Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Church on the Mountain, 2010

We had a fabulous time camping this past weekend.  A few of us went up the day before and stayed 2 nights.  It was quite chili up in the mountains.  I live in the Grand Valley of Colorado and it's just amazing to me the temperature difference from the valley to the mountains.  I took shorts to wear...lol...never got a chance to wear them other than the trip up. 

It did rain on us occasionally, which cooled it off even more, so we were thankful that we all remembered our sweats and coats.

About 35 of us from church went on the camping trip.  More came up on Saturday for one night of camping and still others showed up on Sunday morning for breakfast and the service.


Justin, my grandson




On Friday, before any of the others arrived, we hiked across the pasture to a couple of old barns.  I thought it would be a great photo opportunity.  I was right!  I would love to have these barns in my yard as part of my outdoor studio.  Justin usually hides from the camera and doesn't want to pose at all.  This time he was certainly a poser.  He was listening to me instruct the others and he would follow suit when it was his turn.




At night, we all sat around the campfire getting warm, eating smores and singing songs.  Actually they were making up songs as they went about their experiences of our first day.  Some of these kids were really good.  Quick and witty and never missing a beat to the music...and even rhyming. 

It's open range where we were camping so there was quite a bit of cow poop.  And several of us were so busy looking at the beautiful sites to be paying attention to where we were walking....Yep...ewwww...and that was one subject to their songs. 


Who do you think lives here?


On Saturday morning, Tami and I decided to take the dogs for a little walk.  We took the road less travelled, that led to one of the reservoirs.  I took this picture along our walk.  It looks like some critter's home.

This dirt road is a continuous climb....for a mile and a half we found out later.  Tami is the one who is consistent with her exercising and I didn't want to sound like a wimp, so when I got tired and really wanted to go back, I didn't say a word, so we ended up walking the whole road.  When we got almost to the reservoir, there is an area for people to park their cars because that is the end of the road for them.  If you want to see the reservoir, you have to walk the rest of the way.  I asked Tami if she wanted to continue along to the reservoir, quietly hoping she'd say 'no'.   She laughed and made the comment about me already making her come this far.  You see, she didn't want to sound like a wimp either.  Her hubby said that it was a total lack of communication.  How funny!

At least the mile and a half walk back was down hill.  We can still definitely feel that workout.




The kids had fun with target practice.  This is a picture of Kuria, she looks so intense.




There was even campfire music throughout the day.  These guys love to play.  Starla is actually practicing singing her song while Ron and Dylan accompany her with music.




We prepared chicken fajitas for our Saturday night dinner.  This is my hubby, Tray, doing the cooking with our Pastors Linda and Lonnie watching in anticipation of supper.  Then, when we got to eat, the chicken was rather spicy.  Darn!!  Honestly, the last time I cooked these, they were very flavorful and not hot at all.  I have this recipe program on my computer that computes everything for me and I entered serving for 40 and this was the result.  And I actually cut back on some of the ingredients simply because it sounded like an awful lot.  But we live and learn.




Even though it rained on us a few times, we did not let that damper our spirits.  It gave some of us the opportunity to go 4-wheeling in the mud.  And then, God shared this beauty with us.  I just love rainbows.




And then Sunday was our day of service.  This place that we chose for our camping site this year has a church area, which is why we chose it.  We may just keep this as our annual place for our Church on the Mountain.  It has a pulpit too.



Pastor even came packing.  Have you had a church service like this before?  Please share, if you have, I would love to hear about it.

Hope you enjoyed these.  If you would like to see the full albums, check out my facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/imcorbie


Til next time,
Corbie

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Photography Pricing

Hi Everyone,

Hope this finds you all well.  I've been really busy trying to re-do my web pages.  As some of you know, I was contacted by a guy who said that he owned my business name.  So I did some research.  Now, I did pay for my domain name and I registered my business name in my state.  I'm just starting out so I'm really small time here.

I looked at his site, and I did some research on trademarks ( I think I understood), and neither of us has trademarked our name, but if it came down to a court room, I believe he would win because he has been using his name for longer than I.  I sat on that name for 2 years before I finally registered it and went with it.  I mean, I didn't want my name close to anyone's name, I like being different.  So, I was a bit shocked to be contacted by someone and then to find out that our names were way too similar.

I decided to change my name before I got any deeper and made a name for myself.  So in the process, I have to update my business cards, flyers, ads, websites, and whatever else that I can remember where I put my name.  I just started a Flickr account and cannot find a way to change that one.  I guess I'll have to start another one.

Fortunately, the business cards that I have already passed out will still be fine because when they type in that web address, it will take them to my new one.  God blessed me there.

One thing that this guy commented on was my prices.  So that got me started thinking again about my pricing.  That is where I struggle the most.  I don't want to over price myself out of business or offend someone that thinks I'm too expensive, but at the same time, I want to get paid for my time and talent.

When I set up my prices before, I just took an average of 10 different photographers and adjusted my prices accordingly.  I was actually offering all of my prints a la carte.  I have since changed that because I read a post where another photographer said that with that kind of structure, people may only purchase all the poses in 4 x 6 and that's the end of that because sometimes they go and print what they want from those.

I also spoke with someone about Senior Packages who told me that it was so easy for her parents when she graduated because they could choose a package.

So now I offer package pricing with reprints.  They can only purchase individual prints as a reprint rather than adding onto a package.  In other words, the poses that they pick for reprints must be poses that they chose in their package, and of course I'm offering several packages to choose from.  We'll see how this works.

I've also decided to add a Senior Rep Program to offer discounts to a selected few students who will represent my business and help me get my name out there and add some new clients.

At the moment, I'm offering a CD of images.  Not sure if this is a good idea just yet because in my research, there are mixed views in doing this.  Some photographers offer a digital package where the client gets the CD and orders their prints on their own.  Other photographers offer the CDs at a hefty price because they are selling the copyright to the images.  Still others offer the CDs at a small cost.  I'm still undecided.  And then, how much do I charge!  I mean, if I sell my images on a CD that could potentially be the end of business with that client until they need updated pics.

What do you think?  Right now I'm offering the CDs with display quality watermarked images for use on the internet at $1.00 per image.  Or high res images, no watermark at $25.00 per image, and these images are just the basic images, no specialties like collages or double exposures.

I'm thinking of offering a digital package.  I guess if I do that, then should I still offer the CD of $25.00 per image.  Decisions, decisions.

So that's been my week so far.  I think I'm about done with my website, next it's off to update my flyers and business cards.

On a more personal note, this weekend I'm off for a fabulous camping trip.  We're having Church on the Mountain.  This is our second year to do this and we are so looking forward to it.  I love the outdoors....I could camp every weekend. 

Till next time,
Corbie

Monday, August 23, 2010

Fabulous Giveaway

Enter to win the Easy Accounting Solution for the Photographer with @4theloveoffocus http://www.4theloveoffocus.com/

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share a fabulous giveaway with you.  Check out the website below and enter for your chances to win.

Corbie

Friday, August 20, 2010

Love That Shot Link-Up










I'm in school now, so be easy with me..lol..  This is a my youngest son by our campfire while camping.  This is not a superimposed shot, I just happened to be playing around and shooting the fire.  Later when I looked at the photos, the background was dark but I did notice that something was there, so I lightened it a bit, with fill flash and this is the result. 
Taken with a Canon Rebel XT, shutter speed 1/4, aperture 5.6 and iso 400
I'm still learning but hope to post better images in the future.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My name change

Hi Everyone,

Well I've been looking into Trademarks and wondering if this guy who claims to own my business name has a leg to stand on.  I don't think he does technically...but still not absolutely positive.  Neither of us has a trademark on the name so if he took me to court he would probably win simply because he has had his business name longer than me.  It all depends on who has been advertising the name the longest.  Or I could just register a trademark and be done with him, however, he is more established than I am and people will still get us confused.

Either way, I decided to change my name now, before I go any further. 

I'm not even really sure how all of this happened this way because I did do my research and at the time found nothing.  I did pay to register my name in my state.  This guy is in another state so we don't even have the same customers, but when searching for us on Facebook, we are both right there.

I'm using my given name now so I should have no problems.  I will be changing from Cool Shots Photography to Corbie Lyn Photography.  In a few days my website should be up and running again under http://www.corbielynphotography.com/.

So now I'm off to do the tedious tasks of pulling up all of my sites with the old name and changing them.

Have any of you been through something like this?

Until next time,
Corbie

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Giveaway

Hi Followers,

One of my Facebook friends from Love That Shot is having a birthday this week and is offering a Photo Texture Giveaway.  If you enjoy doing your own editing of you photos and would like a chance to win these textures, head on over to http://www.lovethatshot.com/ and enter to win.

Good Luck,
Corbie

Monday, August 16, 2010

Denver Zoo 2010

I live 4 hours from the nearest zoo, so we had to get up early and hit the road.  I was really excited because it's been awhile since I've been to the zoo and they had several new babies I was anxious to see.  As a photographer, I never tire of shooting animals.  Actually, I never tire of shooting anything, now that I think of it.

The Denver Zoo is an 80 acre facility that houses 3500 different animals.  And they are expanding.  So we look forward to possibly visiting each year.


I don't remember what alot of these animals are but they are still beautiful.







I even found flowers to photo at the zoo.



Gotta love the flamingos.



This is a pair of Rainbow Lories acting like a couple of Lovebirds.



Beautiful colors.



And of course, elegance.

I was fortunate to get many excellent shots that day, but a little unhappy that they all weren't magnificent.  I shot the whole day on manual focus, intentionally, and found many of them to be blurry when I got home.  Sometimes that happens though.

If you'd like to see the entire album, just visit my facebook page.
Thanks, Corbie

What About My Business Name???

I got an email the other day from someone who told me that they own my business name...because it is close to their business name.  They own Cool Shot! Photography and I own Cool Shots Photography.

They have asked me to quit using my name and to remove my domain immediately. 

I did my homework...I searched my state for my name and it was available.  I searched the internet for this name and nothing came up at that time.  I have registered my name with my state and I have purchased a domain for my site for the next year.  Now what do I do?

In no way do I want to infringe on anyone else's name or copyright, that is why I searched.  I don't even like the idea of my name being close to another.

This person is a bit insulted with my pricing too.  Apparently because I don't charge as much as they do.  I'm beginning the photography business and don't feel comfortable just yet to charge $400 per session.  My prices are based on an average of 10 different photographers that I researched.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Blogging Research

I am so new to this.  At the moment I am a little overwhelmed because I feel like I can't learn and get the hang of it fast enough.  I want to be interesting enough for people to follow but at the same time, I want to get started right away.

One of my goals right now is to get my business names out there with little to no cost.  Advertising is expensive and that'll have to come later. 

In searching for free advertising, blogging, is one of the many ways to achieve this.  Blogging helps you get your brand noticed plus it builds friendships along the way.  How cool is that??  We can never have too many friends!

I'm still trying to work all of this out, of course, with facebook, twitter, myspace, blogspot, linkedin, merchantcircle.....there are many sites to put your business on.  Now that I've done that....I need to keep up with them.  Fortunately, I have found that these sites, some of them so far, offer you to link them together, so you can post on one site and it updates on the others.  I really like that.

I know I'm probably behind most of you reading this so if anyone can offer suggestions and help in that area, I would very much appreciate it.

So, for now, this photographer is still researching blogging and advertising and off to more photo shoots.  I'll blog to you soon,
Corbie

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Western Wilderness

We had a great time exploring parts of the Uintah Trail along the old Uintah Railway..that no longer exist.  We did come across one of the Ghost Towns of that area.


This is the Machine Shop which was in the town that used to be called Atchee.


And this I thought looked like a rock man.  The man in the mountain.



It's absolutely beautiful here.  It started raining while we were up in the mountains and OMG, the smell of the Juniper Trees in the rain.  I love it.  I guess that is what was meant by 'Fresh Mountain Air'. 
To see more pics from this adventure, check out my facebook page facebook.com/imcorbie

This week we are heading to the Denver Zoo so look forward to those pics next week.

Friday, August 6, 2010

8.7.2010 Adventure

Tomorrow I am off for another adventure through the wilderness of Western Colorado.  This time it will be only my hubby, myself and our gorgeous little Boston Terrier, Jazzy.

There are so many things to photograph, that sometimes I don't know where to start.  So I now schedule time each week to get out and get lost in the country.  Last week we went to the Botanical Gardens here in Grand Junction.  Even  though alot of their flowers had already bloomed and gone, I did find numerous beautiful flowers and butterflies to shoot.  A week or so before that, we traveled to Crystal Mill.  That was an experience in itself, coming from a girl who originally comes from flat land, but I'll tell ya'll more about that later.  I'll be working to get some photos posted over the next couple of days to share those experiences with you.

Blogging Start

Ok, so this is my blog of my journey through the ups and downs of becoming a professional photographer.  As I go through my journey, my goal is to offer tips and tricks as I document what it takes to get there, where ever 'there' is.

I'm a mother of 6, most of them are now teenagers, OMG, so I stay busy.  I have 2 home based businesses.  Hand Makn it....is my unique boutique where I specialize in unique handmade gifts for all occasions.  The other is my photography business..Cool Shots Photography.  With 6 kids, I'm never at a loss for models.

I have photographed 2 weddings, had several sessions for senior photos, many personal portraits, and I'm constantly on the go, exploring the world around me so that I can add to my collection of artistic photography.

I also have 4 dogs and a bird....so I even specialize in pet portraits.

Even though I have photographed 2 weddings, I don't think I'm quite ready to promote that for myself at this time, however that is a goal of mine.

I am currently a student of New York Institute of Photography and working towards graduating early next year.

I have been doing alot of research on marketing and the many free ways to do it.  Social networking through Facebook and now blogging are the first on my list to get the hang of. 

I'm working on a 31DBBB  challenge and this is the first stop.  To create an interesting title and content that means something.  I really had to think about this.  My blogging is not just about announcing my specials and showing my pictures to the world.  I want to give something back.  So, as I learn, you will learn.

Thanks,
Corbie

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Brand New to Blogging

Welcome to my blogging site.  I'm brand new to blogging but thought I would jump on the band wagon.  It seems that everyone is blogging now.

I'm a photographer on the Western Slope of Colorado who specializes in portrait, executive, real estate and scenic photography, working towards expanding into wedding photography. 

School is about to start and it's that time of year when Seniors are looking to get their Senior Portraits Taken.  Are you ready to set up your appointment?

http://www.coolshotsphotgraphy.net/