Senior Rep 2014!

 

♫ ♫ ♪ Oh her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like their not shining ♫ ♪ ♫    Bruno Marrs lyrics is what I think of when I look at beautiful Megan!  She's got the most beautiful blue eyes that I feel like I can almost see right through!

 

My session with Megan was fun.  Lots of fun!  She is a shy girl... until you get to know her!  Once you know her, she is fun and outgoing and will light up even the gloomiest of days.  Her session was on a cloudy day at a location in Bennington and it was on the verge of raining the whole time we were out!  Both Mom and Dad hung out with us and while Mom assisted by helping with equipment, Dad was busy pointing out the SKUNK that was coming close to us!  THAT could have been interesting!  Megan is the captain of her dance team (the girl can shake it!) and she loves giraffes!  See, I told her you was fun and outgoing!

 

I am honored to have Megan representing Kim Therkildsen Photography as a 2014 Senior Rep and I can't wait to have her in front of the camera for her full Senior Session in the fall!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is Chad...

Wow! What an amazing session this was! I have known Chad since he was... well I knew his parents before he was born! He has always been such a cute kiddo and that has not changed one bit as you can see! We first did some work in the studio before we heading out to get some fun shots with his skateboard. That was such fun we decided to go to one of my other locations and get some fun shots with an old truck and barn. What a great idea!!! I love love love how it all turned out! Thanks Chad for being such a good sport and not getting tired of posing for me!

Meet Megan...

Senior Season 2013 is underway!!  With a recent move and NEW STUDIO, I got a late start on Senior Sessions this year.  But now that I am in full working mode again, I am LOVING my Seniors! 

This is Megan and she rocked her session! I had a ton of laughs with her and we had no set agenda. We were on location all over town and she was a natural. Such a pretty girl and you would never guess what her future plans include. She wants to do Automotive Collision!

Thanks for spending the day with me Megan!



Why are Professional Photographers so expensive????

I have recently had conversations with friends and clients about the cost of quality professional photography and thought it might be good to share with others WHY I charge what I charge for my work.    Lucky for me, Professional Photographer Magazine published an article that tells it how it REALLY happens for a photographer.  Thanks for taking the time to read :)


Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?

In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home "photo printers," we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers charge $X for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drugstore? Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the actual photograph; they're paying for time and expertise.

The average one-hour portrait session

First, let's look at the actual work involved:

• Travel to the session
• Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc.
• Shoot the photos
• Travel from the session
• Load images onto a computer
• Back up the files on an external drive
• 2 - 4 hours of Adobe® Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered.
• 2 - 3 hours to answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship.
• Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average 2 hours.
• Prepare and upload photos to Facebook if needed.

You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish. So when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.

The eight-hour wedding

A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And it’s not uncommon to end up with 1,000 - 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved. Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!

(Don’t forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)

The expertise and cost of doing business

Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though a DSLR now costs under $1,000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, etc. And don’t forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!

In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.

The chain store photo studio

Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.

Consider the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don’t have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos…and while there, spending $200 on other items. They are there to get you in the door.

The real deal

Professional, personal photographers are just that—professionals. No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.

Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair of scissors costs $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.

The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.

Conclusion

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a Personal Photographer are so expensive.

Enjoy your day!
Kim

Sometimes words aren't enough

I can't tell you how much I wish a photographer had been in the delivery room when I gave birth to my babies.  To me, it is the most beautiful, breathtaking and miraculous moment in life.  The strength, passion, love and amazment is life altering.  Documenting the gift of child birth is a beautiful experience.  Sometimes words just aren't enough.

1000 FAN APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY!

I am so blessed!  I get to do what I love, and I have people like you who support me and enjoy my work!  I'm so excited to have reached 1000 fans, that am hosting an AMAZING GIVEAWAY!!!

I am so excited about this, I have teamed up with some other AWESOME businesses to give you some really awesome prizes!   The giveaway will start Friday June 3, 2011 and run through midnight, Friday, June 10, 2011. There are FOUR different prizes up for winning!

First, I will show the AMAZING PRIZES we are giving away and then scroll down to see how YOU CAN WIN THEM!!

KIM THERKILDSEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Website

One LUCKY winner will recieve a

$300 GIFT CERTIFICATE

to be used towards session fees and prints!

The gift certificate is valid for 90 days from date of winning!

FITNESS FIRST
PERSONAL TRAINING AND BOOTCAMP

Get ready to get your beach body on!!

One LUCKY winner will recieve

ONE MONTH OF FREE BOOTCAMP!!

Valid for 90 days from date of winning!

AMIE'S MIDWEST 31 PRODUCTS

Website

One LUCKY winner will recieve

$220 WORTH OF PERSONALIZED PRODUCTS OF YOUR CHOICE!

Winner must redeem in the month of June 2011!
Super cool products!

FACE TO FACE SALON AND SPA

Website

One LUCKY winner will recieve an amazing

SIGNATURE FACIAL ($65 value), a SPA MANICURE ($30 value),
& a SPA PEDICURE ($50 value)!

Valid for 90 days from date of winning

HOW TO ENTER TO WIN THESE PRIZES:

There will be 3 entries, and ALL are required to enter.

ENTRY 1 : Visit EACH vendor's Facebook page and "like" them by becoming a fan.  Take some time to look around and show them some love by leaving a comment to their page stating @Kim Therkildsen Photography sent me and thank you for donating to this awesome giveaway!    (Make sure you put the @ symbol before Kim Therkildsen Photography so it tags us on Facebook.)  To make it easy, I have listed links to each vendor's Facebook pages below:

http://www.facebook.com/KimTherkildsenPhotography

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fitness-First-Personal-Training-Bootcamp/244021097050

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amies-31-Midwest/163787278910?sk=wall&filter=12

http://www.facebook.com/F2Fsalon

ENTRY 2 : Change YOUR Facebook status with a link to the blog and tag Kim Therkildsen Photography in your post.   Ex: @KimTherkildsen Photography is having a HUGE appreciation giveaway at http://kimtherkildsenphotography.blogspot.com/2011/06/1000-fan-appreciation-giveaway.html  (Be sure you put the @ symbol before Kim Therkildsen Photography so it tags us on Facebook.)

 

 

 

ENTRY 3 : When you are finished with all of the entries, Come back here and leave ONE comment telling me that you have completed all of the steps along with your name and email address so we can contact the winners!!! NOTE!  This is how the winners will be randomly selected!!

All entries will be checked when the winner is chosen to make sure that all pages are liked and you have "shared" a link to the giveaway! 

JUST FOR FUN BONUS ENTRY 4 : Go to your favorite forum and leave a link to this blog giveaway.

  GOOD LUCK!!

.

♫ Forget You ♫

This is just a cute duster thingy, otherwise known as a "tickle stick" to the children I photograph.  Tonight, however, when I picked it up I couldn't help but think of the "Forget You" performance on the Grammy's the other night with Cee Lo, Gwenyth Paltrow and the Muppets!  I have been singing that song ever since!  LOL!

♫ ♪ I see you driving 'round town with the girl I love and I'm like, Forget you!  Oo, oo, oooo  I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough, I'm like, Forget you!  And forget her too! ♫ ♪

Spiraled

66 portraits all spiraled together to make a book.... I hope the customer likes it!  I love it!

Open With Caution

Caution!:  Opening of this blind will cause you to think it is spring!  Remember, it is NOT and the chance of snow will be here later this week!

It's In The Mail

Off to the lab for sports printing!

For My Little Sweethearts!

Just a little sample of Valentines Day fun!  Breakfast starts off with heart shaped pancakes, fruit and strawberry milk.  Cherry Jelly Belly Drink to have with their Valentine Dinner and of course, a gift from Mommy!

Project

Getting ready to paint my basement!  Hope I don't make a mess!!

Valentine Party

This is my very last Kindergaten Valentines Day party... kinda makes me sad.  I am so blessed I have been able to be at every Valentine party my girls have ever had.  This year I ran back and forth between 3 rooms!

I have this nephew... and he is awesome!

I love you Brandon and you make me more proud everyday.  My heart was smiling as I watched you shave another 6 seconds off your 500!  But that's nothing really, cause you always make my heart smile... just because you are you :)