2015 Year In Review

To the 45 People who Disliked my Facebook Page Today:

I was surprised when I logged on to my Facebook business page today. It had gone from 1,048 likes to 1,003. As a business owner who has taken classes on social media marketing, you learn to ask "What have I done to lose so many followers?" "How can I fix my marketing strategy?" But in this case, I already knew what I had done.

Back in October I was approached by a lady at the Best of Pueblo event at the Pueblo Convention Center. I had a booth and was very excited to have been voted Silver for Best Photographer category in 2014. My clients voted for me, and I was so honored to be there. Right after I found out that I had won Silver, a lady asked me, "Are you gay friendly?". I was honestly surprised by the question and had honestly never thought about that before. I was raised going to church, and had learned that God created us to procreate as husband and wife to populate the earth, but had also learned that Christ commanded to, "love your neighbor as yourself." I have a lot of friends who are gay, one of my best friends in high school and my date to Senior Prom let me know early on in our friendship that he was. Another good friend in high school let me know secretly before she came out. Neither of these were issues to me. I loved them both as friends and still do to this day. So why did it surprise me when she had asked me that? Honestly, I wish it hadn't. I didn't say anything negative, my only response was, "Well," before she responded with, "So no then," and immediately walking away. Her reaction to my surprise was not a good one, and I felt bad about that.

I'm glad that she approached me though, because it allowed me to think about my response the next time I was approached. I still am a Christian and love God and prayed about this. Some things immediately came to my mind: that God is our judge, we are not to judge others, and that one of God's greatest commandments is to love one another. How can I claim to love people and be a Christian, if I treat anyone differently? If anyone deserves my kindness, it is especially those who are regularly ridiculed and hated by those who call themselves Christians. (By the way, I will treat everyone with love and kindness, no matter who they are, because I believe that God wants me to be this way.) What you are and who you are is between you and God, and I believe that His love for us is unconditional. In fact, I am not the only one who has come to this conclusion. The Apostle Paul wrote this in Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
So if nothing can separate us from the love of God, why have so many people treated these people as if they aren't deserving of God's love, or our love?

This year, I was emailed by a young lady who asked me if I was available on her wedding date. I was, and I immediately scheduled an appointment with her and her fiance to discuss their wedding, and to hopefully book it. When I arrived at the coffee shop, I found two beautiful young ladies and immediately realized that they were a couple. They were kind, funny, and we immediately hit it off. I was so glad to meet them and book their wedding. We scheduled engagement photos, and I was excited to shoot these for them.

During their session, one of the ladies seemed nervous, so I asked her if she was okay. Their response was that they were afraid because they never knew what kind of reaction people would have to them. One of the ladies said, "People will say really mean things, or do really mean things. But surprisingly, a lot of old people have been kind to us." I think that's because with age comes wisdom, and the wise will know that love and kindness are more important than anything else.

At another point, we came across these words written in chalk on a wall, "It's a girl". We realized that it was intended for a a maternity photo shoot, but one of the girls asked to take a photo by it. She said that her grandma didn't know that she was gay yet, and that she was raised Mormon. I am praying for her situation with her grandmother. I hope that her family will still show her love and kindness.

So I posted these photos of these two women, and treated them exactly as I treat all of my clients. I plan to continue to treat them exactly as I treat anyone else, and even if I continue to lose followers and business, I promise to always try to treat all of my clients with love and kindness. I am not qualified to judge anyone, only God can. If you disagree and think that you should judge, and that you are better than I am for showing love and kindness to these women, maybe it is a good thing that you have decided to unfollow me.

**UPDATE**

I was just informed by a fellow Christian Photographer that Facebook has removed inactive accounts from following business pages. I cannot tell you the relief I felt in knowing that most of these dislikes had nothing to do with the photos that I took for these ladies. I decided to leave this blog up, though, because it is still an issue that I feel strongly about. 

Newborn Sessions: How to prepare for your child's first photos.

I love shooting newborns.  Being a mom myself, I know how important it is to  preserve this precious moment in time.  They literally are only newborns for the first few weeks of life.  It's amazing how much a baby changes throughout the first year, let alone the first month of life. It is so important to be prepared for your baby's first portraits and since I have two newborn sessions scheduled this week, and one next week, I decided it was important to not only give them this information, but share it for future clients and other parents of new babies and photographers as well.

With baby only being a newborn for a short period of time, this brings me to my first tip:

1.) Bring baby in before he or she is 2 weeks old. 
I know that it may not always be possible, some babies need to spend a little extra time in the hospital.  Some moms need a little more time to recover, and that's okay.  But if your baby can make it in before that 2 week mark, it will be so much easier for everyone involved.  At about the two week mark, your baby stops sleeping as much, and no longer likes to stay curled up in a ball.  If you are hoping to get those really cute newborn photos of a sleeping baby like this, I recommend bringing baby in between days 4 and 10.

2.) Feed baby before your session.

Babies sleep best on a full tummy.  If we have to stop the session multiple times to feed baby, we will, but if they have been fed right before you arrive, our chances of making it the entire shoot without stopping (and having a much shorter session) are much better.  I schedule up to 2 hours for newborns, but if we can get it in an hour, I know we will all be much happier.  

3.) Bring a pacifier to your session.

If you don't want to give baby a paci because you are a nursing mom, we will stop for feedings, but if baby is gassy or just isn't sleeping well or fussy, a pacifier works great to get the shots.  I have a neat little trick that I do that actually makes baby look like he or she is blowing kisses, even if they are awake and fussy. It helps a bunch!

4.) Wear comfortable clothing that is good for high temperatures.

I use a space heater on baby, and keep my studio at a whopping 85 degrees for my newborn sessions.  Babies are used to it being very warm in the womb and will be naked for some of their photos.  If it is really warm outside, we might even do some photos outdoors.  

5.)  Wear black clothing to be in some photos with baby.

I know that as new moms we feel uncomfortable with how we look. I once had an aunt who told me that I still looked pregnant!  But your precious newborn photos need you in them!  We will use your hands and your face.  If you want siblings and dad in the photos, have them wear black too.  Don't have black in your closet?  White or grey can work too.  

6.) Bring special blankets, hats, bonnets, headbands, outfits, or accessories.  

If dad is a fireman, bring his gear.  If you got special hats at your baby shower, bring them too.  We want your baby's session to be about you and your baby, and completely unique.  

7.) Loosen baby's clothing and diapers about 20-30 mins before your session.

Baby's skin is new, so it easily holds shapes and marks longer, especially with things that are elastic. 

8.) Bring baby oil and/or lotion.

With newborn skin and because baby is so new, it tends to turn red and flaky very easily. Baby lotion and oil helps with this.

9.) Poop happens!

Yes it does, and so does spit up.  Be sure to bring diapers, wipes, and burp clothes, as well as changes of clothing for you and for baby. 

10.) Relax

I may have you help with the session, or I may have you sit in the waiting room.  If you are nursing baby may smell you and might think it's feeding time.  If I ask you to help, it's for you to help me get multiple shots to combine in photoshop. Either way, don't worry.  I've had 2 of my own and take my job very seriously.  I've been a baby photographer for almost 10 years now and absolutely love working with them!  I don't want you to stress.  "I've got this".  

I cannot wait to meet your newborn!

Here's a self portrait of me and my little girl who is almost 9 now.  This was my very first photo shoot! I've come a long way since this session!

Spring and Easter Mini Sessions!

I have been wanting to do this for a while.  I LOVE Spring!! I usually have a great turn out for my Santa Day

mini sessions, so I was really excited to take portraits with baby ducks. Everyone does the bunny photos.  Bunnies are cute, but ducklings are so...

FLUFFY!  and Adorable!  Look at this little guy!  I know that the babies and children are going to just love these little guys!

So, here are the details...

I have two sessions left for the baby duck day, so book it today! 

Become A H.S. Senior Rep!

This year I am doing a great incentive for any High School Seniors who would like to hand out special rep cards with their image on one side, and my studio info with a discount on the back!

Here's the info:

You pay $50 for your session fee and choose your location. (Studio, Riverwalk, Park, Mountains, etc!)

This comes with your yearbook photo, 3 Facebook photos, web gallery, 25 rep cards, and a nice case to carry them in!

When your friends bring in the cards (has their portraits taken by me), they get 20% off, and you get two free sheets of photos! (8x10 or smaller)

If 10 or more of your friends book me, you get a CD with all of your images!

This is a really great deal, and is limited to 2-3 students per school.


Contact me to sign up!

719-334-9342

www.pachecophotography.com

marypachecophotography@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pueblo-CO/Mary-Pacheco-Photograph

Chain Portrait Studios vs Professional

When deciding where to go for your photos how do you decide? Is cost an issue? Is quality an issue? Is convenience an issue? I'm sure you think all of these things are important. So do I. Which is why I have decided to post some of my knowledge on the subject!

What makes me qualified to compare a chain portrait studio to a professional one? When I was in college learning photography, I applied at a chain portrait studio and worked there for 5 months before being promoted to District Trainer and a month after that District Manager. That's right, I was the DM of 9 Chain Portrait Studios. Not only did I learn the ins and outs of their style of business as a "Portrait Photographer", but I also learned what was really expected of these employees.

Let's start with training. When I first started I watched only one photo shoot before being handed the remote and was told to take over. All I had to do was make sure everyone was looking at the camera, smiling, and I had them lined up in the view finder, then I pushed the shutter. I just had to make people smile, get six decent poses, and get them out in 15 mins or less. Obviously I knew a little more went into a great photo from my years of art and photography growing up and as a student. Which is one of the reasons why I moved up so quickly.

When I took over as a trainer, I was told to have my employees learn all they needed to know in 5 days of training. Yes, only 5 days of training...if they were lucky. There were several times when employees got less than 1 full day of training! When I was a DM I tried to prevent that from happening, but sometimes you would have 3 employees quit in 3 different towns all within a week, and there was no way you could have people trained in that many locations. Now I know 5 days may be long enough to teach someone how to use a digital camera on auto mode only, but the focus wasn't even in the actual photography itself. It was on selling.

People were fired for not selling enough $250 packages. They had an entire system set up to get you to spend more money. They bring you in, promising a $5.99 package, but they give you the first shot they take, and make sure all of the other shots are better then that first one. They only take 6-8 photos, push lots of portraits on you, and then they get you to buy a CD for $200 more. Let's add this all together... $5.99+ $250+ $200= $455.99! WOW! That's for only 6 photos! I guess cost couldn't really be the issue here...so what is it? Convenience?

On a typical Saturday at one of the studios that I was the DM for, we would easily have 20 sessions or more scheduled. During the busiest time of day we would push for 10 min sessions to be able to fit all of the walk-ins that came in between the scheduled appointments. We would basically give everyone that came in the same 6 poses. Now, they throw on some vignettes make a few black and white or sepia, and put them in some pre-made templates to make you feel like you're getting something special.

As a customer at one of these studios (before I owned my own studio) this was the experience I had. I got there 5 mins late and was told that the people who had walked in right before me could go ahead of me because I was late to my appointment. When it was my turn, we got to pick one backdrop, and were rushed, because the next appointment was already there. We did about 10 really quick poses and went to a kiosk to view our photos. We thought we were only going to spend about $10 because we had a coupon that said $7.99 for 10 portrait sheets. Little did we know that there was a $9.99 per person sitting fee all 3 of us, unless we wanted to join their club, where it would only be $20. We were shown our first portrait which was really not very good, then 7 others which were much better. We could only buy the extras if we bought one of their expensive packages. We ended up leaving there disappointed, exhausted, and feeling like we couldn't get anything decent unless we spent at least $200. They suggested we pay with credit cards, and even ask our moms for more money. We were adults! How insulting!

So maybe I just had a bad experience. Maybe I was one in a million? There must be some reason people keep going back to these places, right?

At my studio, this is what I give my Clients:

1) An entire hour to work with. No other appointments will be scheduled in your time slot.

2) Individualized service. I find out what you're looking for, and tailor your entire session around what you need.

3) I don't just "point and click". I am trained in the Art of Photography, so I use my knowledge to create custom art. I have had much more than 5 days training!

4) No hidden fees. I will tell you up-front what I charge, when you schedule your session!

5) Cost broken up into 2 or 3 payments. You only have to pay for your session on the day of booking, and at the viewing you pay for what you'd like to purchase then!

So is cost the issue here?
-My prices are actually very close to what one of these places charges, if not less.

Could it be quality?
-I doubt the quality of a camera permanently set on "auto" in the hands of someone with very little training can compete...do you?

Maybe it's convenience?
-How convenient does "hurry up and wait" sound to you?

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I'm ready to help, are you?

I was saddened recently to hear the number of child abuse related deaths last year in Colorado was 30. THIRTY!! I just couldn't believe it. As a mother myself, my heart aches each time my child gets hurt. I can't imagine this happening, and especially in my own state! This made me wonder, what can I do to help? Is there an organization that helps rehabilitate these poor children, and educates the public on this growing problem? You can imagine my relief to find out there is! I knew right away that I wanted to help. Are you ready to help?

You can help! My studio is partnering up with the Tennyson Center for Children to help abused and neglected kids here in Colorado! All through the month of March, I am offering a waived session fee for every donation to this amazing organization! If you haven't heard of them before, visit their website to find out more about it. http://www.tennysoncenter.org

The Baby/Child contest is off to a great start, book your appointment today!

719-334-9342

719-225-8589

email me: marypachecophotography@gmail.com

contact me directly from the website:

www.pachecophotography.com

Don't forget to follow me!

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