I have always had a calling for humanitarianism, I feel like it’s a universal similarity that we share. (Or should, anyways...) Throughout my career, I have noticed that money is the largest barrier between myself and the people who support my business but never actually worked with me. The people who value a beautifully captured moment the most, are often the dreamers who feel that moment unobtainable due to finances.
A few weeks ago, I approached a faithful supporter of mine (I am always watching) who shares, likes, comments, etc; on one of my fan pages. I told her that I wanted to photograph her and children because A.) she was expecting B.) because she’s earned it from all her support. She expressed how excited she was and how much this would mean to her family and I was grateful for all those kind words, but what I didn't know was there was a much deeper meaning to what she was saying. I told her that she could pay me what she could afford and that the money didn’t really matter. She brought me a gift (from her small business Jamberry) and a card with 50$. That was more than enough to fill my cup for the day and I did a good deed. Before she left, I made the comment about photographing her at the hospital after her son was born and she told me that her child was only expected to live for about 7 days, as he will be born with a fatal heart condition. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach...
I don’t know why I was so compelled to shoot her. I didn’t know she was going through such a difficult time and I went home and meditated upon her life through the late hours of the night.
Since then, she has inspired me to reinvent the ways I do business. I want everyone to get the opportunity to cherish moments at a price that works for them. If money is completely out of the question, perhaps a service or an item of equal value to trade? I feel like this is a positive risk that will open new doors for meeting people and looking at business in a new way. Of course, I know there are people out there who will take advantage of this in a negative way, but my hopes are that all people will respect my services and be honest in their trades and donations.
I have designed a criteria to go by for this little endeavor:
My flat rate of service is $250.00 and will include all your images beautifully cleaned and ready to print at the client’s discretion. To qualify for this bartered/discounted service you must:
- Be a family (max of 4 people) some exceptions (just ask)
- Must be immediate family (one family per session)
- Must be a new client
- Must be able to come on a weekday, during the day
- Sessions scheduled will be 30 mins (max) ((COME READY)) if it takes you 25 mins to dress your child and touch up your makeup, you will get 5 mins behind the camera. Please be respectful of my time as well as the people who came prepared and are ready to shoot.
- Must travel to me (I will choose my locations for the day and notify you prior to the session) Session locations range between Spring, Tomball, Conroe, and Willis areas.
Getting your images
- You will average between 15 and 30 images depending on the family
- Your images will be uploaded to an online sharing interface so you may download to your own device.
- Depending on the season, turnaround time is between 3-5 business days.
- All images will be free of watermarks so you may print anywhere.
- There are no special requests for the enhancements of the images. The images will be provided in full color, anything altered thereafter will have to be done privately or with an online printing software.
- Due to the high volume scheduling, I will only allow one reschedule. I understand things happen, but please be mindful of others.
- Your images will stay up for 14 days. After that, they will no longer be available, so download as soon as possible.
- I do backup images for up to 24 months, so if you do request me to reupload, there will be a 20$ fee.
Barter/Trade/Tip Etiquette ------> http://www.u-exchange.com/barter101
- Offering Personal Services- Haircuts, massages, tattoos, and a variety of personal care services, home organization, cleaning services, baked goods, etc.
- Goods- arts, crafts, anything hand made, tools, equipment, auto, recreational, carpentry, apple or android anything, etc. If you aren’t sure, shoot me an email, I will gladly answer your questions.
- Tips & Money Exchange - I will not put a minimum on what people can and can not afford. I believe that would take away from the “good” that inspired me to offer this. When you “tip” anywhere, you should always tip 20%. I will say, the more you “appreciate me” the more I will “appreciate” you. That’s how this works and if your gut instinct is telling you, “That isn't enough of a contribution” then it probably isn’t. I will NEVER make you feel bad about what you can afford, so please have your contributions in an envelope, ready for the trade before the end of your session. If there is no exchange, there will be no exchange of your images.
- All barters/trades have to be approved before your session and must be present to exchange (no later than) the end of your session.
- There are no refunds, take backs, relinquishing of services. Everything will be logged for tax and civil purposes.
- What I do with my traded items will be up to me, freely. I may donate, sell, use or recycle any items or services in the trade.
Please keep in mind that this was designed to help the less fortunate obtain something otherwise unobtainable. If you desire a full shoot with tons of options and poses, then schedule a full session. If money is an issue, we can discuss payment options. I plan to extend this offer into my other fields of service such as:
Makeup Classes
Business Marketing
Sales Training
Business Branding and start up
Life coaching and planning
Wedding Photography and other wedding services
To book your session - Southernenvystudios@gmail.com
Text “Book Me” ---------- 75638-SoFly
Facebook -------------------- https://www.facebook.com/kacit4lks
Instagram ----------------------k4ci_nicole
