The types of sessions at Honey Bee Photography

 A Mini Session Event

• ·         A day where several families schedule their own half hour session at a location of the business owner’s choice. 
• ·         A special deal is offered, with the expectation that the pricing of print and digital packages would be a win-win for both the client and the owner of the photography business.
• ·         These sessions have very specific guidelines and recommendations.
• ·         There is some personal guidance given to the client to prepare for the session.

 

A Full-service Photography Experience

• ·         An experience where a client is given luxury service that includes the following benefits.
• ·         The owner of the photography business plans the session with the client and gives personalized recommendations.
• ·         There is guidance with clothing style and colors, and props such as chairs.
• ·         There is guidance for choosing a photography location that aligns with the client’s home decor.
• ·         High-end printed artwork collections that enhance the entire family’s environment at home.
• ·         Hair and makeup can be contracted to recommended stylists and is extra.

 

A Studio Session

• ·         A 90-minute session for families that prefer posed photographs that are simple and easy to accomplish.
• ·         The end product far surpasses that which a client can expect from a mall portrait studio company.
• ·         These sessions feature digital products accompanied with 5x7 reference prints.  (There is a minimum purchase amount.)
• ·         Personal guidance is given for clothing style and color.
• ·         All photographs are retouched to help subjects look their absolute best.
• ·         Hair and makeup can be contracted to recommended stylists and is extra.

 

A Portrait Party Experience

• ·         This is a daytime event where a client hosts 5-7 half hour sessions, and earns free printed products, similar to a Mary Kay™ style party.
• ·         These can be studio or on-location sessions. 
• ·         The client sends out information to her network of friends, extended family members, neighbors, and coworkers.
• ·         Those who are interested call the photography business owner to schedule their session.
• ·         These are carried out similarly to the Mini Session as described above.
• ·         The host has their session done and receives various benefits and special pricing.

 

Tuesday thoughts about back-to-school

 It's a beautiful Tuesday!

What are you doing on this gorgeous day?

Thoughts of back to school are on everyone's mind.  We're in the middle of no tax on school supplies and clothing this week, and everyone is shopping.  

Young adults are getting ready to leave for college. High schoolers are finishing up their 40 hours of volunteer activities. Middle schoolers are gearing up for the awkward wonderfulness of the first day of school. 

The elementary school kids are getting their school supplies and are so excited!

Moms are worried about bussing and transportation.  It appears that there are a couple hundred bus-driving jobs available in AAC, because the students will all be starting school at the same time.  I see the wisdom, but it's a hard thing to deal with when you don't have those positions filled.  And no, I don't want to do it LOL.

With that being said, here are some REALLY great tips for getting your kids to school on time, written by Marissa LaScala and Caroline Picard of Good Housekeeping.

• Have a designated spot for all of their stuff.  You could do this easily with an Ikea trunk to sit on, and a couple of hooks.  This way, they have a place for jackets, bookbags, shoes, etc.
• Have your kids help pack their lunches the night before.  It helps to set the routine of getting to bed.
• Make it easy for them to know the time everywhere they go.  You can put one on the bathroom wall, the hallway, their bedrooms, the kitchen, and anywhere else you can think of.
• Simplify breakfast.  Have on hand cereal and fruit, granola bars, overnight oats, or frittata muffins in the freezer.  Just pop those babies that you made on Sunday night, and a bacon egg and cheese bite is theirs for the taking.
• My favorite one:  add incentives for getting out the door on time by saying on Friday afternoon, we can stop by that bakery and each of us gets a treat!

I think that these are great ideas and so easy.  I wish I had thought of these 15 years ago!

Happy Back to School, y'all!

I Won a Gift Certificate! What Happens Next?

 

At local fairs, I do a competition for hopeful locals to win a $500 gift certificate for an Experience Session, and a $200 gift certificate for a Studio 6.0 Session.

What happens next?

The competition!

These consist of coming into the booth and deciding what kind of session works best for you, and finally filling out a competition form.  On that form, I ask my prospective clients, why do they want to have a photography session?  Oftentimes, they write that it's been a while since they've had photographs done.

What I'm looking for is a story, WHY you want to have it done.  What is special or unique about your family?  What is it about your family that you cherish right now?

After the fair.

After the fair, I call all of the people who filled out slips for a 15 minute call, to find out a little bit more about why they want a photography session done, whether it's an Experience Session, or a Studio 6.0 Session.  From there I choose my winners and call them to congratulate them.  I then send out a welcome packet with their gift certificate that has a magnet on it so they can put it on the refrigerator to remind them of their special time coming up with me.

The "process".

When I'm calling about the Experience Sessions, I find out what you love about being a parent, and what are the attributes of your children and your partner that you love.  I discover with you what are some of the important things about your lifestyle that you enjoy right now.  We incorporate the colors in your home, the decor you use, and where you'll be placing your artwork in your home.

For example, a local family LOVES baseball.  They love it so much that they wanted to use that as their main theme, and we'll be doing that session in the fall.

When I'm calling about the Studio 6.0 sessions, these are a little bit more casual.  We discuss what you would love to wear, how to coordinate your outfits, and what sets you want.  These are posed, but not like a mall studio posed look.  These are still showing the personality of your family, and they are beautiful and classic.

For example, a family whose origins are Nigerian, had their gorgeous outfits shipped to them and I had the honor of photographing them with my mobile studio in their home.

They have gold, burnt orange, and grey in their home, and so this was exactly what they wanted for their home, and they turned out perfectly.

The way the gift certificates work is as follows.

Experience Sessions

• $200 goes towards your Creation Fee.  This is all of the time I get to spend with you and in prepping for your session.
• $300 goes towards your purchase of physical products.  Each physical product that you purchase, you will receive a 5x7 digital file that matches it.  You are welcome to print those as many times as you like as gifts and other products like ornaments for the holidays.

Studio 6.0 Sessions

• $100 covers your Creation Fee.  This is all of the time I get to spend with you and your family.
• $100 goes towards your purchase.  Studio 6.0 purchases are digital only, and there is a $500 minimum purchase.  With the gift certificate, it'll be only $400, plus whatever else you choose to purchase.  
• Digital files for Studio 6.0 sessions are $100 each.

To find out more about the way sessions are done by me, please go here.

August 2022: It's a new start!

 There's so much exciting news, it's hard to know where to start!

Honey Bee Photography has transformed, into a better service and better products.

We offer Experience Sessions, which allow the families and individuals to guide how they want to feel when they see their artwork on their walls.  This is a full-amenity service and includes all of our bells and whistles. 

• The phone calls
• The homework
• The designing of your session
• The session itself
• Your Design Consultation at your home
• Delivery of your physical product
• Help with installing your artwork.  

This is a celebratory experience and deserves to feel that way!

This is exclusive to Honey Bee Photography and the results have been wonderful for the clients who opt for this session.

We also offer Studio 6.0 sessions, an upgrade to how we used to do studio sessions.

Similar to Experience sessions, these allow families and individuals to express themselves through their clothing and props that are unique to them.

Studio 6.0 sessions include the following:

• A couple of phone calls to discuss clothing and style
• The session itself
• Your Design Consultation is done through Zoom
• You get digital products with this session
• You're welcome to order prints 11x14 and larger through me
• A special gift

Please share in the comments which you would prefer to have done for you and your family!

Celebrate Yourself with Self-Love, Empowerment, and YOU!

 Are you enjoying a new chapter in your life?

It's been a crazy 17 months, and we are just now getting into the swing of things.  Many women have rediscovered themselves and have made improvements in their lives, such as 

• Their Health
• Their Career
• Their Love Life
• Their Peace of Mind

It's time to self-examine and rediscover what you love about yourself!  

I have developed a Celebration Experience in my Bee You Beautiful brand, called "This Is Me."  The artwork that we create together embodies who you are, from where you are coming, and to where you are going.  It celebrates who you are as a woman, your strengths, your vulnerabilities, and what makes you, YOU.  Every time you see your artwork, you'll relive that day, how you felt, and how excited you were to be photographed in such a special way.

Every woman has a story.  Meet Arlene, a writer, a lover of books and her scriptures, the beach at dawn, the color blue, and freedom.  Newly single, and in a new career, she re-embraced  parts of herself she'd lost, and brought it all together with her session.

In her finished artwork, she opted to have her most favorite scripture quotes on each piece:

To enjoy this kind of experience for yourself, call Megan today at 240-766-8966 or email at megan@honeybeephotography.com.

Top Ten Reasons to Do a Santa Babies Photo Shoot - COVID Style

 Santa is coming to town, still.

At department stores and the mall, he's behind a plexiglass barrier, so there's no actual connection with him.  And as COVID safe as that is, it takes away the intimacy of a true visit.

Santa Babies to the rescue!  Here are the top ten reasons why you should do a session with Honey Bee Photography!

10.  We have a very directed plan to make your visit and experience as safe and fun as possible. We are using safety measures such as working in a large commercial space that will be specifically designed to keep people socially distanced, with directed paths throughout the room, and a separate entrance and exit.

9.  You'll be able to see your photographs projected on the wall with a plexiglass shield between you and our sales person, so that you can make your order right away.  This way you can enjoy your photographs without hovering over a computer screen together and we can Zoom with your partner as well while he or she waits in the car with your children.

8.  Your visit with "Santa" is available with two options. The first one is available with Santa pants and boots.  The second option is full of hilarity:  Dad dons a fully disinfected Santa suit and embraces the jolly old elf himself for 20 minutes and entertain his kids and partner.

7. In between every session, we disinfect the white vinyl background, as well as use three rotating sets of props that are for seating, and placed around your kids, but not necessarily for them to play with or touch.

6.  In our consultation call with you, we give you a full list of supplies to pick up, which includes a mug, marshmallows, cookies, a small plate, PJs, and a Santa hat.  In case you forget them, we have a sanitized and vacuum wrapped kit that includes a mug and plate, a prepackaged sleeve of Chips Ahoy cookies, and a Santa hat, along with whipped cream from the can that will be touched only by Megan.  This is available for $20 at the door, and proceeds go to Sarah's House, a place for women and their children who are victims of domestic abuse.  

5.  We ask you to come alone to check in and do a screening, with your family in the car, so please arrive 20 minutes early.  Our hostess will share with you our products and let you scan the QR code that shows all of our products and prices.  Then you'll go and get your family, and bring them with you, so that we can take everyone's temperature and use the bathroom, get changed, etc.  We have hand sanitizer everywhere, as well as Lysol wipes and spray.  We'll also be using two heavy duty air purifiers to cleanse the air so that everyone is safe.

4.  We send you your paperwork electronically, in a fillable PDF form, so all you have to do is fill it out and send it back to us.  We'll also send you a pre-screen to ensure everyone is safe and healthy.

3.  You'll have a "lite version" of our signature experience, so we'll discover together what you guys all love about Christmas, and what you are looking forward to this year for the different holiday season we're all about to enjoy.

2.  We believe in low stress, and so that means we are prepared to handle every concern you may have, because let's face it, pretty much everyone has these concerns.

1.  We guarantee your experience and photographs.  Megan has been photographing families since 1989, and so has many tricks up her sleeve to get your kids to react to her antics and have fun with "Santa".

There you have it, our Top Ten Reasons why you should come experience Santa Babies.  For more information, please call Megan at 240-766-8966, or visit www.honeybeephotography.com, and fill out the form.

CYBER MONDAY Photo Restoration Limited Time Offer.

Just in time for the holidays:  A Cyber Monday Limited Time Offer!  Buy one restoration service at full price, get a second one for half price!  Services start at $39.95. This is good from today until 11:59 pm Monday, November 30, 2020.

When I was very young, I loved looking at my grandmother's photo album.  All of those people, deceased by that time, were mysterious to me and it was difficult to understand how they were related to me, if they weren't really there now.

As I've gotten older, I've taken my most favorites and kept them in a safe box specifically for storing photographs.  When I learned Photoshop in 2006, one of the assignments was to restore an old photograph.  I chose my favorite one of her, in a ball gown; it was faded into that awful magenta, so common with photographs from that era, mid-to-late 50s.

Keeping in mind that my grandmother already loved pinks and purples, I painstakingly painted in the wall colors and furniture, the embroidered sampler that my mom still has, and her gorgeous gown.  It came to life!  I remember calling her to find out the color of the flowers of the corsage, and a few other details.  When I presented the photograph to her, in a sparkly, tiara-like frame, she cried, to see it so beautifully restored.

Since then, I've done a few here and there.  I've had requests of taking snapshots of people who passed away, and retouching them for their celebrations of life, and had them printed as 16x20s on either canvas or metal.  These pieces were especially displayed at these celebrations, so as you can see, turnaround is very quick for this kind of situation.

As it is a luxury service, my rates start at $39.95, and increase depending on the damage of the photograph, such as tears, stains, rips, etc.  Please know that I take the utmost care to restore your favorite photographs to their beautiful, original state.

If you have a cherished photograph for which you'd love to have an estimate, please scan it, at 1200 ppi, and email it to meganmartineau6@gmail.com.