Larry Davidson Photography

Exciting News For 2012!!

Larry D. — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:28:35 +0000

We’re excited about the New Year and the many changes we’re making to our business model during 2012. First, we’ve closed the physical location of our studio and Larry Davidson Photography is now the Location Studio Pro. We’re also changing our business direction during 2012 by phasing out the Glamour, Beauty and Boudoir photography and shifting our focus primarily on High School Seniors and Team Group portraits.

Why? I need new inspiration and new challenges. I also want to take advantage of new technology to better serve our client needs and the changing professional portrait market. I really think you’re going to love our new level of exceptional service matched with quality and creative portraiture you’ve come to expect from Larry Davidson Photography.

Technology Is Changing Everything

Over the last 10 years there have been amazing technological advancements in the world of photography. Never before has it been easier to hang out a shingle and call yourself a professional photographer. Back in the day, Professional Photographers were considered artistic wizards. Not any more, the cat’s-out-of-the-bag and tools like Photoshop have made it possible to do things and create products that just were not possible 10 years ago.

Sadly though, digital also means there are that many more “photographers” taking bad pictures. A digital camera does not make one a photographer. Let’s face it, even a monkey can hold up a digital camera, push a button and capture an image. The fact that you own the biggest, baddest, latest digital wonder camera absolutely has no bearing on one’s ability to create beautiful images.

To be perfectly honest, the equipment doesn’t make any difference, unless you know how to use it. To make beautiful portraits you have to know the qualities of light, study composition, color harmony, artful posing and be able to capture a proper exposure. You have to know and practice these elements until they are second nature – only then can you consistently create beautiful portraiture. Without these fundamental abilities, even the most expensive camera on the market will have zero effect on the quality of your portraits.

What Exactly Are You Paying For?

Since the inception of professional portraiture, photographers have maintained control of images they create. That control is protected by Federal copyright law. When you purchase portraits created by a professional photographer you are actually purchasing the “right” to display the printed image – the photographer maintains all other rights – including duplication of that image.

Photographers have earned their living by creating beautiful portraits and then selling the printed images, but those days are changing. Often times clients were confused by the price of an 8″ x 10″ from our studio compared to one created by another studio or a chain studio. Hey, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to determine that the “cost” of the 8″ x 10″ print doesn’t vary a great deal – no matter where it’s printed. The difference in “value” stems from the photographer’s skill in creating the image. How the photographer used light on the subject, artistic composition, color harmony, a flattering pose and recording a properly exposed image.

Hard as it may be to believe, I’m not one for patting myself on the back. No one is as critical of my photography as I am. But the most frequent comment we receive is, “We’re not really sure what it is, but there’s just something different about your portraits.”

You Own ALL Your Portraits

The digital revolution has changed forever the way we view our images. More and more of our clients want the digital file for use on their phones, their personal websites and social media sites. While printed portraits are still important to many of our clients the desire for digital files indicated a need to change our business model.

One Price – ALL Your Portraits

We have one price for our portrait services – $700. With that one fee you receive the following;

- Up to 2-1/2 hours of photography session time. We’ll come to your home with studio lighting and backgrounds to create your more formal portraits. After that it’s on to any number of locations for your outdoor portraits. Your own backyard, the streets and alleyways of downtown Pittsburgh, the local park – it’s all included.

- All your images on your personal web gallery. Within 48 hours of your session we will upload all your images to your personal password protected web gallery. Show them to everyone you know or only your closest friends and family. You control the password so you control who sees your images.

- Two of our favorites posted to our studio Facebook page. You’ll be famous. Kinda.

- All of your high resolution images on CD. We will do complete color correction and exposure tweaking on ALL your images and burn them to CD – yours to keep and have printed where ever you wish.

- Your Favorite 15 Retouched and Enhanced. One of the benefits to you in working with our studio is the level of retouching and print enhancement you receive on your ordered images. When you’ve had a chance to view your on-line gallery simply email us the image numbers of your “Favorite 15″ and we’ll make them shine. Colors will pop, your eyes will be beautiful (or dashingly handsome) and your skin will be flawless. You’ll receive the high-resolution files of your “Favorite 15″ retouched and enhanced images on CD – ready to be printed where ever you desire.

- Access to Our Print Partner Program. Via a new system offered by our color lab you’ll have access to the same quality printed portraits you’ve come to expect from Larry Davidson Photography. You’ll be able to log on and order your prints from the comfort of your own home – anytime you want – 24/7/365. Pay with a credit card or PayPal and when your order is complete they’ll be hand delivered to your home.

- Virtual Sales Appointment. We understand many of our past clients are going to miss the ability to get our input on the images their considering. Not to worry. Again, from the comfort of your own home we can set up a virtual sales appointment. We’ll talk on the phone while you – though the wonder of technology – view MY computer screen live and in real time. We can discuss specific retouching requests, create wall collections, show you different cropping – all as though we were sitting across the table from one another. (Except we can both be in our PJ’s;-)

FREE Senior Portraits – REALLY!

Consider how most business’s run a referral program – we’ll use our studio as an example. In past years we would give our clients referral cards to hand out to their friends. If their friend used the card to book a session at our studio they saved 25% on their session fee and got eight wallet photos free with their order. The referring client received $25 credit towards their portrait order. We could only afford to give the referring client $25 credit – because we had no idea how much the referred senior would spend.

I’ll be totally transparent with you – I need to make $500 from every senior I photograph. I could go into all the reasons why; equipment, marketing, training, etc… but who cares – you certainly don’t. You want a good deal and great portraits – and that only makes sense. So, every senior that has their portraits created with us will receive 10 referral cards. Any individual can use one referral card for their senior portrait experience.

Each referral card will give your friends $100 off their senior portrait experience and for every senior that uses your referral card – you’ll receive $100 cash back. NOT CREDIT–CASH! With 10 referral cards to hand out you could actually MAKE MONEY having your portraits created at our studio.

That’s It In A Nutshell

Continue to watch this blog for our updated “Print Partner” portrait prices. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. When you’re ready to book your session just give us a call.

Macro Soap Bubbles

Larry D. — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:39:28 +0000

Mischievous Kitty of Black Heart Clothing

Larry D. — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:05:50 +0000

Kat is the personal assistant of Cy-Fi owner of Black Heart Clothing. This lady is full of character and so much fun to be around. She kept us laughing and an up-beat mood through out the session. During a make-up and wardrobe change for Cy-Fi, we slipped Kat into the studio to have a little creative fun. We didn’t really have a game plan, but Kat really came to life during our brief session. We really hope you enjoy a few of our creative images that was really fun to produce.

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Cy-Fi of Black Hearts Clothing

Larry D. — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:55:34 +0000

I was recently contacted by Cy-Fi owner of Black Hearts Clothing here in Pittsburgh. She was interested in doing a fun, creative session using some of the clothing line she was developing. The session was an absolute BLAST! Cy was a complete joy to work with and her creative juices were really flowing. This lady has many talents, business lady, designer, make-up artist and model. We really hope you enjoy a few of the images we created together.

The Return of Lisa

Larry D. — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:22:52 +0000

Lisa, one of my favorite models has been all over the U.S. the past four months and finally returned home. She gave me a call and wanted to know if I was ready to shoot. I told her to grab a few things and come over and we would wing a session. It was great to see her again and we had a 5 hour long fantastic shoot. Here are a few images of our latest session together.

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One Year, Four Sessions with Nicole

Larry D. — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:46:48 +0000

Over the past year Nicole and I have done 4 photo sessions to build a body of collaborative art work. During that time a trust and bond developed where she is not just a client, but a friend whom I explore forms of artistic expression. Nicole is one of people I turn to when I want to try something new, different or unusual. I simply tell her what I would like to do and no matter how strange it may seem to others, she trust me enough to be apart of the vision. Sometimes things turn out amazing, sometimes they just miss the mark. Regardless, Nicole is always a real trooper and excited to be a part of my artistic expression. I look forward to the sessions and meetings with Nicole. She is such a pleasure to be around, always smiling, warm personality, very shy and reserved. However, she has an adventurous side and eagerly goes along with my sometimes unusual request to bring forth the “ART!” So, a BIG “Thank You” Nicole! We hope you enjoy a few of the images from our sessions over the past year.

Rebecca Rose Studios

Larry D. — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:20:53 +0000

I just finished a shooting a collabrative session with Rebecca a local artist from Rose Studios in Butler, PA. Rebecca specializes in Murals, Decorative Arts, Faux Finishes, Body Art, and Trompe L`oeil. We collabrated together to bring a couple of her Body Art visions to pass. Rebecca brought in the talents of a wonderful young model Katie, and together we spent the making Rebecca’s vision come to life. Both of these ladies were a complete joy to work with and I’m very happy to share with you our combined artistic statement.

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To learn more about Rebecca Rose and see more of her work, visit her website Rose Studios or call her at (724) 431-6300. Also visit Katie’s Model Mayhem portfolio to see more of her work.

Raquel’s Modeling Portfolio

Larry D. — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:48:44 +0000

I had the honor of meeting and photographing the beautiful and lovely Raquel from West Virginia. Our goal was to create images for her modeling portfolio plus a few she could share with her family and friends. We spent about 2 wonderful hours together capturing images with different expresssions, moods, and looks. Here are Raquel’s favorites from our session with different treatments in post.

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