On a Shoestring Budget | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

A couple of months back I asked the question on Facebook

"What is preventing you from having your family portrait taken right now?"

A lot of people answered with various reasons related to budget. One of the answers was specifically about purchasing clothing worthy of having pictures taken in on a tight budget.

As you may or may not know, I have a large family. So I'm faced with the same dilemma you are when it comes to clothing for our family portrait.

6 people to dress on a tight budget.

Because of this I shop at a lot of thrift shops.

Once Upon a Child, Clothes Mentor, Goodwill, yard sales, etc...

Where ever I can find cute stuff on the cheap!

On Friday I stopped at Once Upon a Child to return some jeans that I had bought for one of the boys. When looking for different jeans I caught a glimpse of a nice shirt for him. I looked a little further and found another shirt for his older brother that coordinated with the first one. So I decided to go to the girl section to see what cuteness I could find for the baby. DONE. Found an adorable little dress in coordinating colors. Headed to the little boy section and found another shirt in a matching color for my four year old.

Just like that, cute coordinating clothing for all the kids for the low, low price of....

are you ready for this???

$21.oo!

That's right. $21.00. I will have them put on some jeans and they are all dressed and ready for our fun family portrait that they all look forward to every year! They have been begging me to get some awesome pink shirts so they can get their picture taken!

NOT!

Really, they hate every minute of it and fight me every step of the way. But I still insist on doing it each year. It's the one time every year that I make a concentrated effort to get updated pictures of at least all the kids. And most years I make it a whole family picture. Not just the kids.

In case you are wondering, Dennis and I will be clothed in the picture as well. I'm not showing our clothes here, but I promise we won't be naked! We have shirts in our closet that will coordinate with the kids clothes. No need to go out and buy brand new stuff.

So now I challenge you to do one of two things. One, go into your closets and see what you already have in there that will work great for pictures. Or two, do some thrift store or clearance rack shopping to see if you can beat my $21.00 Christmas card picture outfits. No one is ever going to know that you don't have on brand new clothes when they look at your Christmas card. Nor will they care! They just want to see how cute your kids are or how great you look!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you came up with and how little money you spent on outfits for your family. Even if you aren't having a picture taken professionally for your Christmas card, you are probably still taking a Christmas card picture. And I think we would all appreciate it if you put clothes on!

I'm just sayin...

Have fun shopping!

P.S. I'm posting this in the FAQ category as well because I get asked regularly what you should wear for pictures. I always encourage coordinating clothes in whatever your style is. Not necessarily matching clothes. Our style is casual. So we will be untucked and in jeans. If your style is more dressy, then by all means, dress everyone up in coordinating clothing. This is a good example of what I mean by coordinated.

See more of Billie's work at http://www.billiemitchellphotography.com/.

Become a fan of Billie's work on Facebook. Email Billie at billie@billiemitchellphotography.com.

Helpful Information | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

I ran across this blog post today and it made me think of the countless conversations I have had with clients regarding their department store portrait studio experiences. I had one mom tell me that the studio wouldn't sell her a portrait that was taken of her daughters sticking their tongues out at each other, because that wasn't the studio's style. That's her life though. Those are the memories that she wants to preserve. Those are the types of photographs that really help you to remember their true personalities.

I recently received this note from a client:

"I was recently thinking about all the money I have spent having pictures taken at other places. I don't really have any that stand out or speak to me like the ones you has taken this year of my family. This is the first time I have had pictures that capture the personalities and sweetness of my kids. Price is really... not a factor when you have such excellent shots to pick from. I will truly treasure each and every picture that you have taken this year and years to come. Thanks for all the wonderful memories you are creating!"

This is what it's all about for me. I want my portraits to speak to you. I want them to scream with your child's personalitiy. I want them to be the artwork on your wall.

I'm not trying to slam any department store studios. That's not what this is about. I'm simply trying to point out the differences and why custom portrait photography sometimes costs a little more. Custom portrait photography can not be created for the same cost as big chain department store photography. It's simply not possible. For another great article on this topic, you can check out this post. It gives you a pretty detailed breakdown of why custom portrait photography costs more.

And because a good post on a photography blog always needs a photo, I give you this shot of Cooper that I love.

FAQ | Sunbury Newborn Photographer

FAQ

I have had a couple of questions regarding the Newborn Casting Call. So I thought I would take a few minutes and post the questions and answers in case any of the rest of you are feeling the same way.

1.) Do we really have to shoot the photos within 5 or 6 days of the birth? Why so early?

Answer: Yes we really need to shoot the photos this early. You will thank me later for this. Those first few days are our very best chance of getting those precious sleepy, curled up newborn images. After this little window of time we may lose this chance. Often times babies are not as sleepy and won’t be content to let us take a bunch of pictures. Sometimes baby acne can set it. And after this time frame is when colic can start to set in if it is going to. So for many reasons, I really want to shoot the photos within those first few days of life.


2.) If you are coming to my house just a few days after delivery my house may be messy. And I probably won’t really feel like getting dressed and ready for a photo shoot myself.

Answer: I have had four children. I know what it’s like to come home after delivery and not be up to picking up the house. Or fixing my hair and putting make up on. I want you to know that if you schedule a newborn session with me, I fully expect for your house to not be perfect when I arrive. And I definitely do not want you to feel like you have to have your hair fixed and make up on. I don’t care about any of that stuff. I just need a precious newborn baby and a little spot next to a window with some beautiful natural light coming in.

All that being said, please don’t let a messy house or lack of make up keep you from inviting me in to capture those precious moments that you want to remember forever. I will love doing it for you. And I promise, you won’t regret it!

I have one more session left! Please contact me soon at bjmitchell2@gmail.com to reserve your free Newborn Photo Session!