Jacek ~ Yucaipa, CA ~ Children’s photographer

I had a great time meeting up & doing a session for Victoria from Canary Lane Photography and taking pictures of her sweet son Jacek. This little guy was absolutely adorable & had me cracking up that I could literally get him to go anywhere I pleased by simply offering him animal crackers 🙂 Here are some shots from our session




Want to book a session? I’d love to hear from you! Email me at TurtleDovePhotography@gmail.com

Chain Portrait Studio vs Professional Photographer ~ Redlands, California ~ Family Photographer

HI! Call me Jessica. That was my ‘under-cover’ name today when I called every chain portrait studio I could think of.

Wal-mart
Olan Mills
Sears
Jc Penney
Kiddie Kandids
Picture People

Now why did I call all of these studios you may wonder. Well I wanted to find out a few bits of information from them, and seeing as I couldn’t find out everything to my hearts content via the internet I resorted to calling them. Wal-mart was the ONLY place I could not get a hold of.

The information I was looking for was:
Length of session
Amount of pictures taken
Sitting fees
Cost of a Disc WITH copyright release

The information I gave them was that I had 3 children I wanted photographed

ALL of these studios offer UP TO 15 minutes per session. That’s right ONLY 15 minutes.

*Olan Mills*
-No sitting fee however, they do charge a $5.95 shipping fee for prints/discs
-They give up to 15 images/pictures/poses (whatever you want to call it)
-Disc of images is $150

*Sears*
– up to 9 poses
– $119.00 for a CD

*JC Penney*
– 9.99 per person sitting fee
– up to 30 pictures
– $100.00 CD

*Kiddie Kandids (babies-r-us)*
-No Sitting
– up to 9 poses
– $199 for a CD

*Picture People*
– No Sitting
-up to 40 pictures total
– $250 for a CD, however, they will only give you 12 full size images on the disc. After 12 images, they start resizing the images and if you try to print from them they will be grainier. (NICE)

So what is my Beef with ‘chain portrait studios’?

1- They hire people regardless of knowledge of cameras/taking pictures & they instruct their employees to shoot in ‘program/auto’ which is the same thing as using a point and shoot aka (anyone can take the pics)

2- They only give you 15 minutes! (anyone with a shy child knows it can take a lot longer than that for the kid to warm up to a stranger)

3- They don’t care about the end result. You get between 6-40 clicks of the camera and regardless of the pics that’s what you get. They don’t meticulously go through the pics and find the best ones and edit them to make your pictures a work of art & perhaps remove that unwanted scratch or pimple 😉

4- Overall poor quality.

So what do I recommend for people who want REAL professional pictures? Simple, Hire a professional. I understand that in these times of economic crisis that it isn’t easy to hire a ‘professional’ photographer, as usually they charge quite a bit more than any of these ‘chain’ stores.

So here is food for thought; most people only get professional photographs once a year or less, but they look at those pictures for the rest of their lives & their children & grandchildren look back and look at them as well.  Really what else holds its emotional value more than a photograph? What can take you back to a certain time in your life like seeing the clothes you were wearing and the style of your hair and everything else that goes into that picture?  If you save $25-30 a month for a year then you can get pictures that will be wonderful to pass down from generation to generation. Really it is only the cost of eating out once a month and is not that much in the long run.

~Jenilee

Friday Night Special | Redlands, California | Family Photography

I will be running various specials on Friday’s now. TGIF baby!!! Tonight’s session is for the first 3 people who contact me! A session & a high resolution disc, within 20 miles of Highland, California. This session can be any type of session you want: Family (immediate family only -mom/dad/kids), Engagement, Boudoir, Maternity, etc. It, can take place anytime & anywhere within 20 miles of Highland, CA. This special is only for the first 3 people to contact me or until 10-2-09 (which ever comes first).

Dove Chocolate Party! Busy Busy | Highland, California | Event Photographer

I had a chocolate party last night. Come on CHOCOLATE PARTY?! A party to celebrate chocolate. yep yep MY kind of party 😀 TRACEY was our lovely chocolatier for the evening, and of course we had fun! Everything from chocolate fondue & trifles to Chocolate Martinis (which I totally forgot to take a picture of- I guess I was too busy ENJOYING it)

Of course everyone was enjoying droolin over all the yummies

Then Logan thought he wanted to try EVERYTHING. . . of course once we let him he didn’t want to try ANYTHING hahaha BOYS!

Christmas Time! | Redlands, California | Family Photography

It is that time of year! Christmas is just around the corner and Holiday sessions are booking up fast! SO I bring you this year’s Holiday Special!

A session for your immediate family! (Mom, dad and the kiddos). Along with 1-8×10 and various greeting cards to order from!

It is recommended that Holiday Sessions take place no later than November 22 in order to insure that you receive your proofs in time for the holidays!

Family Session to include:
Just the 8×10 $50.00 8×10 & 24 christmas cards $85.00 Lets make it digital (digital christmas cards) $95.00 I want it all! (8×10, digital christams cards & a disc of pics) $175.00

*ask about travel expenses if more than 30 miles outside Highland, CA