The Meaning of Family Photographs

 I found an interesting website article this morning and thought I'd share it with you.  It reads like a research paper, but it had some cool tidbits about family photographs and what they mean to us as a society.  There is a part where it talks about how there are more pics with the first kid than with subsequent kids.  That was true at our house, until we went digital...now there are TONS of pics of all three of my kids.  I did really well at getting my first child's portraits taken at regular intervals, but the other two have less professional ones done.  Did you do that too?

Another part that I found interesting was that photographs can be therapeutic.  They can help with memory loss.  I have a friend who fell and hit her head recently and she's really struggling to remember things.  I hope she has lots of pictures to help her along her journey of recovery.

Anyway, it was kinda fun to read about photos and how they impact our lives.  If you get a minute, take a look.  I've attached a link to the article.

Meaning of Family Photographs

Christmas Shopping

When do you start Christmas shopping?  When do you finish?  In a perfect world, I start my Christmas shopping the week between Christmas and New Year's.  But really I try to start about July.  I'm almost done...but I've got one person on my list that is so HARD to shop for.  Do you have one of those?  I've got a great idea for you...Gift Certificate for Custom Portrait Photography.  Contact me and I'll hook you up!

Camo Nintendo DS Lite

I have a son, he's 7.  His favorite thing in the world is Camouflage.  He's getting a Nintendo DS Lite for Christmas.  I couldn't find one in Camo, so I bought him a black one.  I went to this great sign store in Salt Lake City and bought a sheet of Camo vinyl.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the vinyl to fit his DS!  He's getting a Camo DS!

Smith Family Portraits | Murray Utah | Jessica Lloyd Photography

Huge increase in hits!

I've had a huge increase in hits on my blog.  Kinda surprised me, so I looked into what had happened to create this...It's so sad!  A Jessica Lloyd in Canada was lost and it looks she was murdered and the guy has been caught.  There's a short article here about her.  So if you've accidentally made it to my page looking for information about her, I just want to say how sorry I am about your loss.

My latest project

Last summer we bought a used camper trailer.  We loved it.  The family that owned it before us were so careful and took such good care of it.  This summer we had an accident with it.  We had a problem with the brakes, wind, and being on a hill, which lead to us being off the road and backwards with the trailer on its side.  The insurance company was great and got us a check so quickly, but it was for much less than what we had paid for the trailer and we weren't able to replace it with one as nice.  But, we found one that we love.  The cushions were pretty squashed in it.  It was rather uncomfortable to sleep on the queen bed.  So, I bought some new foam for it.  Since I was going to have to basically rip apart the old cushions to put in the new foam, I thought I'd just make new ones in colors I like...red and blue!  So, I spent about two weeks sewing (something I learned from my mom when I was REALLY little and have done for many years, but not much recently).  I finally got all the cushions and curtains finished last night.  Thanks to my DH's help, I was also able to replace the trim pieces on the benches.  Can't wait to take it out camping again!

Wonderful Blog post by Zack Arias and Pizza | Jessica Lloyd Photography | Utah photographer

I just stumbled upon this post by Zack Arias. You can read his post here. It is a wonderful post about why and when cheap photography is good for the market.  As I was reading it I was thinking about where I want to be in the photography market.  He makes some comparisions to cars.  I was thinking food.

So here's my thoughts....
Pizza.
So you can get a pizza for as little as a buck, with a coupon, on sale at the grocery store frozen food section. In photography, that would be like getting your portraits done at Walmart, with a coupon.
But that's not where I want to be.
Then there are the cheap fast food guys...Dominos, Five Buck, etc, all taste about the same, not super yummy, but will do when you need food fast and cheap.  That's like going to Sears, JCPenny, Target...they all look the same.  Very sterile, posed pictures and won't break the budget. 
Again, not where I want to be.
You can get a pizza at Pappa Murphey's under $10.  Some are more, gourmet, even specialty.  But, you have to take it home and finish cooking it.  This is like the photographer who does the session and gives you a CD of all the images.  Could be as cheap as $50.  The photographs may be edited, maybe not.  But you have to finish them.  Likely, they will just sit on the disk or your computer forever and never make it to your walls.
Not where I want to be.  I did do this for a while, but it wasn't satisfying.  I do still offer all the images on a CD, if that's what you want, but it's not my bread and butter.
Then there are the nicer Pizza places, where you go in, a waiter brings you a menu.  You get to choose from all kinds of pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, etc.  You get some garlic bread to munch on while you wait.  The pizza is made especially for you, fresh.  The waiter brings it to you, refills your drink, asks if you need anything else, comes back in a few minutes to check to see if you are happy with it.  This pizza costs more, but it's still reasonably priced.  It's super yummy.  When you are done the waiter brings you a box to put the leftovers in and asks if you'd like anything else, dessert maybe. The waiter's service is awesome and you leave a nice tip.
That's where I want to be.  I want to give you awesome customer service.  I want to give you custom pictures that don't look like everyone elses.  I want you to LOVE your pictures.  I want you to tell all your friends and family how awesome your pictures are.  I want you to display them in your home.  I'll even come over and help you pick out where they should go, if you want me to.  So, to be able to do that I have to charge more than that other photographer that charges $50 for the CD and the session.
There are other places you can get pizza that cost much more.  There is a pizza place in London that costs over a hundred for one pie.  It has truffles on it.
I don't want to be that place either.  I don't want to be so extravagant that only the rich can afford me.  I want to be accessable to all who value photography as art.

Diesel and His Mommy | Salt Lake City Photographer | Animal | Dog | Jessica Lloyd Photography

This was my first Doggie session!  This is Diesel and his mommy (see any family resemblance? This is my baby sister).  Gotta say Diesel was a pure gentleman during the whole session...well, expect for the time he wanted to eat the rooster.  I was a bit hesitant to do a dog session, but it went really well.

Halloween and Herriman Fire | Salt Lake City Portrait Photographer

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to send in you Halloween Pictures for the Halloween Contest.  I know it feels super early to be thinking about Halloween, but by the time the contest is over it'll be just enough time left to get your Halloween portraits done and back from the print lab before Halloween.  Here's a link fort hose of your who haven't yet seen the Halloween Contest.

There is a HUGE fire burning about 20 miles from my house.  It has displaced between 1500 and 2000 families and closed down many schools.  Many firefighters are on the sceen working on it, but it is still not contained. Please keep them in your prayers. Click here for more info.

Hot Momma Contest Winner Portraits | Salt Air | Salt Lake City Utah

We had so much fun doing this session!  It was such a beautiful sunny morning!  Thank you Sandra!