN!!

work in progress

(THE HOUSE)

Well well well Barry and I have been busy!! About two weeks ago we put in hard wood floors downstairs in our house.

DIY projects are always an adventure. I learned a bit, HIRE SOMEONE!! haa haa, no it was a good learning process and saved us some money.

So we ripped out all the carpet and baseboards and began the instillation process.

I love our new floors and was happy to say farewell to the old carpet!! I feel like I could do project after project. I guess thats what happens when you have a whole house!!


I have to finish painting so we can get the baseboards back on. Still lots to do. FUN!

I finally figured out 100 things about myself

Here are two pic of my big face.

So quite awhile ago my whole family wrote 100 things about themselves and we later had a big get-together and had some good laughs getting to know each other better. I didn't do it. I was busy with finals/school at the time. So after reading Natali's 100 I was inspired to sit down and figure out 100 things about ME so here goes:

1. I am not patient, but I want to be.
2. I am allergic to cats, horses, grass and latex.
3. I never kissed a boy in high school. My fist kiss was when I was 19.
4. I used to want to become an Architect, but I am just not good at math at all.
5. I am a horrible decision maker. Take away all the options and the better my nerves are. Choices can be overwhelming for me at times. I guess I have committment issues. In fact there are a few store that know me by name because I make numerous returns.
6. When I graduated from high school my good 'ole dad told me that i should got to school for dental hygiene. I look at him and said "I will never do that. I hate dental offices." I am now, 8 years later, a Registered Dental Hygienist. HOOT! HOOT!
7. I would rather not remember most of high school. Glad it's over
8. I went to SUU in Cedar City Ut. for my fist year of college. That is where I met my dear friend Megan Clark. I used to have a crush on her now husband. haaahaa
9. The only picture I ever drew was a giraffe in 9th grade art class. okay, okay I had a lot of help from Mr. Diverse.
10. I have been doing Tae Bo with my personal trainer Billy "blood fists" Banks since 7 grade. In fact I have had to keep hauling my mini tv around with me over the years because it has a VHS player on it. I love to work out, but not in gyms!! HI YAHH!
11. I only take pills (ie Ibuprofen, aspirin) on rare occasions. Nope, not much of a pill popper. My Dad instilled in me that if you have a headache you should probably go to sleep. You got the headache for a reason and your body is telling you to take care of yourself.
12. I like to think I can cook, not bake, there is a difference. Baking is like brownies and cakes. I like coming up with yummy meals with whatever might be in the fridge.
13. People say that I am accident prone. I disagree. Its just that when something does happen it is always MAJOR that's all.
14. I absolutely love the sour candy Sour Patch kids. Once while studying for boards I literally ate HALF of a COSTCO size bag. I ate myself sick and later yammied! I still eat sour patch kids.
15. Speaking of up-chucking, once my roommates and I , made an ongoing list of all the different words used to describe throwing up.
16. Is it weird that in H.S. my best friends were guys, Ster, Matt, Trey?
17. I am not afraid of bugs, spiders, critters or getting a little dirty.
18. I absolutely loath being cold.
19.I played the flute in middle school.
20. I truly appreciate the talents and abilities of others. I love watching performances of many kinds, singing, dancing, acting, instrument playing, athletics, photography, art, scrap booking ect. I try to be cultured. wink
21. My brother Mark is my hero. I admire the way he has lived his life.
22. The summer Olympic gymnastics fascinate me. The Olympics in general fascinate me.
24. I truly believe, when it comes to friends, its not quantity its quality! I have met kindred spirits in my life that I will never forget. You know who you are.
24. My favorite apostle is Elder Eyring. He reminds me of my grandpa Crosby at times. I just love him
25. I used to spend my summers tending ostriches meaning, monitoring an incubator full of eggs, hatching chicks, hauling 5 gallon buckets of water to feeders, cleaning pen of poop and woke up at 6 am daily to to so.
26. My Dad says that gold runs through my veins. In all honestly, I just appreciate fine craftsmanship and quality.
27. When I was in 5th grade I was out of school for 3 weeks with a ruptured appendix. I almost died of toxic shock. A quart of infection was removed from my organs.
28. The movie Labyrinth used to scare me. In fact i do NOT like scary movies at all.
29. I have a big scar on every single appendage from various adventures through out my life.
30. I can't name a food i will not eat. I have my preferences, but will basically eat anything. In fact, my co-workers used to call me the garbage disposal.
31. I love music, not screaming, of all genres and I listen to it really loud. I can even appreciate the screaming kind on some days!!!!
32. I certainly care about what is going on in politics and our world and like to be informed, but i cannot stand watching the news constantly. oops.
33. I do not watch much TV but do waste time blogging and looking up randomness on the Internet.
34. Some may hate it, but I am not a slave to my phone. I bought it as a convince for me and if I am in the middle of living my life, I will not answer the phone (this is circumstantial).
35. I love HGTV. I think the shows inspire people to create beautiful things.
36. In dental hygiene school, my clinic group described me as creative, caring, "real" and optimistic.
37. I am very clean and organized. (barry would say EXTREMELY) When I was dating Barry I once spent a day organizing his closet in rainbow order. I couldn't help myself. I haven't always been organized. I had some help (THANKS ERIN!)
38. It's not very hard to get under my skin. I'm working on this.
39. Don't stone me, but I never had a desire to go to BYU nor live in Provo. Just not my gig.
40. I do not prefer the nic name Lisa Lou. I have tried to train my family to call me at least Lisa Nae (middle name is ReNae).
41. My husband makes fun of me because I save store bought plastic bottles, wash and reused them.
42. I consider myself a protective sister. I once wrote one of my sisters missionary companions to "put her in her place"-nicely when she was not treating my sister very kind.
43. Learning is great. I am an advocate of education, but the regiment of classes and home work is not my favorite position to be in.
44. I have a retained deciduous tooth- T. This is a baby tooth that I never lost and was never replaced with another tooth.
45. I once jumped a 100 (yes we measured) foot cliff into water before 4 other guys. Boy aren't i brave.
46. Do or don't be grossed out-- I am a picker. I like to pick on things.
47. I've been told I'm really tough. I tolerate physical pain very well. I actually had my wisdom teeth taken out with NO ANESTHETIC. Dr. Jenkins was amazed.
48. I broke my nose my freshman year of HS doing a back handspring on the basketball court.
49. Of my favorite memories, one of my favorites is of my Grandma Jo when my sisters and I used to play the funny face game with her. We would stand back to back, count to 3, spin around and make the funniest/ugliest face we could. Grandma would make the SAME face every time. We got a kick out of that.
50. I like a clean cut guy. YOU HEAR THAT HUSBAND!! WINK
51. I think I am a good poet.
52. I attended one year of Respiratory therapy school. Hospitals are not a good match for me. I don't enjoy being caged up for 12 hours straight and it didn't help that I gave a man his last breath. I didn't want to "get used to" death.
53. When I am hungry or tired or hungry and tired you should probably feed me or put me to bed QUICK.
54. I watched Napolean Dynamite approximately 13 times IN theatres.
55. I have a very complicated personality according to my husband.
56. Having the constant support and love of my family is a huge part of my life. I love them dearly.
57. When it comes to sympathy, well, I need to work on being more sympathetic. I guess I was raised with the attitude-- get up, do it again, you're fine, stop crying. I had 3 older brothers that when i did get hurt the would hold me down and say straight in my face "STOP CRYING!" or "DON'T CRY. YOU ARE TOUGHER THAN THAT!" Yes, I am that girl that rolls her eyes at "weeny girls" that wine about little "ouchys"
58. Before my honeymoon, I had never been EAST. That is, past Texas. I have now gone to Florida
59. While sitting as a passenger with my husband driving I tend to easily get motion sickness.
60. I am a very particular individual. I (for the most part) know what i'm gonna like and dislike. I will usually have an idea ow how I'd like something to turn out and when it doesn't, I tend to be disappointed.
61. I once watched a certain movie with Barry and cried for 15 min after it was over. No lie. Ask him. It was one of his favorite movies so No it was not a chick flick or a love story.
62. I am overly self conscious about the right side of my face for two reasons (not that the first isn't reason enough) #1, The right side of my face was ripped off in a car accident where I had 1,100 stitches placed in an 8 hour surgery. #2. I broke my nose.
63. I love giving gifts. It is fun for me.
64. I was told by an optometrist, after relentless attempts at wearing contact lenses, that my eyes were too sensitive. Just like my heart. wipe a tear.
65. I got a class II misdemeanor for not wear my glasses while driving. DUMB
66.I take my make-up off EVERY night with out fail.
67. I like being tan, but would rather not have cancer or sun spots later in life. Sunscreen is my friend.
68. Don't hate- I love the series Smallville. True. I will admit I have watched almost every season.
69. I seem to always have chapped lips and have a bad habit of rubbing my lips.
70. I prefer cites with planning and zoning.
71. It is important for me to be on time. I try very hard to do so.
72. For the past 7 years my breakfast has developed into HIGH FIBER cereals like Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat, and strawberry All- Bran with fruit and yogurt. LOVE IT. can't hardly function with out it.
73. In my first singles ward I was called to be Gospel doctrine teacher. It was rather intimidating to teach RM's.
74. I am disgusted and do not agree with, nor enjoy people who choose to smoke in public or around thier children. If you are going to smoke, just kill yourself. Don't bring others down with you. RUDE.
73. I am a little GREEN. Yup. I like recycling, using things over, not wasting, not littering, using non aerosol products and such. not too bad.
74. I eat only wheat spaghetti noodles and they are delicious. I also eat 100% natural peanut butter because it is not hydrogenated. Delicious and nutritious.
75. I tried to cut out high fructose corn syrup from my diet cold turkey and it turned out to be impossible. It is in nearly EVERYTHING. grrrr.
76. When I was 16 i had a grand vision that once I turned 20 all my pimples would just go away. FALSE.
77. As a child I had an unusual frequency of ear infections. Don't know why, but my Mom told me that I might be hard of hearing when I am an old lady.
78. I try to eat all the colors in my diet through out the day.
79. I prefer my carrots raw and my broccoli steamed.
80. I am not a fan of video games. I think they are a waste of time. I actually stopped dating a guy because he played way too much.
81. I never experienced the freshman 15. It was actually opposite for me. I lost 15lbs post HS. thank goodness.
82. My hair is naturally a wavey poof. I straighten it.
83. Look #83. This was my soccer # and I was born 8-3-83 @ 8:30!! sweet eh?
84. I don't prefer fast food. I will eat it if I must.
85. My favorite dessert includes gooey brownies, ice cream, fudge, Carmel and pecans in any combination.
86. My salsa has to have a kick to it or i might as well be eating ketchup.
87. I am not a great reader. The only series I have ever finished is Twilight. SAD
88. I am afraid of change. I am a creature of habit and stability. Don't rock the boat. I need adequate notice and preparation before any interruption to my routine.
89. I would consider my self ambitious. I want a lot out of life. I know the value of hard work and dedication and that it can take me far.
90. A favorite food of mine would have to be Cafe Rio's sweet pork tacos with feta cheese and green ranch--- so tasty!!
91. I AM DRAMATIC. I tend to perhaps over dramatise many situations. I'd rather call it passionate. I am passionate about the thing that mean the most to me.
92. I want nothing more out of life than to be happy and have great relationship with those I surround myself with.
93. I am a hopeless romantic. I am a sucker for love songs, knights in shining armor, poems, flowers, chocolates, thoughtful notes gifts and endearing words, candle light, dancing in the middle of the street at random, and ON and ON>>>>>
94. A pet peeve of mine is when people don't put carts away at shopping centers. COME ON LAZY AMERICANS--REALLY???
95. An afternoon delicacy of Eagar AZ growing up was freshly caught killed and boiled crawdads dipped in butter and sprinkled with salt yummm yummm.
96. okay okay I'll say it, I am a perfectionist, but am not very perfect thus i lead a life of frustration.
97. I love to solemn ski! so fun. I'm over wake boarding. If your not good whats the point? Face planting hurts and I'd rather go FAST!!
98. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and know His gospel is TRUE
99. My waist is as big as my husbands thigh. nuts
100. I like blue collar comedy.


THAT WAS INTENSE thanks for reading.

It's the little (or big) things in life

The food item above made me smile from ear to ear Thursday night at Rustlers Roost for Laurens birthday.

Look a REAL LIVE moo cow with BIG'O long horns!! That long horn had better behave or it might meet the same fate as his friend on the wall above.

Barry's office all done

Here it is Kari:

PARTY DAY

Hummm..... It's yet again my birthday. I'm gonna give you a list. A list of why I enjoy birthdays.

1. Everyone has to be nice to you. right? Its like a LAW. The law of the birthday.
2. Presents
3. Cake. Preferably Chocolate with cream cheese frosting
4. Ice Cream in any flavor
5. Birthdays last the whole month. Aug. is my birthday month.
6. You get to reflect upon a painful day in your mothers life and give her thanks that you were born.
7. Lunch with friends
8. One day a year I get extra spoiled
9. Party's
10. Outings
12. People sing to you a special song. What other day do people feel the need break out in song because you are alive?? Speaking of birthdays songs How many are there?
a. You've had a birthday shout horraay
b. Felize cople anyos
c. classic happy birthday to you
d. happy happy birthday children dear happy days will come to you all year if i had a wish then it would be a happy happy birthday to you from me.
e. hummm this is a pretty sad list of songs help me out here!

13. I am always happy on my birthday. its true. Hard to be sad.
14. treats in addition to cake and ice cream
15. Its an excuse to dress up.
16.Who doesn't love the idea of surprise and wonder
17. Pinatas
18. Themed party's. I'm doing Malibu Beach Barbie this year. wink
19. confetti. You have not been born without confetti on your birthday
20. We celebrate AGE.
21. Along with celebrating age we display it for all to know. There's many way to display our NEW AGE:
a. lite candles on a cake
b. big posters
c. shout it out
d. draw it in frosting
e. lights
f. bracelet charms
g. banners
h. jewelry

22. If we didn't celebrate we might forget how long we have been alive.
23. flowers. this is separate from gifts.
24. I love that birthday girls are entitled to wear tiaras!
25. For some reason you want everyone to know its your birthday. see # 1.
26. I enjoy all the sentiments from people.
28. Blowing out candles and making a secret wish that no one else can know!
29. They are important because you feel sad when people might forget!! right? i do.


i'll be back to add more to my list

What to do, what to do??

My birthday is TOMORROW!! I almost forgot for realsies. So I haven't really planned much (thats Barry's job anyways right??).
WHAT DOES a married person do for her birthday?? EH??

I begged Barry for a pedicure. -I didn't get a pedicure for TWO years while i was in school (so do i feel deserving? yes.)

IDEAS??? GO>

8-3-83 @ 8:30 that is a true story. My dad predicted my birth. When my Mom first was pregnant with me he called it. He said "It's gonna be a little girl and she's gonna be born on AUG the 3rd." and I WAS. He is pretty psychic!!

I'm pretty darn glad I was born.