Custom Photography: I couldn’t have said it better myself

A new client said to me recently that once she saw the photos I shot of her friend’s baby she would never again be satisfied bringing her daughter to a department store portrait studio. Then she called me to set up her own shoot, ready to make the investment in custom photography. 

If you are reading this blog, chances are you already appreciate the difference between my photography and Sears portraits. If you’re still wondering “how in the world can you charge $40 for an 8×10 if it costs me less than $2 to print at the local drug store?”,  read on.

The answer also applies to the question of why many custom photographers do not provide digital files to their clients, which I address on my own website .  I encourage anyone with these questions to read the full Consumer Guide for Custom Photography, written by Chicago photographer Marianne Drenthe. Here is an  excerpt from the article that gives a great explanation of the custom photography experience:

The customized service level you are sure to experience will be amazing.  The knowledge that your final images are the result of someone caring about those moments so much that they take extra time ensuring that the artwork you receive is good enough to stand by with their name on it.  That level of quality and commitment  is all but lost in the age of “mass produced,” “mass marketed,” corporate “everyone is a number”.  Custom photography is based on being unique to you.  How great an experience would be,  to be able to sit back and allow a photographer to do this highly custom work for images that you will most likely cherish for a lifetime?