Referral Program

I am starting a new referral program!! I have some pretty amazing clients who refer friends and family to me all the time and I want a way to show my appreciation. 🙂 My business would not be where it is today without my loyal clients!!I have been thinking about setting up a referral program for a while now, and I think that it is time to put it into effect.

Starting today anyone who refers a NEW client to me receives $25 off their next shoot!!

Here’s how it works:

Have your friend mention your name when they book their shoot! When their session fee has been paid you will receive $25 off your next photo shoot. If you refer 2 friends you get $50 off. Refer enough friends and you could get a FREE session!!! 🙂 Yay!!

Remember this does not apply to past referrals. This applies to new referrals starting today. Their session must be paid for in order for you to receive the discount.

Coaching session with Katelyn James

I have wanted to meet the amazing Katelyn James since I first started following her blog over a year ago. Katelyn (in my opinion) is the best wedding photographer out there! Her photos are amazing, her personality is so fun and sweet, and she is an awesome business woman! When Katelyn started offering coaching sessions I knew that I had to go someday, but at the time it didn’t seem possible. There were too many obstacles standing in my way! First, I didn’t think Daniel would let me spend that amount of money for a coaching session. It took me a while but I finally convinced him that it was worth it. So I started saving! 🙂 Second, travel would be tricky. With my many health issues and allergies it is difficult to travel. I am severely allergic to cigarette smoke and it is very hard to avoid. Airports and are not a good place for me because I cannot stand in lines because of my heart condition. But, since I have the most amazing husband EVER, I was able to go because he drove me all the way there, from Forney, TX to Richmond, VA!!! We left on Tuesday at 5 am, stayed the night in Atlanta, and drove the rest of the way on Wednesday. The coaching session was on Thursday and we drove home Friday. He drove us straight home! We got home Saturday at 4 am. Crazy right?!? I am so grateful for him. He drove soooo many hours in crazy rain, we were stuck in that car for what seemed like forever and he didn’t complain once. He just wanted to make me happy. 🙂

So we are back home and my head is still spinning. I got some sleep this morning but I still have not recovered from all that driving. So I will tell you what all I learned on Monday. I need to wrap my head around everything! There are many changes coming! I cannot wait to see my business grow!!! Here are a few photos from our journey!

(Some of these are taken with my i Pad so they are not very clear)

New Pricing

Ok, so I have been putting this off way too long. I was going to change my prices in January, but I absolutely hate doing it. But it was necessary.

In Texas you have to show a profit on your taxes every 3 out of 5 years to be considered a business, and what I was charging was just not covering my expenses. I have struggled with needing to make money and still being affordable for everyone. I have a passion for photos and I want everyone to be able to afford great images.

So, here is my new pricing that taken effect today May, 1, 2013

Portrait Session – $165 This includes 1-2 hours of photography and your digital images with print release. Normally between 75-150 images given. Portrait sessions include Engagements, Family, Seniors, Children/Newborn, Dance, and Bridals.

Weddings start at $800

If you have any questions about my new pricing please email me at ashjdancer@gmail.com

If you already have a session booked you will be charged what you were quoted at the time of booking.

I just want to say thanks to all of my  wonderful clients! You are all so sweet to me!!! I am truly blessed. 🙂 Here is a preview of tomorrow’s post. 🙂

The Technical Side

I recently upgraded my monitor from an Asus to two Dell Ultrasharp monitors. For those who don’t know, I am terrible with computers and technology. I break anything that runs on electricity just by walking by it. It does not like me. I know what I need to in order to edit and print photos, but with all the technical stuff I am completely lost. And that is where my husband comes in. Without him I don’t think I could have a successful business. He is my tech support. 🙂 Daniel is my computer nerd. He makes sure that all my pictures are safe and backed up properly. He makes sure I have the correct computer parts that I need to do my job. And he fixes everything that I break. It’s actually funny, he made it to where my photos are stored in his office instead of mine, that way I don’t mess them up. 🙂 I am not allowed to go near it.

So, on to my latest update. He was telling me that my editing could be more efficient with two monitors. I thought he was crazy. But he was keeping a lookout for a good deal and found the Dell Ultrasharp. We went ahead and got two, that way I had identical monitors. And I am loving it!!! I can’t tell you much about the specs on the monitors because, again, I know nothing about computers. But I can tell you what he told me. 🙂 The Dell Ultrasharp is an ips screen (whatever that means), it is a 23″ screen, and it is made for better color consistency. With my old monitor I had a lot of trouble with head aches and my eyes hurting after being on the computer a while. These seem to help a great deal with that.

Here are some photos of my new setup. I get the laptop out for Harry Potter. 🙂

 

New Lens is here!!!

I have been needing a macro lens for some time now. I finally decided which one I wanted and that it was time for me to get it!!! My new 100mm macro lens came in last night. I have not had much chance to test it out yet, but here are a few shots I have taken. I will do a review on it later once I have had a chance to test it thoroughly. But for now, here are a couple shots.