Check out our new website, (still in process), http://www.churches.photoexpressionsplace.com

You also can reach our websites by mobile devices.

Photo Expressions Place: Capturing Your Special Moments!

You also have the phenomena of senior grads getting their friends to take their senior photography.  Now this IS NOT  a negative put down on the happenings of the above scenarios.  When I first came into professional photography, that is the direction that most of us took: weddings, babies, grads, etc.

You also see where the average professional photographer today is in business only 2 1/2 years and I think that is mostly due to lack of business knowledge AND the above scenarios.

Yet, some of us have broadened out and began to do other photography not as easily done by the craigs list people, the newbie “professional” and the weekend warrior.  And that is a lot of what Photo Expressions Place LLC is doing these days.  You will see less and less emphasis on weddings, babies, and grads on our site, (we still do them and do them well,) but we are branching out to do corporate photography, product photography, sports/event, school/event and church directories.  We love doing family portraits (a lot of on location work) and really enjoy these other areas of professional photography.

As we move into our new studio in a few months and continue to book other forms of professional photography, you will see Photo Expressions Place continue to grow and become a great option for schools, athletic groups, churches (wait til you hear of some new and exciting things in church directories to be offered very soon by us), corporate and product photography.

Is there a place still for the more traditional forms of photography? Sure, but it is becoming less and less an option when you have to spend thousands on starting and maintaining a business.  I recently taught an online basics business course for emerging photographers or wannabe’s.  They could not believe all that was entailed in running a successful photography business.

And by the way, if you are booking a grad session or a wedding or whatever with a friend or someone new, ask them to see their state tax vendors license and ask them about their liability insurance and ask them what professional lab they use. 

Seriously, I wish them well.  The odds are against them staying in that form of professional photography unless they want to do a $500 wedding for 8 hours of on location work and hours of post processing.  Well, you say, that they just give you a dvd of the images.  Statistics show that over 90% of brides today never print out the images.  Just something to think about.

Photo Expressions Place is alive, well and you will continue to hear more and more about us.

Beyond all of that, we have come to terms with our new frame manufacturer and will be offering our own “Signature Frame,” a gorgeous wood frame, as well as several other new frame sets.  We are able to receive our hand made frames in an incredibly timely manner.  We have also began heavily to offer gorgeous Composite photographs, consisting of multiple images,  with our new Signature frame.

We are taking on and partnering with much of our professional work with a new color lab.  It looks as if it can be a great partnership.  We have expanded our ancillary products. Photo Expressions Place now has more than 60 Christmas and Holiday cards that can be designed just for you and your family. 

It also looks as if we are very close to securing a location which will become a gorgeous studio.  More on that later. (Please pray for us to have great wisdom on the location of our new studio.)

Don’t forget to call and ask about our new VIP MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM.  Have your very own paparazzi!

Well, you can see that the beat just keeps getting louder!  We’re having fun and hope to see many of you very soon.

We have already booked  several large events.  If your group is interested in a fund raising event, please contact me. We have some exciting possibilities.

If you live in the Wayne County, Oh area, we are looking for an intern for the summer and fall.  If you are interested in photography and are considering photography as a career, contact us about an internship.

I am getting several calls about Canadian passports.  The requirements are much different than the American passport. If you need a Canadian passport, please call us.

We have a new VIP membership club that puts your very own paparazzi in your life.  You will save a lot of money joining our VIP Club, and get some benefits others are not entitled to.

You see, it seems as if even though the bride and groom get a disc, often times, even with hundreds of images, they do not print them out and in many cases do not see the importance of it. What a shame that will be because discs may get lost or destroyed or computers may crash with images on it and there will be no tangible photographs of that incredible day.

My fear is that many couples will regret that decision not to have prints and not to have albums that people can share and occasionally pick up and look through and remember with love those wonderful times. And worse yet, with the average professional photographer being in business for only 2 and 1/2 years, those images will not be available to recover.

Maybe it is time that those people of influence that have the ear of the bride-to-be remind her and her intended mate that they should order beautiful photographs and have a gorgeous album of those incredible images. Otherwise there may be a time years from now when their present decisions are filled with regret.

Possibly, it is time to rethink what we spend our money on when there is a wedding.  Bridal parties spend thousands on cakes, meals, dj’s and alcohol and on specific venues.  Unfortunately, they go “cheap” or “cheaper” on photography because they do not see the real importance of the wedding photography.

That could be the fault of some professional photographers and probably is because so many “amateurs” think they are pro and shoot a wedding for a few bucks and a dvd.  What a disservice we are doing for our brides-to-be and their intended spouses. Some way, we need to encourage people to break the trend and go back to purchasing images and albums.

Can’t use your sessions for a while? Not a problem.  Roll them over for as many months as you need to or give them to a friend or family member as a gift.  Use them for anything (except towards wedding hours.)  You can get a 10% discount on the final wedding package fee with your membership.

Use up all of your session time. That’s not a problem either.  You’ll receive the member rate for any add on’s you purchase.

YOU CAN’T GO WRONG WITH OUR NEW MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM.  See the following page for details.  http://www.photoexpressionsplace.com/#/memberships/

It’s true in all of business and it surely is true in the arena of professional photography.  Professional photography has taken huge hits in the last few years.  From the economic issues to technological advances to emerging amateurs who think that they are professionals because they have a great dslr, professional photography has taken its many hits, AND lots of pros have winced, and whined, and gotten out of the business or become extremely negative to just about everybody they see.

I see good things ahead, because I want to see good things ahead.  My head is not in the sand.  I don’t have my eyes closed and blinders on.  I truly believe that there are some super great things that can happen to the professional who stays directionally on course and does not get sidetracked by that which thousands of photographers seem to succumb to.  

No question, there are problems today.  But in the problems are opportunities.  In the mountains of issues there are tunnels through or roads around.

There, more than likely will continue to be a “dumbing down of photography,” however,  there will always be some who see the tremendous value in finding and hiring a professional who knows what they are doing and can produce incredible results.

I’m not sure about you, but I choose to move towards growth, not only personally but with Photo Expressions Place.  Our business model is changing.  Our direction is very clear.  Our future is bright.  Our customers will see a huge difference in us rather than in those other photographers that have not changed.

We are privileged to be a professional photographer in this time of life.  I don’t take it for granted.  I do choose to move upward and outward.  I challenge you, in whatever you do, to choose to move toward the top, as well.

So, do you try to “connect” everywhere you go.  I come from a sales background, and I truly believe that you can grow your business through networking.  I don’t necessarily mean just attending a Chamber meeting.  I mean talking to people you meet, asking them what they do, sharing about your photography business and giving them a card. You just never know when that next call will come from them.

One of my clients is a chief chef in a major restaurant in the Cleveland area.  While picking up a portrait of he and his wife today, I shared about our new membership program (to which he got excited) and then just asked him if his restaurant ever took photos of their food.  What ensued was a major discussion and a recommendation from him going to his owner for us to do their next food shoot.

Why, because I began to ask questions.  I was interested in what he did and what they were doing and then asked for the business.

You too can grow your business. Start “connecting,” today!

So, … whom do you know? Will you recommend me also?

He shared with me that four prominent studio owners with successful businesses in the past had just met with him and were bemoaning where the business was going.

As we stood in a potential new studio/gallery location that I am seriously considering in downtown Wooster, he remarked how gorgeous it was and how beautiful it could be and the outstanding photography that could be done there, … but then said the following to me.  “I had to drive over here (he lives an hour and a half away) to see why you would be growing your business when so many others are looking to get out or at the least complaining about how hard professional photography is to do today.”

There will always be some who wonder why in the worst of times, someone has decided to not go the path of least resistance but go against the tide and make a success out of an adventure where others struggle.

I said to my friend, that I refused to listen to the excuses and so called “reasons” why there was a decline.  I accepted that photography had problems today, however, in spite of all of that, I believed that there was a huge need for professional photography and that if you looked for it and wanted it, and pursued the correct avenues, you could still be a success today in professional photography.

The problem can be boiled down to two things that are fundamental. (There may be others, but these are huge.) First, part of the problem lies in the 6 inches between your ears. If you convince yourself that things are bad and you can’t or won’t do anything about it, then guess what? You will continue to struggle.  Second, we fail to look for areas that others are not able or want to do. At Photo Expressions Place we pursue those areas with all the passion and work ethic we can muster.

Photo Expressions Place is a different kind of photography business with an optimism that we can be creative, artistic, distinctive and successful.  It has a different business model and it has a desire that has not been jaded by the years of declining business.

Wherever you will find us on a photography assignment, you will see us on purpose to provide a unique experience for our clients, and to provide products that people really want.

You will find us in many different venues.  Why, because that is who we are and we want to service people.  To the engaged couple, soon to be a bride and groom, we want “to capture love.”  For the student athlete, we want to provide a memory of a period in time where they were challenged to be the best they can be.  To that new or soon to be parent, we want to “show the love of a new family and create gorgeous memories that last long after the child is grown.” To that graduating senior, we want to provide “a step above  in photographic images and products” that their family member or next door neighbor cannot provide. To that family, we want to provide “a gorgeous family portrait that uniquely captures the essence and love of the family.”  And much more.

You can look at these as bad times in professional photography.  Or, … you can look at these times as tremendous opportunities to provide lasting memories for those who want them, that others cannot provide.  That is how I choose to look at it.  That is why we are expanding and growing.  That is why we choose to go against the norm and become in the future a premiere studio/gallery in NorthCentral Ohio.

We aim to be different. We will offer programs and products that are not the norm.  We will be different.  We will be unique.  We will be positive about today and the future.