A while back we had a special on business portraits.  It went well and we were busy for a week photographing lots of Real Estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers and other professionals.  Professionals who understand that poeple make split decision on whether or not they are going to work with you depending on the picture they see in the paper or on your business card and in advertisements.  During that week clients would show us the work they had received in the past that was on their business cards.  One story stood out because I hear it all the time.  ”It’s just a head shot for my business card, I’ll just go to Wallmart. I don’t need to invest much in that.”  WRONG and when they see their collegues and competitors with professional portraits on their cards they realize they made a big mistake.  Here is one for instance.  Sheryl had hers photographed at W*ll***t. ( I have a hard time saying that word with regards to photography)  I have also included our portrait.  Can you tell which ones ours?  Lighting is so important.  Unfortunately at a big box store they are not going to custom light your portrait to be flattering.  They believe that hard, flat lighting is right for every situation.  The result?  …A passport photo for a business portrait.  Is that what you want your business portrait to say about your business?  Probably not.  You consider yourself to be a professional so you should have a professional portrait that represents a professional business.

Below are others from that week and a couple favourites from the little while.

Guess what Will (above) does for a living?  Green, Growth?  He’s a financial planner.  We do get out of the studio to do a concept shot if that is what you want.

Pretty obvious what Jonathan (above) does.  He has been the chef for the Prime Minister of Canada, has cooked for President Obama, the President of Mexico and the

personal chef to the Westons ( You know the guy on TV for Presidents Choice).  Of course we had to photograph him in a kitchen.

Lastly is Heather..  She has a Ph.D. in Water or something like that.  She is going to save the world.  And I’m not kidding.

Do you know how many diseases are related to the quality of the water we drink in Ontario?

Talk to her, she’ll tell you.

Saturday was a nice change of pace.  Usually Trish is running off to photograph a wedding on Saturdays but this weekend Trish and I had the chance to donate our services to a great cause.

A couple weeks ago I received a call from David Hilderley of Century 21 in Woodstock.  We had worked before with him on a charity event in the past so he knew to call us again.  This time Dave was working on a golf tournament to raise funds for Sakura House in Woodstock.  An incredible facility that provides end-of-life care for individuals.  Below is a photo of Sakura House along with some details from their website.

Money raised from this event goes towards supporting their annual operation costs and daily care.

Sakura House, located in Woodstock Ontario, is Oxford County’s only residential hospice and is run by VON Oxford.  It is an alternative care setting where skilled 24 hour end-of-life care is provided by a team of professionals with the assistance of professionally trained volunteers at no cost to patients or their families.  The specialized palliative care provided at Sakura House focuses on living fully in comfort and dignity until the end of life.

For every person who dies, three to five more individuals experience a life-altering journey.  As a partner in the Oxford community that provides palliative support to hundreds of families, we know that the number can be even higher.  VON Oxford has seen first hand how so many lives are touched — and changed forever — by the courage of someone facing the end of life.  We have also witnessed the incredible generosity and community spirit that can come together to help families to cope.  Someday, if your loved one is facing the end of life and you need to bring him or her home to be close to you in Oxford County, Sakura House will be there for them…and for you.

By dinner that night we had a slide show of the day ready to show all the golfers, but due to technical difficulties it could not be shown.  So here it is along with photos from the day.  The best part of the day for me was the INDY 500 style start they had with the golf carts.  What a blast.  ”Start your engines!”

First impressions count.

It’s true, it’s not fair, but it’s true.  People judge a book by its cover and they are going to judge whether they will work with you in a split second by your first impression.

So what does your photography say about you or your business?

So many times while leafing through the local papers I see pictures of business people in our community taken at the paper office against a plain wall with very unflattering lighting with terrible shadows behind them.

This type of image tells the public that you settle for sub-standard work which makes the public think that maybe the work you do is not up to par.

The fact is if you call yourself a professional and and you command professional dollars, you should have a professional portrait done by a professional photographer. (that’s a lot of professionals)

So freshen up your look for spring with this great special.

Call the studio now to book your session and talk about how to make it even better.

and give your wonderful wife a keep sake of her favourite people.

You’ll get 1 – 8×10″ print and some wallet size prints for her purse

so she can show off her kids and great husband to everyone.

All for $130.00

Call the studio to book your session.
519-425-1249

Spring changes are all around.  At Custom Concept Photography we are changing also to serve you better.  Over the last 12 years we have had regular studio hours.  As the photography industry changes so must we. Trish and I find that we are out of the studio more often and prefer not to put up a sign saying,

“Sorry for the inconvenience.  We are out on a Photo shoot and will be back at 4:00pm.”

No one likes to show up at a business and find they are closed at that time.  For that reason effective April 5th Custom Concept Photography will be by appointment only.  Other than that business still carries on as usual.  We feel this shouldn’t affect photography that much as most of our photography is done by appointment already.   Our framing clients will now have to book in rather than walk in.  Pick ups will be similar too.

We understand that there will be an adjustment period for a short time. We apologize for that, but in the long run it will make business more efficient.

We thank you for your patience and Trish and I look forward to growing personally and as a business.  This adjustment will give us the time needed to get out of the studio to meet with clients and network with other business professionals without disappointing  a pop-in client.

If you have any questions please feel free to call the studio and talk with Trish or I at 519.425.1249.

Best regards,

Trevor and Trish

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