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the studio. | St. Louis Newborn Photographers

Posted on May 19, 2010

After leaving one of our favorite family’s newborn session a month or so ago and driving the 45 minutes home we started talking, seriously, about how much easier it would be to have a studio space for our newborns. This last year we’ve photographed a lot of babies and although we love EVERY second of our time with the babies and their families, we HATE that we have to drag around so much gear all the time. You should have seen the back of Kim’s Suburban! Rolls of paper, baskets, scales, blankets, props, hats, headbands, baskets, blankets, light gear, backdrop stand and did I mention the baskets and blankets? Oh and a heater and sound machine and the list goes on.

We realized that we spent at least an hour (if not more sometimes) driving to the location and then about an hour of set-up time. Figure 2-4 hours of actual shooting and then another half-hour take-down. Sometimes we’d be gone for 6-8 hours and not all of that was actually working.

We also have lots of ideas of new props and poses but the thought of dragging MORE gear around kept us from really moving forward.

So we brainstormed and contemplated renting/buying space but ultimately decided we’d give it a try at our house. The Allen home. We had already converted our formal dining room into an art room a year or so ago and it would be big enough to have the dual purpose of shooting newborns when we need to shoot newborns and still letting my kids be creative on a daily basis. So we got to work on the art room!

And OH MAN!

SIX trash bags of junk, a front porch full of yard sale and two storage tubs for the attic and it was almost ready! A day of cleaning and a long night of emptying Kim’s SUV plus organizing everything and we were even closer! Then just a few samples on the walls and DONE!

The NEW Fresh Art in-home newborn+baby studio!

Pretty rad right?

We are in love.

Is it perfect and magazine worthy? Nope.

Is it clean and organized? Yep.

Is it perfect for my family AND our business? Yep.

Will it impress other studio owners? Nope.

Does it work perfectly for our newborn clients? Yep.

Do we love it? HELL YEAH!

Yesterday as we photographed little Will we got to really test it out. And it was awesome b/c we are at my HOUSE. So Kristie could go in our back family room to nurse and be nearly as comfortable as if she were at her own home. Mike could sit in the front living room and chat with us while Will ate. They could also cuddle on the couch while we worked and watch the whole thing! We had snacks and drinks if they needed them, tv if they got bored, etc. It was cozy and comfy and worked out great!

Here’s a few shots of Kim working in the new space…

We love it!

And the best best best part?

Because working in one space is SO MUCH EASIER for us and such a time saver we can CUT our newborn session fee down significantly!

So it helps you AND it helps us. We really think this will be the best fit for everyone!

That being said, if you REALLY want us to come to your house we can talk about it but the price will be significantly higher (back up to where it used to be at $500). And for all the moms out there that have already booked, we will honor our original agreement and come to your home… OR… we will credit you the difference in price for prints if you come to us instead.

Before we offered our newborn session for $500 and that included the newborn session, a 30 minutes mini maternity session and 25 birth announcements.

NOW we are offering THIS:

And THIS:

Do these savings excite you as much as they do us?

Being able to make things easier on us, allowing us to actually be more creative AND giving us room to lower our price a bit is a total WIN-WIN and we are SO excited about this new chapter in our business!

The ONLY other thing we have to talk about is how this effects our summer sale!

WE ARE HONORING OUR SUMMER SALE!

Did you hear that?

That means that IF YOU ARE DUE IN JULY your session fee is 50% off! ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS PEOPLE!

And if you are due in June or August your session fee is $187.5 or 25% off the regular price of $250!

Kim and I are crazy excited to start really working in the studio so share these discounts with ALL your friends! This summer will be the summer of babies here at Fresh Art!

YAHOO! GO!

behind the scenes – [St. Louis Maternity & Newborn Photographers]

Posted on March 12, 2010

… of which Jodie may kill me, and I am shaking a bit at her potential retaliation!  Ha!

Remember this shot from Jessica & Gabe’s maternity?

Here’s how Jodie captured it:

Yes, it had rained all night before, and clearly dirty ground…. but pretty much every session you’ll find one of us laying on the ground for a killer shot!

And yesterday, at a huge, but fun commercial shoot…. testing the light and settings.  ::snicker::

Sorry, Jodie, but I adore this photo of you.  Silly face and all!  It just shows your fun personality and how much fun we have at shoots, even when we are at the end of a full day and exhausted!  And seriously, those amazing eyes framed by the best curls ever!  Love you…. and totally running away to Gulf Shores now!

Wrapping up 2009 – [St. Louis Photographers]

Posted on January 5, 2010

Kim created the awesome video you’re about to watch… which you should by the way…because it’s great! And she emailed me late last night to tell me she’d finished it and put it on the blog for me to post so I immediately stopped editing and watched it. And laughed and cried. And about half-way through it I realized that I wasn’t thinking about our clients… whom we love and adore and are so so so grateful they trusted US with their memories and so thankful they came along on this new Fresh Art adventure with us… but instead, I was thinking about Kim.

Because for every photo that we place on this blog and every gallery we give to clients, there is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes. And I found myself watching that video and remembering those moments.

The moments during our first sessions when we really didn’t know each other that well and tripped over our words and ideas and thoughts all just trying to get our opinion about a shot to the other person, without stepping on toes or fingers or feelings, because we were getting to know each other and working it out. Seeing how many sessions we’ve had and laughing about how much money we’ve spent in sodas and snacks, because we ALWAYS stop on the way to a session for a soda! Seeing shots we are unbelievably proud of and knowing I never would have gotten to this place without Kim. Laughing about the mishaps, the mistakes, the weather, the inside jokes, the stories. Seeing the photos from Chicago and ALL the fun memories it stirred up! The crazy expensive lunches, not leaving our room, the homeless man that nearly got in my car, getting lost, the corn… it was a fun trip! Remembering the first time we slapped a high five leaving a session b/c we KNEW we’d nailed the shots… and me being SO excited b/c KIM was so excited… b/c up until that session she’d been pretty low key and I was always the spaz! All the conversations in the car, talking late at night, emailing 50 times a day… just getting to know each other so so well.

Looking at those photos was like this visual trip through our friendship. Because our partnership started out as a business relationship and has grown into a friendship. One that I didn’t realize I cherished so much until I got to walk through it all with this video. Every session we learn more about each other. The longer we work together the less we actually talk during a shoot because we know what the other is thinking. As the days and weeks and months go by the more I love the fact that we joined forces and are working together. Do I sometimes miss Jodified? Sure. Would I trade Fresh Art for anything? Never.

So to our 2009 clients… thank you for hiring us. Trusting us. Laughing with us. Understanding us when our kids/families/NILMDTS have had to come first. And for letting us travel this road with you. Because until last night, i didn’t really see how significant of a role you’ve played in our Fresh Art adventure. But with each one of you we’ve gotten better. Smoother. More confident. So thank you! Thanks for everything you’ve given to us this first (half) year.

And Kim… thanks for putting up with me! You’re one of my best friends and I can’t imagine living my passion with anyone else!

a sneaky sneak peek! [St. Louis Newborn Photographers]

Posted on September 2, 2009

Okay, so Jodie may just kill me…. but I am literally dying of laughter (and was at the time I took it, rolling on the ground laughing to be exact… tears and all)… but I just HAVE to post this.  And cross my fingers that she doesn’t post some super unflattering shot she got of ME.

From our session just an hour ago… with a rockstar baby with the most uber cool parents around!

You can never say our sessions are boring.  And I’m so totally impressed at Jodie’s mad cartwheel skills.  (she totally stuck the landing too!)