Blynda Dacosta Photography

WHY SHOULD I INVEST IN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS?
Do you ever ask your mom/dad what you looked like when you were a baby? Or what they looked like back then? Did you ever wonder why there don’t seem to be many good photos of you growing up that aren’t blurry or blasted out with flash? When you have kids of your own, you want to make sure that as they grow up, you have something to give them that showed how much you all really loved each other, how happy you were when you were expecting their arrival and how overjoyed you were when they were born…..insert tears here. It’s fine to take lots of photos of your kids as they grow, but they want to see you in those photos too! They want to see you hugging and kissing them and tickling them in the grass…showing them your love. When we have kids, we start concentrating on them and forgetting about ourselves. You don’t have to update your family photos every year, but you should take the time every few years or so to create some memories on ‘film’ that your family can take with them forever. I know that having a baby is expensive and that there always seems to be something to spend your money on…..but remember all the baby clothes in the world, as cute as they are will never be as important as great quality photos of your little miracle that will last forever.

WHAT ABOUT PRICING?
There is no standard photography pricing practice. If you have ever shopped around for price, you will find that they are all over the place. In general, less experienced or part-time or stay-at-home-mom photographers will charge less than a full-time professional with an education in art/photography will….but as you can imagine quality, skill and knowledge comes along with the higher price tag. Photography is an investment. If you want a great quality photograph that will last your families lifetime, then you will have to invest in that…and it will be worth it. How many things do you currently spend your hard earned money on that will last even half as long? Not your Coach handbag, not that new chair from Home Sense and certainly not your awesome new iPad!

PRINTS VS. FULL RESOLUTION JPEGS
This is really a personal choice. I always recommend prints. Why? Because a good quality professional photographer will be working very closely with an approved printer who makes sure that they are printing images as close to the photographers artistic vision as possible. Commercial printers found in malls, Walmart, Costco etc print everyone’s images the same on cheap paper and there is no attention paid to quality, colour calibration and vibrancy. In short, the colour is bad and they look flat and grey…not what the photographer intended at all. Whether you order full resolution JPEGS or prints, a ‘good’ photographer will spend some time editing these images to make them perfect. In my practice, I don’t use fancy filters that make my images look fake or unnatural. That is not to say that I don’t spend time editing…I do…I spend a lot of time, but I believe the steps that I take enhance the beauty of the image rather than trying to put in beauty or aesthetic interest that didn’t exist in the original.

Here are some before and after examples of what you are paying for when you purchase prints or high resolution JPEGS.

I hope that helps your decision this year on whether to invest in newborn/maternity/family photography OR a new electronic device or piece of furniture!! The answer seems obvious, but sometimes we have a hard time thinking about things in these terms. Photography really is one of those investments that truly last a lifetime!