We have some incredible window space at the studio and we have been struggling to choose the perfect images to display.

We have decided to let you choose. Each month we will choose one image from every session. The images will be up on the blog the 1st of the month (today!). You can vote for your favourite image by leaving a comment with your favourite image number. Voting will close the 3rd of each month at midnight!

The winning image will be displayed in our window display at our studio, right on King st. It will remain in the window until the next month’s winners are up!!!

Who will it be??? Will it be you?

Our Open House this past weekend was a wonderful success! Thank you to everyone who came to check out the new studio!

It was great to visit with so many familiar faces and meet a ton of new people too! I have the best, best family, friends and clients EVER!

I do know there was alot going on this past weekend and some people were disappointed they couldn’t make, but just give me a call. I will put the coffee on and give you a tour!

The winners have been contacted! Check your email to see if it was you!

I would like to thank everyone again for having some fun!

A little bit of  Julie Rhodes Photography Studio……

Great exciting things are happening at the Open House!! I have been bubbling over with excitement all week, it is hard to keep secrets! But the goody bags are packed, the door prizes set out, the etsy team is ready to move in and the Matilda Jane trunk show will help dress some stylin’ children! I having been waiting to announce these details all week!!! The suspense must be killing you…..so let’s get on with it! T he door prizes…..you must come in to enter! 1. A complimentary session with $250 Print credit! 2. One of our Brand New Sterling Silver Custom Photo Necklace 3. 2 Mini Accordian Albums (one for you & one to share!) 4. 1 Free Senior Session! You must be in high school to win this, Graduating this year or next! 5. 1 Father’s day album session! The perfect gift for Dad to cherish for years to come! I bet we make him cry or aleast get misty!! (Valued at $150.00) 5. Book and pay for a session at the Open house and get 3 extra door prize tickets! Purchase a “Year of Memories” and get 5 extra tickets! PLUS there will be one BONUS prize……this is for all those people that really, really want to come in but totally can’t make it! We are giving 1 session with $100 print credit away over the internet! So if you use Twitter or Facebook, make sure your following us, because sometime between 1 – 4 pm we will post a question about one of our blog posts. The answer will be able to be found somewhere on the new website on a blog post. All answers need to be emailed to julie@julierhodesphotography.com and you MUST leave a comment on Julie Rhodes Photography facebook status!!! I do need to clarify about the Matilda Jane Trunk sale. This is a virtual sale! You do not need to come to the studio to order, you may order by calling or emailing Paula anytime between Sat. at 12:00 until Sunday at 5:00. The site is up and running so you can have a look before than! Cheers!!!! See you Saturday!! Julie

We are having an Open House Saturday March 27th! The Chatham Kent Etsy Team is joining me up at the studio!

We are also having a Matilda Jane virtual trunk show!

If you haven’t seen their clothing you have to check them out! Matilda Jane Website Need more info on the trunk show or would prefer to order from home, let me know and I will email you the details! It is easy to order, you can call or come to the studio and fill out an order form. The sale is on from Sat. March 27 until Sunday March 26th @ 5pm. All orders will be delivered to the studio and you will have some awesome unique clothing for spring and summer! By the way, These are awesome for a photography session! The colours just pop!

Come in and check out our awesomes space, enter to win some fantastic door prizes, enjoy some food, people and shop. There will also be goody bags for the first 50 people!!!! (It’s a secret what’s inside!)

Check out the Chatham Kent Etsy Team Website here for more details on who will be there!

Mark your calendar for my…

Virtual Catalog Show

Discover a new form of expression with sizing from 6m-12year

Plus a selection of irresistible clothing for you in adult sizes S, M, L.

Inspire your little fashionista to seek out independence with endless compliments…guaranteed!

www.matildajaneclothing.com

Sale runs Sat. March 27th – Sun. March 28th

I found this article awhile back and have not been able to stop thinking about it….why??? Because this is totally our generation. Most of us are putting all our images on disc or worse yet leaving them on the computer. My heart sinks and I am refusing to not be “this grandma”.

Author: Fred Molesworth, Salem, Oregon

I’m willing to bet your grandchildren will be upset with you. Here’s why. Imagine, 50 years from now, as your grandchildren or great grandchildren are going through the boxes in the attic. They are enthralled with the treasures and keepsakes they find and how they tie into the story of your life.

Amongst all the old items, they find a number of round silver objects. Some have writing on them, some are blank, but they resemble some kind of a small platter about 4″ across, with a hole in the middle.

Puzzled, they take them to their parents. “What are these, Mom?” they ask. “Oh, I think those are all of grandma’s photographs. Yep, here’s one labeled ‘My Wedding’. Here’s some more labeled ‘Family Photos,’ and some more labeled ‘Vacations’.”

“How do we look at them?” they ask.

“Well, I’m not sure we can. First of all, no one has the device that reads these anymore. Besides that, I doubt after all these years that they’re any good anymore. Being stored in the attic, the heat and cold probably ruined them.”

The kids are very disappointed. Nowhere amongst all the treasures are any actual prints. All that history is lost. Their connection with the past and all the wonderful stories that might have gone along with all those photographs are gone as well.

Along with all the wonders of our digital age come some significant problems that most people have never thought of.

Did you know that over 90% of all images taken on today’s digital cameras are NEVER PRINTED? I’m guilty of that myself. I have gigabytes of personal photographs that have never been seen other than on a computer screen.

In the old days, film went to the lab and everything that was printable was printed. Even if it was a bad photograph, it still was a hard copy, a part of your family history and it had permanence. Even if they never went in an album, they at least went into a box, to be discovered as treasures years later.

The same problem exists in professional portrait studios today. Many people are simply asking for the images on CD. “I’ll print them later” or “I’ll design my own wedding album” are common phrases. Usually this is done with the thought that they’ll save some money by doing it themselves.

But you know what? Most never make it into any kind of an album. Life gets busy and 20 years later they’ll be looking for some way to read those disks.

I bring this up only to point out the importance of what we, as a professional studio do. Our job is not just to create the images, to create wonderful story telling photographs about the people in front of our camera; it’s to create a final product, whether it be a professionally retouched and printed single image, a family heirloom wall portrait, or an incredible storybook album using a collection of the images that were created.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a wedding, a newborn baby, a senior or a family. Having the final product created for you is important. To do less is to leave the job half done and to short change the customer.

So, if you’re asked for a disk with all the images “so I can print them later”, that’s fine, just make sure your customers understand that if not printed, the conversation their grandchildren will want to have about their family history may never be able to happen.

Fred Molesworth

In addition to running a full time portrait studio in Salem Oregon, Fred Molesworth is a small business teacher and advisor, and the author of the Portrait Studio Marketing blog (www.portraitstudiomarketing.com). He’s also a nationally known business and marketing speaker in the portrait industry, and past president of the Professional Photographers of Oregon.

I know when I was a kid there was a HUGE tote full of pictures. That was the daunting task looming over my mom to get those pictures into albums. I don’t think those pictures ever made it to an album but guess what I have pictures, a “treasure box of memories”. The moral of this story is “print your pictures!”

There are a ton of options out there, a TON, lol. One of our goals at Julie Rhodes Photography studio is to provide you with some unique display ideas.

Here is one idea I found over at the image is found I have done this in my own hallway. To encourage myself to print pictures. P.S. if you have not checked out Nate and Jac’s blog and work, they are freakin’ awesome!