A Letter from a Client.

Thank you for sending us the proofs. It was exciting to see them. I have a few questions though... First of all, I didn't expect to love every single one of them and it was a hot day, you did a great job. I wish she would've just done her hair herself, and that her face hadn't been so broken out (Can that be fixed?) I'm at work now, so I can't spend a lot of time, but I was wondering if you could do something about some of the colors of some? In particular... not crazy about the blues in 68 - 71, 73, 74, 78 - don't like Lexi's color, 79, 80 and 85, the yellow in 50 - 52, the red in 45, and in 49 it seems too white.

We like 2,17,24,25,27,28,29,30,31,32,36,37,38 and 48 - as well as others with the color problems.

I don't know how this is suppose to work, I don't want to be too picky, yet I don't want to be disappointed either. I know you have a lot going on and it MUST be a busy time for you. I'd hate for you to spend a lot of time fixing EVERYTHING and for us to not order some of those prints then. Is there a way to communicate our way through this so that we both are happy? Let me just say that I AM happy with you and your work. It's just not like it use to be! In my senior pictures, everything looked pretty much the same!

I also don't want either one of us to feel rushed or bother you while you're on maternity leave. Just tell me what you need me to do or even if I could sit down with you while you're editing or be on the phone to answer questions. (We could make Lexi babysit! lol) I feel like we have plenty of time and would rather wait and get it right (I think I'm probably feeling more anxious about your delivery than YOU are!!!!) I just want you to enjoy your time off and understand if you'd like to finish up.

Also, Lexi thinks she would like some studio shots. Do you offer that? How does that work? Just let me know. Thanks so much, Kate. You did get some terrific shots. (Actually, might like to crop the one of Adam and her... I LOVE that one of her.) Talk to you soon. Jane

My response:

Thank you so much for your feedback and I am glad you like so many of the images.

I have had a chance to review the images you mentioned for correction. First off, any image you order to be printed will be facially retouched to smooth out any blemishes and even out skin tones.

When I spoke with Lexi before and during the session, I was under the impression that she wanted the added post-processing (color tweaks) on a number of images. I would be able to revert the images you mentioned back to what they looked like straight out of the camera (with minor adjustment to white balance and exposure), but anything beyond that will require about 45 minutes per image to re-process. If you would like me to re-process them, that is fine, however, I would need to charge an added post-processing fee of $39/hour.

With image number 49, I exposed the image in camera for her face. The background naturally was lightened in the process. Because of the way it was shot, there is not much I can do to darken the background...the information is simply not there to recover.

As far as studio shots, I do not have a studio of my own. I shoot on location, and at times duplicate the studio feel with a neutral or black backdrop while on location. If that is something that might interest you, please let me know.

I will wait to hear back from you regarding our next step with these images. Please feel free to call or write with any other questions. (I tried to make this as understandable as possible, but I know it can be confusing!)

Thanks,
Kate

The response I WANTED to write:

Dear client,

Leave me alone. Order everything. Like it and be done with it. Goodbye.

Kate Podjan, Photographer Extraordinnaire

I have no patience these days.

I probably need prayer. It seems the more pregnant I get, the less tolerance for noise and the constant shrieking of kids I have. I hope this doesn't keep up after Zion is born. Speaking of Baby Z, here's a video from his last ultrasound. We didn't get any great shots of his face, but we got this:

Here are some shots of his face. He kinda has a piggy-little-nose.

My new favorite photo...

Took this one at Silver Beach a couple weeks ago. I like it.

Video from Julie's wedding

Since we weren't invited...

VBS: Day One

Our first day of VBS was great last night. Dad was super proud of his toga and Roman family name: Cassius (of Clay). That is all we could call him. Nic would only go by "Coach".

Hey there sista friend...

It's been a crazy day so far...not much to blog about, though. I've been getting the last-minute stuff together for VBS and trying to program our new phones before we have to leave this afternoon. I was 99% done transferring my old phone stuff to the new stuff when Matt unplugged my new phone...lost all data...now I have to manually program my new phone.

Thanks for the snacks for the week. Lilly enjoyed "clubbin'" with you yesterday.

That's all I have time for.

Bye.