Found this great graphic put together by a series of interviews from Smartpress (http://blog.smartpress.com/) about advice and info about professional photography, trends, equipment and advice. Check it out at their website in full size here.

I will definitely update this if my poor service is remedied, but here is my experience which would cause me to give all my blog readers and everyone else the advice to AVOID UNITED CAMERA & BINOCULAR REPAIR AT ALL COSTS!!!
As all of my readers know, I’m a professional photographer, so getting my camera fixed quickly and correctly is important to me, and also important to the bottom line of my business. So, when my main camera had a problem with the card reader in late June (one of the pins came out with the CF card, got the dreaded CHA error) I did some research and found that Nikon repairs were taking 2-5 weeks. I searched for a company that looked reputable, called United Camera Repair (their website is here) and the woman on the phone said that most DSLR cameras are fixed within 24 hours of receiving them. Their website, as you can see in the screen shot above, even touts “Speed: Most repairs completed in 48 hours”

Sounds great, right?

So, I paid the extra $50 bucks to have my baby overnighted to them and for over night shipping back too. I sent it to United Camera on 6/30/11, they received it the morning of Friday July 1st. (signed delivery by Kelly) So, it is now the morning of Friday July 8th, one whole week later, and they still (STILL!!!) have not touched my camera. It still says “Status:  In line to be assigned to a technician” despite my calling multiple times and promises that it would be looked at that day.

When I call, there is one very crabby customer service person, who, now that I’ve prepaid for my “service” says that it takes 10-14 business days to have a repair even started. Entirely different thing than what they tell you before they have your camera and your money. I’m still waiting to hear back from Don at United Camera Repair  this morning to let me know why they still haven’t worked on my camera after he promised me multiple times it would be worked on both Wednesday and Thursday (yesterday).
Ironically, their tagline is “A better repair experience” What a joke, I have never had such a bad experience with a company; from the customer service people who tell outright lies, their bait & switch tactics, etc. – it is just ridiculous. I would AVOID UNITED CAMERA REPAIR for certain.

Wedding Photography Spoof Video from Matt E on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

best,
Mary

Mary

Anyway- Ten18′s senior work (gallery here) has a very fashion forward feel to it, highly polished and edgy with great styling and posing. There is a ton of information for prospective clients on their blog and site, so much so that I even got a little lost reading it all! Great information for photographers to read and reconsider what info you ought to be offering your clients. Check it out, be inspired and enjoy!

~Mary

Jenny Schartner, of Captured Photography, is based in West Palm Beach, FL, and specializes in both wedding and portrait photography with a beautiful, crisp, sunny style that makes me feel like I’m right back on my trip to Florida. She has a great blog, (here) that features extensive posts showcasing both sessions and sneak peeks, great engagement photos that really capture the relationship between couples, and to top it off- she also does videography of weddings! Jenny also has a great FAQ for photographers to cover the myriad requests for info that she gets (as do I, and many others, which reminds me I have to put my Photog-wanna-be FAQ back up on my site! LOL) Take a look around and enjoy the blog- stellar work!
best,
Mary

Mary

published!

Ps, In case you are not a subscriber to Professional Photographer magazine, you may have missed my first nationally published article! I was asked to write for them about Blogs of Photogs, and creating a better photography blog. You can download the pdf here. If you are a subscriber, either online or in print, you can also see my second nationally published article (lol) in the same magazine, on p. 20, about getting Dads “in the picture.” It was fun to see my name and work in print! ~M

Our first feature is Pro Photo Blogs. Pro Photo Blogs was started to give photographers a great looking choice for creating their blog (or blog-site) instead of having to use a free site with tiny images or paying upwards of $3000 to have a custom blog created by a designer. Pro photo blogs gives you a high end blog, using the power of WordPress, with nearly limitless customization choices, all at a very affordable price, great support, and a money back guarantee. You don’t have to know how to write any code, and the large image features show off your photography in amazing ways. I really love the newest version with the ability to have slideshows and galleries.  I’ve been a customer of theirs for years and have created both my regular portrait website (www.maryhphoto.com) and Blogs of Photogs with their awesome template. If you’d like to get a special $10 discount off your purchase of the Pro Photo Blog theme, use discount code MARHAN882 on the order page.  To check out the overview, go here.

best,

Mary

Seshu Photography (blog here ) is based in Connecticut, New England, but Seshu travels extensively to capture lushly gorgeous wedding, engagement and portrait images that are a flawless mix of candid in-the-moment captures fused with beautifully posed images. Seshu was born in NY, but lived in India for 12 years before returning to the US. As he mentions in his bio, he straddles multiple cultures and comfortably immerses himself into their prized traditions. I know you will enjoy his work if you haven’t yet heard of Seshu. Make sure you follow him on twitter too, as he has lots to say and lots of great advice.

Enjoy!

Mary

Audrey Woulard, has been working out of Chicago as a portrait photographer for about 7 years, near as I can remember. Audrey and I were friends online on a parenting board for many years before either of us ever pursued photography as a career, so I got to see her go from starting out to skyrocketing to fame in a fairly short period. Audrey’s work has a very distinctive style, a commercial feel that caught the eye of national campaigns such as Pottery Barn Kids a few years back. Audrey is an extremely successful business woman as well, offering many variations of workshops over the years that have brought her as many aspiring photographer fans as she has photography clients. I’m convinced that if Audrey writes about a product on her blog, or uses a hat, blanket (remember that?) etc in her work, then you ought to buy some stock in it~ her cult following is that strong. Her work has been featured in many places, including the cover of Professional Photography magazine and is the inspiration for many photographers who are just starting out. If you haven’t checked out her blog before, I know you’ll enjoy it.

On a personal note, please forgive my neglecting Blogs of Photogs. Its crunch time for finishing up all my client work. I hope to share a freebie card I designed within the next day or so, hopefully you can use it for last minute orders, or maybe even for your own neglected card! Happy Holidays to all!

~Mary