Parties at My Little Play Place!

If you have very young children, ages 5 and under, you are seriously missing out if you haven't been to My Little Play Place in Waco!  It is like Disneyland for babies and toddlers!  There's so much for them to do - and the moms, dads, grandparents, and caregivers can play with the kiddos, sit back and relax, catch up on emails, or visit with other adults.  It's a win, win for everyone!

Take that awesomeness and combine it with one of the many parties that My Little Play Place throws throughout the year, now you have DisneyWORLD!  

Throughout the year My Little Play Place throws parties (usually with a holiday theme).  They've had Valentine's, Easter, Halloween and Christmas parties - as well as a Super Hero party.  There is a small fee to participate in a party of $4 per child in addition to the regular play admission.  That extra $4 will grant your child access to crafts, cookie decorating, and a photograph.  I'll be honest...the kids LOVE the cookie decorating the best and the parents LOVE the photographs!

Sadie is enjoying the cookie she decorated so diligently!

As a parent, I want photographs of my children with various holiday themes, but I don't want to pay for a whole session (or even a mini-session) centered around that holiday theme.  I want one photograph of my child on Valentine's Day.  I don't need five.  For me, THIS is the reason the parties are so worth it!  My kids LOVE the play place, but combine it with a party and it's seriously a super fun day that you guys won't soon forget.

The next party is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9th.  We will be celebrating Mother's Day!

If you have any ideas for future party themes, please share them!  Jamie at My Little Play Place and myself are always looking for new ideas.

New Product! Custom Mobile Albums!!

We are SO excited about our latest product - Custom Mobile Albums! 

What is a Custom Mobile Album?  Custom Mobile Albums are a unique way to share your favorite photographs with your friends and family in a truly social way!  They are customized digital photo albums that are put together in an app for your mobile device.  

Each order includes a Custom Mobile Album which will include your favorite photographs.  A link will either be sent to your email or to your phone as a text.  You just click the link using your mobile device and the app will be installed on your homescreen so you can easily share your photographs. 

Hunter, a senior from Valley Mills, has his own Custom Mobile Album!

Custom Mobile Albums have many benefits!

*After you place your order, you will receive your Custom Mobile Album within 24 hours.  This gives you quick access to your favorite photos while you are waiting for your prints to arrive!

*Your Custom Mobile Album is at your fingertips - you can download it to your phone, your spouse's phone, your tablet, etc.

*The app will be placed on your homescreen and can even be viewed offline.

*Your OWN photograph will be the app icon!

*You can easily share your favorite images from your photo session with friends and family via text, email, Facebook, AND face to face!

*You will always have our contact information handy and can quickly access that through the links in the app.

*Stay up to date with new offers, discounts, and promotions with automatic updates!

*Earn a FREE session by referring us to your friends and family!

We are looking forward to our clients receiving their Custom Mobile Albums!

The Battle of Prints vs. Digitals

What's better...printed photographs or high resolution digitals?  Well, that all depends.  As a mom, I like to receive high quality prints from a photographer, but I also want access to the high resolution files for a backup.  I know I will more than likely never even access the files, but I just feel some sort of security knowing that I have another copy that I can access IF (big IF) something happens to that print and I need another one.  My fear is just that...a fear.  Chances are if I am hiring a professional photographer, my high resolution files are securely stored and backed up multiple times in a variety of ways.  So IF something ever happened to the original print, I could go back to my photographer and ask her for another print.

In June of this year, I recently made the move to offering prints.  I still offer high resolution digitals as an option.  I try my best to meet a variety of needs and I realize that some clients prefer a disc.  What I have noticed however by making this move is that more clients actually choose prints over digitals.  This makes me very happy!  Why you might ask?  Well, if I print your portraits at a professional lab I know that you are receiving high quality prints that will last a lifetime.  I know the colors will be true and accurate.  I know the cropping will be what I composed.  I just have control over knowing that you are receiving exactly what I created for you.  I spend anywhere between 15 minutes to 2 hours on EACH image that I present to you in your gallery.  I want that same quality to show in your prints. 

Before June I only offered high resolution digitals on a disc.  This caused a great deal of headache for me as a photographer because clients would complain about the colors not looking accurate.  Some local chain stores use printers that give a yellow tint to the images.  Others give a blue tint.  And others are green.  Then there is the quality of paper that is used by these chains.  Some use a high quality paper, while others use flimsy photo paper.  I haven't even mentioned the issue of poor cropping! 

I sent the same high resolution file to 4 different companies for my own "test" before I began offering prints to see for myself if there were really any noticeable differences. I can honestly say....YES!  There are very noticeable differences!  I sent the file to the professional lab that I use, WalMart, Walgreens, and CVS.  I looked for colors and tones and paper quality. 

• Professional Lab - The colors were accurate and true.  The paper quality was high and was printed using a matte finish.  It was not flimsy.
• WalMart - The colors were a little on the yellow side, but honestly not too bad.  The paper quality was alright and was printed using a matte finish.
• Walgreens - These were by far the worst!  The colors were very blue and cold feeling.  The paper quality was flimsy and it was printed with a glossy finish.  There were white rectangles around the entire image because the crop did not match up to their machines.  I would have been very upset if I received photographs that looked like this!
• CVS - The colors were very saturated and looked green.  The paper quality was the worst.  It was very flimsy and had a bad glossy finish. 

The results were clear and in front of my face.  If you are interested in seeing them, just let me know and at our session I will make sure that I bring them for you to see.  The issue arises because these chain stores might not calibrate their machines as often as a professional lab does which can really affect the colors.  I might order my prints from WalMart today and go back one week later and they could possibly look different based on their calibration.  I know that the prints I order from the professional lab will always be correct.  Printing photos is their business.  They do not sell medicine or milk...just printed photographs and wall art.  I want you to have consistent prints, time after time.

There is yet another issue with discs and/or digital files - one that is not widely discussed.  Recently, Internet pioneer, Vint Cerf, warned about a digital "dark age."  He claims that we will lose a vast amount of our digital information, including important photographs. 

“We think about digitizing things because we think we will preserve them, but what we don’t understand is that unless we take other steps, those digital versions may not be any better, and may even be worse, than the artifacts that we digitized.”

— http://petapixel.com/2015/02/17/print-your-photos-or-risk-losing-them-to-the-digital-dark-age-internet-pioneer-warns/

He also explains how technology changes very rapidly over time and at some point, discs will not be able to be read by our current machines.  This makes sense.  Just think about floppy discs!  I recently read about a woman that could no longer access her parents wedding photographs because they were on a floppy disc.  How sad is that?  He also explains about "data rot."  Data rot is when digital material decays over time on a drive, disc, or usb.  A better option available right now for saving digital files is by using a Cloud service.  However, Cloud services are expensive and there is no guarantee that the Cloud service you choose will be around in the coming years.  You can read more about data rot here. 

“One of the best options you may have right now for ensuring the long term survival of important photos is to print them out physically (with materials designed for longevity) and to keep the prints in a safe place.”

— http://petapixel.com/2015/02/17/print-your-photos-or-risk-losing-them-to-the-digital-dark-age-internet-pioneer-warns/

At Smith Family Photography we back up all our digital files - your precious portraits - a minimum of 3 times with various methods.  Yes, this is very costly.  However, if you are going to trust me with your precious photographs, you need to trust that I will have a copy of them for the years to come. 

Cute Kid Halloween Costume Contest!

Halloween is my absolute FAVORITE holiday! It's the perfect time for a CUTE KID HALLOWEEN CONTEST!

Do you have a cute kid that rocked a Halloween costume in the past? If so, send me the photo between today (October 19th) and next Sunday (October 25th). On Monday, October 26th I will upload all the CUTE KIDS into a contest album for voting. Voting will take place from October 26th through midnight on Halloween. The CUTE KID with the most votes will win an 8x10 photo frame and 50% off any session of their choice (except events and weddings)!

What are you waiting for?? Send those CUTE KID HALLOWEEN photos my way!

You can email them to me at:  ajsmithfamilyphotography@gmail.com  or send them to me via Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/smithfamilyphotographytexas

Fall School Portraits

Well, it's that time of year again...time for those Fall Back to School Portraits.  Back to School portraits have definitely evolved over the years, but Back to School portraits that take place at the school are still relatively unchanged.  Many parents and guardians want a fun, creative photograph of their child entering a new grade as a keepsake that shows their child's personality.  I love those sessions!  The parents are excited and so proud of their kid.  The kids are equally excited, if not more so, which allows their true personality to shine!

This is my daughter, Lily.  She started preschool this year.

After the school year officially gets started, the school takes Back to School portraits for the fall.  These portraits are posed headshots and they although some feel they are boring, they serve rather important purposes.  One, they too are a keepsake.  These portraits are posed basically the same way each fall which allows us to compare the child's growth from one year to the next.  I love those collages that are compiled with an image from each grade level!  Two, these portraits are fairly close-up which allow you to focus on the child's face.  The administration at the school needs these for their records and teachers like them for art projects throughout the year.  Those art projects are another type of keepsake.  I have boxes upon boxes of beautiful art projects from my kids!  I am actually pretty sure our storage unit is about half way full of them.  Three, these portraits are perfect for yearbooks!  The portraits are nice and close-up of the child's face so their friends can look back through their yearbooks and remember what their friends used to look like when they were younger. 

On Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015 we will be taking the Fall Back to School portraits for Hallsburg Elementary.  I am very excited about this venture!  If your child attends Hallsburg Elementary, look for the order information early this week.  I worked with Hallsburg administration to keep prices extremely affordable and I hope the parents will appreciate the savings and flexibility I can offer. 

Throughout the year we will take other school portraits at Hallsburg Elementary including basketball photographs, Spring Individual portraits (those will be more themed), class photographs, and graduation portraits for the itty bitties and the big kids.

Here is a handy tip sheet for school portraits:

School Portrait Tip Sheet

I am looking forward to September 23rd and I hope you are as well!  If you have any questions about upcoming school portraits at Hallsburg Elementary, please don't hesitate to contact me.