A Tale of Two Painters

Two guys walk into an art store and each buys a canvas and some oil paint. One of them is a master artisan with a lifetime of experience and talent. The other one is just a guy who fancies himself handy with a paintbrush. They each spend $10.00 and go off to create a painting.

When finished, the master artisan had created a masterpiece. His composition was beautiful , his use of light and shadow was subtle and brilliant at the same time and his use of color and it’s harmony was perfect. He is able to sell his masterpiece for $2,000.00.

Try as he might, the guy with a brush can’t get anyone to buy his painting. It could be that his use of light and shadow was non existent and his work looked very flat. Possibly it was that there was no flow to the composition, or it may have been his total disregard for proper color harmony. Whatever the reason, he had painted to the best of his ability and didn't know how to do it any better. So there he sat with no buyers. That is until he lowered his price to $20.00. He finally finds his customer and at $20.00, figures that he is doubling his cost for supplies so he is satisfied.

The new owner of the artisan’s painting is excited and proud to show his purchase to all his family and friends. He knows that the investment he made will only gain in value to him as he enjoys it for decades to come.

The new owner of the $20.00 painting really sees no great value in his purchase. He never frames it and after a short while, the painting disappears as he forgets about it and it’s lost.

The moral of this story is that when selecting a portrait photographer, look for that master artisan quality in his work. When you purchase a portrait from him keep in mind that you are not paying for his materials, rather a lifetime of experience and talent that he used to create your image. You will most definitely invest more than you would if you went to the photographer with little experience but is “handy with a camera”. But what is the outcome? Would you want to have an inexpensive picture that you will ultimately have little or no regard for and probably store in a drawer, or would you rather invest in a beautiful work of art that you will be proud to display and show off to all your family and friends.

Photographer of the Year AGAIN!!!

This past weekend was TPPA's (Tennessee Professional Photographer's Association) annual convention. At the convention each year photographers across the state enter 6 images that best represents their work. These images are scored by other photographers from across the country. They score each print on: Impact, Creativity, Style, Composition, Presentation, Color Balance, Center of Interest, Lighting, Subject Matter, Print Quality, Technique, and Story Telling. Scores can range from 75 to 100, 100 being a perfect score. Once every print has been scored each photographer's top 4 scores are averaged. The photographer's are then rank by their averages and the highest average is Tennessee's Photographer of the Year.

Mom (Richard's wife, Deborah) and I are always so proud of him. He's awesome at what he does!! He'd kill me if he knew I posted this image of all his awards...he's a modest man. He won't let me display them in the studio so I just had to post them here. The only ones that get to be displayed are the Kodak Gallery Award, The Best of Show Award, and The Photographer of the Year Award, all others go in the cabinet. Take a quick look, your family photographer is one of the best talents in the business!! Not just across the state, but nationally as well!

This year's awards rank Richard with his 13th honor as being Tennessee's Photographer of the Year!

2011 Seniors! Summer Sessions

These are some of the Seniors we've photographed the last 3weeks! Its been non-stop, and its been HOT, but its been fun!

Hope you enjoy the images...give us a call if you haven't had your Senior Portraits taken.
Ask for Alisha, 901.372.0020!

Senior Deluxe Session Special, Only 2 appointments left!

Our Deluxe Session for Senior includes being photographed in 4 outfits, both indoors & outdoors. This is our most poplar session for Seniors, and it has bee reduced for the summer months. Regularly $75, is only $49 through August 16th. When we designed this image we had 7 appointments available, now there are only 2 left. After the 16th, the session fee goes back up to $75!

Call me NOW to schedule
your session before school gets back into full swing!
901.372.0020, Ask for Alisha!

Vacation spent with Lots of Kids!

I was on vacation last week. Things are busy at the studio photographing High School Seniors, so it makes it a difficult time to leave Richard to do it all. There's a lot of work for two people to do at the studio during the summer, so I appreciate Richard allowing me the time off. I'm ever so thankful that he lets me take a week in July to help with kid's camp.

To me, kids camp is the best time of the year! Our church takes between 40 and 50 kids to church camp each year! I've gone the last four years and its always a blast. Not just because of all the fun stuff we get to do, but because we get to set a time away from the RUSH of daily life and get to focus on worshipping God. To get to teach and to answer questions about Jesus and then watch God work in the lives of the children is AMAZING! When you get the opportunity to be a part of such an experience God doesn't just let you serve the children, He takes hold of you too! I always come back so blessed and always closer to God!

This year there were 12 children that came to know Christ! Praise God!!

Spending Time with the Ramsey Men....

When most of you come into the studio for a session, you meet Richard, and his nice disposition. Easy to get along with, friendly guy...but, when you put all the Ramsey men together, you never know what you're gonna see from their cameras....Richard, Rick and Phil are all professional photographers in various towns and cities, they all have great personalities. You put the three of them together, they are HILARIOUS!! Laughs for hours!

Recently, a few of us took a road trip to Indiana to visit with Rick and his family. Saturday we went to Olivia's swim meet and Rick and Richard were up to their crazy antics...I thought I'd show you a few images Rick took of Richard. He is carrying that "let the background tell a little about the subject" a little to far!