Fotoart Photography Photoblog

your chance to receive a free portrait session... {victoria portrait photographer}

As you all know most, if not all, of my business is word of mouth.  I would like to use facebook to promote my business but need your help to do so.  So here is your chance to receive a Gift Certificate for a Fall Portrait Session in October this year or a Spring Portrait Session next year.  As an added incentive, there is also a chance to receive a beautiful wall calendar filled with your images from a past session or the session from the gift certificate.

 Here are the simple rules:

1.  Go to my facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/fotoartphotography  and write a brief comment why you like Fotoart.  Please write your comment as a NEW comment on my page and don't tag it onto my post. :)

2.  Then tell your friends to visit my facebook page and "LIKE" Fotoart AND your comment (your friends have to like both, Fotoart and your comment on my wall.  If there are no likes under your comment, I have no way of tracking the friends you are sending my way)

3.  You need at least 25 friends to like your comment AND Fotoart to receive the portrait session gift certificate.  Remember, the likes of your comment have to be seen on my wall, otherwise I won't know.

4.  As an added incentive, if you have 50 or more of your friends coming my way and liking your comment and Fotoart, you will receive a beautiful wall calendar filled with your images from a future or past session.

5.  This deal will only run from today until the end of September, so the 30th of September midnight.  After that I will go into my page, tally up the likes under your comment and let you know if you are eligible for the gift certificate and maybe the wall calendar.

That's it!  Hopefully not too complicated or confusing.  Any questions, please contact me via facebook.

Note:  The gift certificate is for a fall portrait session in October of this year OR a spring session in March/April of next year for up to 6 people only and has to be held in Victoria.  Location to be suggested by the photographer, that is me. :)   If you are already on a "Baby's First Year Plan", I will apply the gift certificate to your plan.

Thank you in advance for participating and supporting my business.

And because no post should be without an image, here is a photo I love from a recent session.  The older sister was not happy that her younger sister got to hold the baby.  Too sweet.

fall sessions & dvd package {victoria portrait photographer}

As our the summer holidays come to an end and we are all getting ready for back to school, I thought I send out a reminder that my bookings for fall sessions are in full swing.  September and October are great months to get some beautiful fall pictures of your family done.  If you are planning to gift your family with albums, calendars or prints of your session, or even make your own Christmas cards, you might want to check out my DVD package.

The majority of my clients now purchase the digital files from their session.  With the digital negatives you can print unlimited copies of all your images for yourself and your family and friends.  You can print your own Christmas and birth announcement cards, and you can share your images via facebook and email.  If you own an iPhone, iPod touch, or an iPad, you can load the digital images on the device and can show them off wherever you go.  

The DVD package also includes a beautiful wirebound 4x6 proofbook.  Below is an example of a proofbook I just received for one of my favorite clients.  The proofbook holds up to 70 images and is the ideal brag book and keep sake.

If you are interested in booking a session or want some more information on pricing, please drop me a line at [email protected]

NEW:  you can also follow me on facebook for latest updates, images and promos.  Become a fan, and hit the like button.   http://www.facebook.com/fotoartphotography

 

 

lensbaby {victoria portrait and commercial photographer}

Last year's Christmas present to myself was an entire lensbaby lineup of different lenses.  Just the names of the lenses make your mouth water:  Plastic Optic, Pinhole, Double Glass Optic, Fish Eye, Single Glass Optic.  Art has been reborn with the coming of the Lensbaby and the continuous improvement of their products.  My garden has some nice tulips right now, so I had to play around.  The perfect tulip pictures (I am still not quite there yet) will make big canvases in my house.  My walls are screaming for something, so that is my mission this spring:  produce photography art for my walls.  I hope my friend Lisa is reading this because she wanted to redecorate my sad bare walls some time ago.

Check out the website of Lensbaby.  I pretty much have the entire line up of lenses including the macro attachments which come in handy for closeups of flowers.  The only one missing is the composer, and oh, I am so tempted to add that to my wishlist as well.

 This was fern I spotted in Beacon Hill Park.  I love the softness of it.

first year books {victoria children's photographer}

As parents we all know how quickly our children change day in and day out.  Most noticeable are the changes from a newborn to a 3months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months old.  Today I finished up two books with sessions taken during these stages.  The little curled up baby is all of a sudden a curious little person wanting to explore everything in sight.  

If you are interested in my first year packages, please drop me a line and I am more than happy to send you some information and show you some samples of my work.

storyboards {victoria portrait photographer}

January and February are usually my slower months which allow me to regroup and finish up products from previous sessions.  I had some storyboards to finish up and wanted to share a few of my designs.  Storyboards are a great product.  The custom designed collage is mounted onto a wood board with bevelled edges and laminated for protection.  They are ready to hang and look great in any room.  I prefer either a black or white background and edging for my storyboards.  If you are interested in having a storyboard done from a previous session, please let me know.

cootie catcher (victoria portrait photographer}

Do you remember these?  They are called cootie catcher or fortune tellers.  For the world of it I can't remember what we called them back in Germany.  I just remember we played that all the time.  We made up our own with all sorts of fortunes on the inside.  We have this book now and it has all sorts of cootie catchers in there, all you need to do is fold it.  Pick a number. Pick a color. Flip up the flap and there is your fortune inside.  And because they were so colorful, I had to take a picture, naturally. :)  This would make a nice Christmas present for some girls out there.  It is called "The Cootie Catcher Book" by Klutz, distributed in Canada by Scholastic Canada Ltd.

to upgrade or not to upgrade {victoria portrait photographer}

For all of you who are interested in photography and all the techi stuff, today I tested the 50mm/1.2 lens.  A beautiful lens, but...  is it really worth the money I wonder.  I do have the 50mm/1.4.  Sounds pretty close to 1.2, doesn't it?  However, the price of the 1.2 is about 3x as much as the 1.4 which I own.  So I am wondering if I should upgrade or not.  Took some test shots this grey rainy afternoon and yes, it is sharper, has more contrast and so on.  I guess I need to do some more testing before I decide.  For now, here are some shots from this afternoon.  Some with the new lens, some with my old.  

 These images were taken with the 50/1.2

And the left image was taken with the 50/1.4, the right with the 1.2

 

storyboards {children's photographer victoria bc}

One of my favorite products I like to design from a great portrait session are storyboards.  Storyboards are exactly what it says they are:  they are telling a little story.  I usually incorporate three to seven images on a storyboard depending on the size of the final board.  My favorite sizes are 20x20 and 15x35.  Storyboards should be big enough to fill a wallspace and make an impression.  I design the storyboard, a print gets done which will then be mounted onto woodboard and laminated for protection.  Here are just a few boards I designed.

     

 

testing gear

I played around with my new 5d Mark II.  We actually had a day with some sunshine and the kids were playing outside.

Look at that lovely light coming through her hair.

a schoolday

Here are a few pages of a schoolday book I designed.  If you are interested in having a schoolday of your child documented, please let me know.  I usually pick a nice sunny day so I can photograph outside activities during schoolhours as well.  I love documenting schooldays because the kids are so involved in whatever tasks they are doing and they forget all about me.

  

still editing

I am behind, as usual. I have yet to finish Rebecca and Godric's wedding images. So stay tuned. :)

On the weekend I shot an intimate session. Would love to share but these are top secret images. So for all of you who are wondering if I do boudoir sessions, yes, I do and I will come up with a package in the future. Please inquire directly if you are interested.

And no post should be without a picture. My favorite model.

discounts and specials

My newsletter to all my past clients went out yesterday. If you have not received it or had problems opening it, please contact me and I will resend it to you.

So nobody misses out, here are the discounts and specials:

I am offering all my returning clients a special session fee of $75 plus taxes. Sorry, this only applies to returning clients. Hope to hear from you.

Everybody should have at least one canvas in their home. And because I want you to have one, here is a special offer for all of you: 25% off on all canvases. This offer is valid until April 15th.

I received my studio samples yesterday and I just love them. They are stunning and I can't wait to show them to you. Here are two images:

I ordered three sizes to have good visual samples for you. The sizes are 16x24, 20x30, and 30x40. They are on display in my living room right now because my new studio/workspace/reception area will be under construction soon. I can't wait to have an open house!

This is a closeup shot of the small canvas. It wraps nicely around the 2inch edge. Your own piece of art. Gotta love it.