Company Policy Changes for 2010
These are the changes that Mistie May Studios will be enacting come Jan. 1st 2010.
1) All sessions will require a half down deposit. NO EXCEPTION!
This keeps my no call no show rate down. I have had too many of these and this will ensure you will show up for your session. My time is worth something. If you schedule & don’t show. Then that’s like you missing a day of work. A few missed days of work and your bills don’t get paid.
2) All session will have a pre-session meeting. Unless it’s a special themed event. All pre-session meetings will be held no later than 2 weeks before your session.
The pre-session meetings are VERY important. This meeting allows you the client to meet me face to face. We get to sit down and talk about your session in detail. I can get your measurements for your outfit. I can get the color scheme down. I get to see your face & your skin tone to make sure I have something that compliments your skin tone & the set.
They are scheduled 2 weeks before your actual shoot date to insure that I have EVERYTHING that I need for your session. That includes wardrobe, accessories, props, backgrounds, etc. The pre-session meeting is also when the deposit for your session is made. This is also when your actual shoot date is set in stone. Once that deposits paid NO ONE can have your session date & time. Also if you live out of town the pre-session meeting is held over the phone. Same rules apply as in person meetings. Deposits will be paid & your date will be set. Only difference is we are on the phone & not in person. All over the phone deposits are made at www.paypal.com .
Also I will NOT set your desired date or time unless the deposits paid. If someone else wants the same time and pays the deposit I will allow them to have your desired spot. This is why you have to get your deposits in quickly if you want a specific date & time!
3) As of Jan 1st 2010 men are no longer allowed to attend any vintage or boudoir sessions. There is NO exception to this rule. I have had some very negative experiences this year with significant others stealing their ladies moment. I refuse to allow this to happen again. When you are here for your vintage or boudoir session you are here for you. This is your time & not theirs! If you cant trust me and come by yourself then I am not your photographer. I am a female, not some creepy old guy just taking girlie photos. I pride myself in having a fun atmosphere when shooting. You can ask any of my clients that I have worked with and they will tell you that they felt safe and secure here. Plus they had tons of fun! This is also why the pre-session meeting is SO important. It allows you the client to meet me & get to know me.
4)The only male allowed in the sessions is my boyfriend Jesse. He is my asst. when I need him. He is VERY professional and is more worried about making you crack up and smile than look at you. He makes sessions a lot of fun and is the Mistie May Studios official “Reflector Boy”. I’m so getting him a super hero shirt! He also knows that when I tell him to scram he scrams. Because I know not all of you will be comfy with him being around.
5) If my contract isn’t signed we will NOT shoot. That contract protects both you and I. It lets you know your rights as a client and lets you know my rights as a photographer. I will not argue, amend, change, or discuss changing anything in this contract. It was professionally written & was approved by a lawyer. There is nothing shady about it. If a photographer doesn’t have you sign a contract you should be suspicious. It is standard procedure for photographers to have contracts.
6) All prices are non-negotiable. I will not discount something just because you think I’m charging too much. I work very very hard to bring you the special props and themes. I cant offer you one of a kind sets without the proper means of paying for them. You wouldn’t ask an architect to build a house without the proper tools would you?
7)All image pick ups will be scheduled for Mondays. I understand that you cant always just pop in. But I cant be strapped to my house 24/7 either waiting for people to pick up their orders.Buisness hours are 10am - 6pm
8)Also if you wish for me to mail your images to you the S&H is now $10.00. S&H can get very expensive depending on how much and how many I have to send. If you ordered actual prints S&H can get VERY expensive.If its a large print then the S&H will be higher.So the $10.00 price can flux.
9) All deposits will be paid through www.paypal.com . This rule applies to the special themed events & clients who are coming from out of town & had their pre-session meeting over the phone.
10) As of Jan 1st 2010 all session images will be on a high quality c.d. The images are high res 5x7’s. Meaning that the images on the c.d. will only print in 5x7 or smaller.If you want something printed bigger it will be subject to my print fee. I use a very high end lab that takes very good care of my images. I can garuntee their quality. I can not garuntee walmart or any other labs quality. So there for I refuse to allow my work to be printed on crappy paper or with bad inks above a 5x7. Most dont realize this. But printing matters. If it looks crappy from the print that reflects on me as a photographer. Which is why I try to offer the highest quality prints I can find.You will have both your 5x7 images as well as a web sized watermarked images. I give you the web sized images as a courtesy. I DO NOT have to do this. But its my gift to you. I do watch all of my images very closely. When you post online you are NOT allowed to crop the web sized images at all. It states this in my contract. The watermark is there to protect both you and I from online theft. I’ve seen too many times someone’s face end up on a billboard that they didn’t authorize. The watermark makes it harder to steal. I also will be putting meta data in all my images as well. This is a another way for me to protect both you & I from internet theft. I take my images and business VERY seriously. I also watch like a hawk!
Ok my loverlies... I am so looking forward to 2010!
I have had so much fun this year with all the gorgeous dolls who have graced my door. I cant wait to see who comes in this new year!
I wish all of you the best this year!
Be save and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
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Sorry for the weird watermark this was done before I changed my company name.
Those bubbles alone took me over 3hrs or more to get right.To make sure it looked like the lighting on the bubbles matched the lighting on the client for believablity.So for this image I can safely say it was between 4 to 6 hours of solid editing.That was just one shot from the set.Just one!So now think about this..Depending on the session you have depends on how extensive the edits.So in my mini session you get 3 fully edited shots..depending on the session's theme & such your lookin at at least 30 to 40 hours of work for just your session..Thats a full work week...& we as photographers have more than one session we edit at the same time.We normally work on more than one in a day.Sometimes putting in 12 to 16 hours in front of a computer just to make sure our clients have their images on time!..So now that you have read this I do hope you have a better understanding of why we charge what we do.The personal time we take to make sure each one of you have the most fabulous photos you've ever had!Thank you for reading this!...I cant wait to hear some feed back from each of you!!...Fellow photogs feel free to repost!!!
