I was reading this article…

…in one of my Professional Photographer magazines that was about giving away a CD of images from sessions and how the author was against it.  I’m against it as well, but when asked “why?”, it was hard to explain.  But, this author wrote it beautifully…

“…this [giving away a CD of images] is as ridiculous as John Singer Sargent handing his portrait client a sketch on canvas and some dollops of paint. A good start, yet a total disservice to our public, the people who have placed their trust in our hands to create something unusual they cannot do themselves…”

This is it.  Why would I give you, the client who trusts me to create a beautiful piece of artwork, the bare negatives of nothing.  “Straight from the camera” portraits are rarely as beautiful as ones that have been enhanced, even slightly, in editing software.  Part of my art, of the Traditions style, has more shadow and more color vibrancy than an original negative.  Giving my client bare naked negatives is giving them pictures.  Not portraits.  And certainly not heirloom artwork.

I just wanted to share something with you that I get asked often.  I appreciate YOU, your business, and your desire to own an heirloom portrait.  And I respect you enough not to hand you a blank canvas with a sketch on it, but a finished piece of artwork that you will cherish forever.