Colorado Springs Wedding and Family Photographers: Real Photography

Year in Review Albums for Sale

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting to debut these...and they are finally here!

Click here to see an online tour of the book and view each page spread

The thing about photographers' kids is that they tend to be a little neglected in the photograph department.  Sure, their mommies and daddies take pictures of them, but when it comes to actually printing them out or doing something with them...well, the photographer is too busy ordering and printing and framing other people's babies.

Around Halloween, I was feeling really overwhelmed by the idea that 2007 was going to go largely un-scrapbooked and then I came up with an idea--why not create a year in review coffee table book that housed all of the great and hilarious photos of 2007 and then I could scrapbook them at my leisure, because their need to be printed, recorded, and shared would be met.

I was planning to offer this service to other photographers equally overwhelmed by their own photos until I decided that there are plenty of busy non-photographer moms that would also like to partake in a "send your photos to Traci, get back a finished book" service.

I ordered the albums on New Years morning after finishing off the December page and writing the note at the back--the perfect way to start a new year.  And today, a box of the albums arrived (the grandparents' late Christmas presents will be arriving soon)!

The albums

Photographers have all sorts of secret spectacular album vendors, and these albums come from one of them.  These are not printed by blurb or Shutterfly or Snapfish--they are printed by a high quality professional album vendor.  They are hard cover books and the pages are protected with a varnish coating.  They come in an opaque slipcover. There is a vellum page right before the title page that adds a little extra somethin', too:

How it works

You'll send your photos on a disc to me.  If you have never done anything but download them, check a few and see if the EXIF data shows the date.  If it does, you're golden--just pull out the pictures you'd like in the birthday spread (and stick them in a folder labeled "birthday"), repeat the process for Christmas, and send me your disc.

If you would like to be more hands on (or your pictures don't have the date in the EXIF data) send a disc with 17 folders--one for each month of the year, one for the cover picture, one for the title page, one for the birthday spread, one for Christmas, and one for the closing page.

You'll also need to send (either on the disc or by email) the text you'd like for the closing page of the album.

Number of photos

The spreads in the book average around 15 pictures.  Some have more, some have less, so I'll arrange the design order to work best for the number of photos you have in each month.  It's okay if one month only has 3 pictures and one has 20.   I don't recommend sending more than 20 in any given month, or some will likely be left out.

Journaling

For the purpose of my own book, which I wanted to be as quick and painless as possible, I limited the journaling to the final page--a brief recap of our year and my thoughts about Will.  You are welcome to submit journaling for each spread, or just one or two in particular.  If you include journaling, don't include more than 15 photos for that month.

Other Album Topic Ideas

These albums would also make great gifts for graduating high school students.  Instead of devoting each page to a month, each spread could be a grade.  Vacation pictures also make great coffee table albums.

Pricing

Hard cover 7x7 books are $250.   Hard cover 10x10 books are $350.

Duplicates

The albums make fantastic gifts for grandparents and godparents.   Duplicate 7x7 soft cover albums are $65, 7x7 hard cover albums are $95, and hard cover 10x10 albums are $175.

Shipping

Shipping for the albums is included in the price.  Albums will be shipped via USPS media mail.

Deadlines

My album vendor takes approximate five weeks to deliver the albums to me.  Your album will arrive about two months after I receive your pictures.  Please keep this in mind if you are ordering a gift.  If your timeline is tight, I can provide an online version of the album to show the recipient if the actual album can't make it in time.

Ordering

To order, please send an email to me: traci@realphotography.com

playing with texture

Texture is one of the trendy things in post-processing right now.  I decided to try it out tonight with this oldie but goodie. 

2008 Real Couple of the Year Contest

Today I am very excited to announce something that we have been planning for months!

To celebrate the launch of our new wedding site, we're holding a big contest!

The winner will receive free wedding coverage!

The winning couple will receive our regular wedding package that includes two photographers, full event coverage, an engagement portrait session, and the high resolution digital files from both.

Who can enter? 

Any couple whose wedding will take place in 2008 in or near Colorado Springs, Denver, or Pueblo. 

How do you enter? 

Email a picture of you and your fiance along with a few words describing your wedding, relationship, engagement story, or whatever it is that we should know to traci@realphtography.com  Please include your wedding date and location in the email.

Can you nominate a worthy couple?

Absolutely!  Just send us a picture of the couple and a description about why you are nominating them!  In the event that they are chosen as finalists, we will contact them to make sure they agree to the contest rules and consent to having their picture and story shared.

When is the deadline? 

Valentines Day: February 14th at 11:59pm Mountain Time

How will the finalists be chosen?   

Four finalists will be chosen by Real Photography.  The finalists' pictures and emails will be posted here on our blog by 20 February 2008.

What will Real Photography be looking for?

We'll be looking for a fun couple with a sincere love story, unique wedding, sense of humor, or all of the above!  You do not have to have a sad story or climb Mount Everest or overcome amazing odds.  Just tell us who you are and make us want to be at your wedding!

How will the winners be chosen? 

We will open a poll to let the world vote for a winner.  The voting will close at midnight on 15 March and the winners will be announced shortly thereafter.

Fine Print

1. By entering the contest, the couple agrees to allow their email and picture to be used publicly by Real Photography.
2. The winner must agree to our standard wedding contract which includes a release allowing their wedding photos to be posted online.
3. Couples that have already secured the services of Real Photography are eligible to enter.  In the event that the contest winner has already hired Real Photography for their wedding, all deposits and payment toward the event will be refunded to them.
4. The finalists will be chosen by Real Photography based on the couple's statement.  The decision is arbitrary and final.
5. Real Photography will do everything within their power to protect the integrity of the voting process to determine the winner.  Should any couple attempt to to undermine the voting process or cheat in any way, they will be disqualified.

hurray!

I got two pieces of good news today, which happily offset the bad news that my toddler added "child-proof door handles" to the list of things he can outsmart.

The first piece of good news is that our portrait site is fixed, up, and running. 

The second is that two of our photos will be published in an article about travel photography!  One is mine, and one is Nic's, so it couldn't be a more perfect way to start 2008.  (Unless, of course, they were both mine and I could do the neener-neener, I-rock-more-than-you dance.)

We've added a new type of session to our portrait site--a mini digital files session.  It's a scaled down version of a full session, with 30 minutes of shooting time instead of the normal 1-2 hours.  You receive 12 retouched high-resolution images from the session on a disc as well as the reproduction release (allowing you to print the files whenever you want from any lab or home printer).  It is $350 (which includes the digital files), and includes 50% off our a la carte print prices.  It's limited to families of five or less.  If you have any questions, email me:   traci@realphotography.com

designs for photographers

I've started offering design templates for photographers.  I have loved doing all the designing that came with rebranding, and decided that just because mine is done doesn't mean I have to stop!

I've also got something coming in the next couple of weeks that I'm really excited about...a solution for people who can't find enough time to scrapbook all the pictures they generate in a year! 

Stay tuned for the newsletter later today and a sneak peek at a big secret...if you know anyone who is planning a wedding in Colorado for 2008, you won't want to miss it!

new goodies

I found a fun and funky new album company that will be supplying my albums this year.  With six textures and over 50 colors to choose from, everyone will have one to match their decor!

I, of course, opted for aqua and orange.

And pictures of something I've been meaning to share for a while--our new (well, not so new anymore) sample gallery wrapped canvas. (The fact that the walls in our office are orange shouldn't really come as a surprise...)

wedding website!

After weeks of waiting, I finally got my wedding photography website last night!  I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning waiting for it (like a little girl waiting for Santa) and then the next couple of hours plopping all of the pictures and text I'd been preparing for the last couple of weeks into their assigned spots.  It made for a late night, but it was so worth it.  ;)

I'm so excited to be "live!"  It's hard to know who's more excited, though--me, or my friends/family who no longer have to hear me complain about how long it was taking to get!   

Thanks for letting me share the news!

- Traci
Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer

portrait site working again!

Our portrait site is up again.  It's not our usual fancy one, it's an older version, but it will do while I beg and plead to get our usual site fixed!  I also have it on good authority that our new wedding sites will be following shortly!

The biggest change for 2008 is that we're now offering the digital files with every session for $500.  To mark this change, 2007 clients can get their session files and reproduction release for $250 until the end of January. I'll be sending out an email to 2007 clients later this week. 

photo from an old wedding in Denver

Our main portrait photography website continues to be down.  If you are looking for your online gallery in the shopping cart, click here.  If you're looking for 2008 pricing or session info, hang tight--it should be back next week.  In the mean time, feel free to email me: traci@realphotography.com.

This photo is old, but it's one I finally got around to playing with. 

This is the daughter of the bride, and during the bride and groom's first dance, the dj turned on the bubble machine.  This little flower girl was amazed at their magic and danced and twirled...right up until she fell on her butt. But before the tears, there was the magic!

happy 2008!

Our main portrait photography website continues to be down.  If you are looking for your online gallery in the shopping cart, click here.  If you're looking for 2008 pricing or session info, hang tight--it should be back next week.  In the mean time, feel free to email me: traci@realphotography.com.

If your New Years resolutions include one about writing thank yous for Christmas gifts, here's my favorite way to do them:

Take a picture of the gift recipient enjoying his gift, use photo editing software to add a thank you message, and then either print or email the picture.

Will's godfather sent him a gift that only those truly far away can send--a singing, vibrating teddy bear.  Nic's mom, sister, and brother-in-law were in town with us for the holidays, and we spent a while trying to think of a suitable revenge for Chris...until we had to acknowledge that the joy Will got from the bear was worth having "we are the champs" play non-stop in our minds when we tried to go to sleep.