Migrating

I've spread myself too thin, between my website, the Chesler Seniors website, the Chesler Photography blog, this blog, Facebook Chesler Photography page and the Facebook Seniors page, I just don't have time to keep all of them updated. It's time to consolidate. From here on out, I'll be posting the majority of my senior related stuff on the Chesler Seniors Facebook page which you an access by clicking here.

Slacker!

I don't think I've gone over a month without blogging since I started this in 2007. One would think I was slacking off, but it was more like robbing Peter to pay Paul. It's been so busy at the studio that I've been sacrificing my blogging time to edit photos. 

When I began as a photographer, so much of the process was handled by outsourced companies, both in the developing and printing process. My job was to get business in the door and photograph it. So much has changed. I am now a computer technician, graphic designer, social media guru, marketing manager, editor and oh yeah, sometimes a photographer. 

Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but with the digital age I have become a control freak. The way I light, photograph and edit a photo is as much my signature as my John Hancock. The past few months I have been posting the new "Extreme Collages" that we have been doing on the blog and Facebook. To say they have been well received is an understatement. Because of them we have been able to book three sports tournaments, three sports leagues, two seniors from Lafayette, NY, and more. 

We have since expanded doing them for equestrian photos, dance photos and I'm working on a Car Extreme. There really is no limit to what we can do with them. The only limit appears to be how many hours a day can I sit at a computer before I start twitching. I guess we'll find out.

The Stars Align

I love when things fall in to place, as if the stars aligned and handed me the answers. We are in the process of creating a separate division of Chesler Photography for sports photography. In addition to photographing sports leagues and action photos at tournaments, we are developing an area of sports portraiture that will be over the top cool. I wanted to do something different with my sports photos that would set them apart, when out of left field (pun intended), a super cool set of Photoshop brushes, textures and masks found me, like it fell out of the sky on to my head, only a less offensive than bird poop. 

 It's a given that we will be doing these for our senior portrait clients, but we will also be offering these one of a kind sports images for individuals of any age. It's my goal to display huge versions of these images not only at the studio and in people's homes, but at businesses and locations all around the area. I won't sleep until there is one of these in every athletes home. Alright, I lied...I'm going to bed. I need to get my rest, there's much work to be done.

Second Chances

There are a few companies out there, and one in particular, that run so many sales that it's a no brainer to wait a day or two and not pay full price, ever. It gives me the feeling that their sale prices are their regular prices and their non-sale prices are so over inflated just so they can have a sale. When someone does pay full price, the company probably snickers and says "Sucker!"

Our prices at the studio were designed and calculated to stay in business. The amount of overhead it takes to run a photography studio is astronomical, so I'm not a big fan of running too many sales. That being said however, I do feel it's necessary to create a spark sometimes when things are going along at the status quo or during the slower time of year when we need to generate some cash flow.

A few weeks ago we ran a One Day Sale for senior portraits which dramatically reduced our session fees for one day. The objective was to get people to book their sessions for any time throughout the summer, but by booking on that day they saved a lot. It may have been poor timing on my part since it was still earlier in the school quarter but the results were less than spectacular. I'm going to give it another shot now that the school year is winding down and the Class of 2013 is starting to get excited about their senior year. This time however, the sale will be for three days to let it soak in. The discounts are not as drastic as the last sale, but they're still pretty darn good. If you didn't take advantage the first time around, here's your second chance.

The sale begins tomorrow and runs through Thursday. If you book your session for June, you get 60% off the session fee. If you book in July it's 50%, August is 40% and September is 30%. The session must be paid for when you book it to be eligible for these prices.

As a bonus to our friends and fans on Facebook, if you repost our sale on your page and tag us in it during the sale, you'll get a free set of 8 wallets when you place your senior portrait order. Word of mouth is our best form of advertising and we like to reward those who help us with it. You can find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chesler-Photography-Seniors/82775183328.

If you have any questions about our session options or to book your appointment, call the studio at 585-393-9242 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 5.

One Day Senior Sale

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 2 for our One Day Senior Sale from 10:00-5:00. This is our biggest sale of the year to kick off our Class of 2013 senior season. Sessions must be booked and paid for during the sale so have your credit card ready to reserve your spot. Book early in the season for huge savings on senior sessions. Here are the session discounts based on the month your schedule your session for: May 80% Off, June 70% Off, July 60% Off, August 50% Off and September 40% Off. This discount is for the session only. Orders will have separate discounts based on package purchased and ordering early. Call the studio at 585-393-9242 with questions or to book your session May 2.

Vogue

Over the winter I did a photo shoot of two little girls in the studio. One of their mom's was a fashion stylist from North Carolina. As luck would have it, she moved back to the area this Spring. We sat down and discussed ideas of how we can incorporate her services in to some of our shoots for those clients who want that extra pizazz to their photos. The best way to introduce Courtnei and her sense of fashion was to do a photo shoot of her. More used to being behind the scenes than in front of the camera, Courtnei warmed up to opportunity very quickly. Here are some of the images from our shoot in Canandaigua.

To inquire more about hiring Courtnei for your photo shoot, call the studio at 585-393-9242.

App Update

After weeks of waiting for App Store approval, version 3.0 of the Chesler Photo app is live and ready to be downloaded. The new app is much more extensive and user friendly, with all new galleries, photo tips, news, and more. You can even request an appointment right from the app. The app will also link you directly to our website, blog, Facebook page, map to the studio and it will even text, e-mail or call the studio directly from the app.

I'm sure not many of you need such direct and intimate access to the studio, so to make the app more enticing, we will be offering app only specials that will be presented as news events in the app, such as senior session specials and referral bonuses. As always, the app if free and now that is updated in the App Store, we will be releasing more galleries and news events in the coming days.

It's Senior Time!

Hey Class of 2012, it's time to start thinking of your senior photos. The end of school is just around the corner and we want to get some of you in here before school lets out to help us spread the word. Are you interested in not only getting some of the coolest senior photos around, but getting a lot of cool stuff for free and even earning some cold hard cash? I thought so. All you have to do is call the studio at 585-393-9242 and book your session by May 15. It's that simple. The early bird gets the worm and some cash to boot.

There's an App for That!

Just a few short years ago, if you mentioned the words Tweet or App, people would think you were making bird noises. Now they are common household terms. I haven't yet jumped on the Twitter band wagon, simply because I don't think anyone would give a rats patooty if I were drinking a double mocha frappalatte chino at that given moment. If I do anything worthy of shoutinig about, I'll put it on my blog. Apps on the other hand, I have found to be quite useful and entertaining. So much so that I now have my very own Chesler Photography App in the iTunes store.

The App has some cool features, such as:

* DailyPic – You will automatically be presented with unique, one of a kind images directly from Chesler Photography. Each day an exclusive, new image is presented to you for your inspiration and enjoyment that showcases our style of portraiture. The DailyPic image can even be saved as your wallpaper on your iPhone/iPod Touch. View our DailyPic feature every day! Your image may even be featured.

* News – Keep up with the latest news & events just for app users.

* Keep In Touch – A great feature for app users, see what's happening with us with a live feed on Facebook, and our Blog – all right in the palm of your hands.

* Request a Booking – We make it simple & convenient to request an appointment with this exclusive app feature for our studio.

* 'For You' – This one of a kind feature for our app users allows you to see personalized images, galleries, and information that’s meant just ‘For You’. You can easily register with us so we know you have our app and we can make selected images, galleries, and information available for you specifically. This one of a kind feature is a great way to take images with you on the go and share with family, friends, and co-workers.

It has a map to the studio, direct links to our website, blog and Facebook pages. It will even automatically call the studio or direct link you to our e-mail. We will be placing App only specials that will automatically show up on your app without having to download updates. The best part is that it's all free.

You can view the up by clicking here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chesler-photo/id385311153?mt=8

Referral Program

Word of Mouth is our best form of advertising. It's something we strive hard to earn. Your satisfaction and trust is the back bone of our business. We know we can't buy your trust, it must be nurtured through creativity and integrity. That being said, we also feel strongly that when our clients send us their family and friends to be photographed, they deserve to be rewarded for the referral. We have a new referral program in place that whenever a client refers a new portrait client to us, they'll receive $20 to use as they please. It's a small gesture we can do to show our clients how much we appreciate their business and the nice things they say about us.

July Special

Here is the ad that is currently running in the Daily Messenger on Sunday's, along with some other photos of Allison, one of our seniors from CA.

Sam's World

We did a great session last week with Sam, a very talented CA senior. Not only is she an accomplished writer, she's an amazing artist. She brought some of her drawings along with her and we were able to incorporate them into her photos, or should I say we were able to incorporate Sam into some of her drawings. Either way, the two worlds collide with amazing results.

Sunday's Ad

Here is the ad that ran in last Sunday's Daily Messenger. Unfortunately it printed a bit dark. You can print the ad from here and use it for your 50% off session.

Choose Your Ride

We have teamed up with some of the local car dealerships to allow our high school seniors to be photographed with their favorite car. Can't afford a Mustang or Challenger? No problem, we'll photograph you with one to keep your dream alive. Sorry, you can't drive them.

There is no extra fee for your car session, however we do recommend choosing a session which will allow enough time to get your studio shots done before going to the dealership, such as our Freedom Session or Model for a Day Session.

We did yesterday's shoot over at Canandaigua Chrysler Dodge Jeep with a few of their Dodge Challengers. Thanks Scott for letting us use sucha sweet ride as our backdrop.