Sara & Andy's album

The creative process is a difficult one to explain to clients. When designing a coffee table style wedding album, I ask specific questions regarding how artistic a couple would like their pages to appear, but in the end, it always comes down to actually seeing them before clients really know what they want.  In the case of Sara & Andy, she specified that she wanted some artistic flair, but to keep it fairly traditional....  this didn't seem to fit the engagement, bridal, or wedding day photography, so I took a risk and designed their album a bit more on the artistic side while still staying within the realm of traditionality.  The result?  They are extremely pleased so far... we are still working on a few minor changes, but the overall design is fantastic.  There are so many ways this wedding album could have been designed, but as a wedding photographer and a graphic designer, it is my job to interpret the images a couple chooses and pair that with a design style that fits the photography.  Here are a few pages....

 

Katie Rush

Just finished editing a portrait session with 7 year old Katie Rush.  Had so much fun working with this spunky little lady... she has a bright and vivacious personality.  I first met her at a wedding Labor Day weekend - she was a flower girl and totally loved her important job that day.  However, my impression of this fabulous little girl was forever imprinted as I watched her at the reception do magic tricks for guests at their tables for money.  Her mother didn't know whether to be proud or mortified!  Ah well.... a future entrepeneur in the making - we need all the great minds we can get.  On our portrait session day, Katie Rush was comfortable in front of the camera and had no shyness whatsoever.  She was talkative and asked me questions, and even did sassy little poses for me.  What a fun session and what great images we ended up with!  To see more of them, go to my facebook page:  BBP Designs/Betsy Butler Photography. 

There is nothing like great customer service... and Moo.com has got it!  This company produces business cards, labels, stickers, postcards, etc...  I am using them for my new business cards and am very impressed with not only their product, but how quickly they took care of an issue I had during check out.  They addressed my problem immediately, and even gave me a discount for my trouble!  Yayyy!  If you ever need printed products, go to http://www.moo.com/share/r86ngh - I don't think you'll be disappointed!  Here is a preview of my new card....

One of the things I love about Moo.com is that you can choose up to 50 different designs for the back of your card... meaning, all 50 will be incorporated into your order.  This way, your clients can collect all the different designs, or you can target more than one audience.  For me, I wanted to address not just wedding photography, but also children and portrait photography too.  What a great innovation in the business card field - now why didn't I think of that?

New ideas for blogging

Blogs are funny things...  on the one hand, you want to write things that will seem more personal and let the viewer into your life, and on the other hand - especially in the case of a blog for a business, you want to write what will get you noticed and bring in new clients.  The balance between the two is very difficult to achieve, and over the years I am not sure I have done what I wanted with blogs.  Writing every day, or at least several times a week, is not always easy when your schedule is as busy as mine tends to be.... but the effort must be made in order to become more noticed online... and isn't that the goal of any blog?  So, to maximize the time I have, what do I write?  Do I tell you about my personal life so you can identify with me better, or do I keep it professional and keep you updated on my goings on in business?

I think what I will try is a bit of both.  I will post new photos here... tell you a bit about them from my own personal perspective, and then also try to give you advice and tips on finding photographers for your own wedding, baby, or special event.  We are not all created equal and I know how daunting it can be to find one these days.  Maybe I can help - giving back a bit of the wonderful business I've received over the years.

We'll start with Eli...  4 years old last month!  I met with him and his family in downtown Franklin, TN to walk around and find some cool places to photograph this energetic and adorable kid.  One challenge with young kids is their inability to stay still for a long period of time!  Over the years (I've been photographing Eli since he was three months old), Eli's parents have learned that sessions with him are a lesson in patience and bribery.  We always end up with so many great shots, but if only people knew what we go through to get them.  Kids are so much fun to work with, but also very challenging.  Eli was a trooper though... and finding ice cream cones at a local Ben & Jerry's to act as not only a great prop, but also a great distraction for Eli was a stroke of pure genius.  To see more of Eli's photos go to my website http://www.betsybutlerphotography.com/ and click on my facebook link.