I’m warning you upfront. This is gonna be bad.

I am writing this both as a mother, and then I’ll follow up with my ‘professional photographer’ critiques.  A few months ago in the fall, my daughter’s school sent home a note letting parents know that picture day was approaching.  We had a whole evening of picking out her clothes, belt, shoes, hair do…you know, the works. After all, this photo will be looked at by her kids someday, right?  She had on a pretty dress, and a big flower barrette that matched.  Before the bus picked her up that morning, we practiced her smile, and I reminded her to do her real smile instead of her fake smile.  After school that day, I asked her how her picture day went and she said, “Good, except I forgot to take off my coat.”

What?? How does that even happen? Photographer fail #1.  Remember back in the day when the photographer’s helper was in charge of straightening clothes, making sure their bangs were in the proper place? Apparently school photographers are lacking in this area nowadays. So now I’m faced with the decision of retaking the portraits myself, or bailing out the money to the crappy photographer.  Doesn’t sound like a hard decision, right? I’m a photographer, its easy for me to retake the pictures.  However, a part of me kept telling myself “Heather, just pay for the pictures,  crappy school pictures are just part of growing up.”  I decided to just buy the photo cd for $35, and I still have not printed that picture.  Because ITS CRAPPY!

Why are we wasting money and feeling obligated to buy these? More importantly, why does nobody bring this up to the school?  Are there no other photographers in Oklahoma that offer school portraits? Maybe the schools have no other option.

Well, I found out that’s a bunch of bull.

Shortly after that, I started researching it.  Why are no other photographers being used for school portraits? It was just one company in contract with nearly EVERY school in the state.  I got serious about my approaching the schools offering my portrait services: put together packets/samples for schools to look through and what I could offer them.  I went to 12 schools in the area!! And not one of them even considered switching.  ”We already go with ******.”

Oh, really? Well perhaps next year you will consider me? After all, in addition to submitting better poses, more background options, multiple proofs/poses of each child, I informed them my school donation of all profits was 20%, rather than 15% like the other photographer.  In business terms: better photos + more poses= greater chance for parents loving the pictures.  That also means more sales, which for the school, would mean a much greater donation from the photographer. There should have been no reason NOT to change photographers. I don’t even care if I’m the photographer or not…I know TONS of great photographers in Yukon, Mustang, OKC, Edmond, Tuttle, and Enid.  Unacceptable.

Anyway, I blew it off and months went by.  Well, yesterday Maddie comes home with her Spring portrait proofs.  Seriously? Look at this:

The first pic is obviously a throw away. Should not even be sent out to parents and count toward a proof.  The second photo really upsets me.  You do not pose a 6 yr old first grader in a pose like this.  The head tilt at this much of an angle is completely inappropriate.  Its suggestive…and she’s 6.  These are not poses for elementary students!! And as a photographer, if a child at this age naturally tilts her head like that, it should be corrected and reposed.  That’s right, photographers, pose your clients! They have no idea how to properly pose themselves…they are not trained to see that! Photographers are.

Finally, what the heck happened to person-to-person interaction and creating an experience during portraits?? This is a prime example of a shoot & burn photographer.  Gets the shoot done as fast as they can, with as little interaction and editing as possible, so they can get paid faster.  Does anyone have a child that actually showed their REAL smile in their portraits? I bet 90% didn’t. Because there was no interaction and it wasnt a portrait experience for the child! Look at the dang green screen….how can a child have a real smile when they’re not talked to and are standing in front of a plain green background like that?

“Smile! Even though you have no idea what your digital background is gonna look like when I crop you out of the photo to insert you into a new background!” Ugh.

Does it take too much time to actually talk and smile to the kid youre taking a picture of? Make them feel pretty and actually pose them and compliment them? Well I guarantee parents would be wayyyyy happier with the photos if their child smiled naturally and felt special that day.  Can you even compare the experience/photos above to the sample photos below I sent to these schools? Um, nope.

Why do schools keep the huge photography company that is halfway doing their job? Do they not know there are other choices? Are they scared of change? Whatever the reason, I’m not spending another dime on crappy pictures that aren’t worth my money.  My kids deserve a better experience than that.  If you feel the same way about your child’s photos, let it be known. Maybe the schools don’t even know parents arent happy with the photographer.  If this is you, I’ve ‘conveniently’ attached a form to send in to your child’s school. Maybe they’ll  realize they should request feedback from parents every once in a while!

There. Glad I got that out of my system.  Now off to the newspaper for a letter to the editor. ha.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kfm4t835go4uln6/Dear%20Principal.doc

Rae’s session last week

Britcktown never gets old. There’s always new hidden places, neat colors, and varied lighting.  Love!

This workshop is perfect for those who love photography but have no idea how to get started. Whether you are wanting to break into photography as a profession, or just want to take better photos of your kids, you will benefit greatly from this workshop! You will need a digital SLR camera with one lens, a notepad, and pen. This workshop will cover everything you need to know to start taking photos like a pro. Topics include:

*Shooting in Manual mode

*ISO

*Shutter Speed

*Aperture

*Focus

*Lenses

*Metering

*Freezing action photos

*Panning action photos

*Understanding/reading your manual

*Learning your camera menu/buttons

*Backlighting

*Creating silhouettes

*Tips on photographing animals

*Tips on photographing children

This workshop will be held on SUNDAY, MARCH 17 from 1-4pm. Location is set at the Mustang Town Center. First two hours will be instructional, last hour will be shooting using the techniques we learned. Class fee is $100 and includes admission to any future workshops at this same level.

If you have questions, feel free to call or text me at 405-223-0931 or email heatherdbullard@Yahoo.com.

You can also reserve your spot on my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/events/454384497963897/

Hope to see you soon!

Ugh. That just melts my heart. “Baby Jack”.  Such a cutie! Over two years ago, Chandler called me to photographer her newborn baby, Jay.  Two year old Jay is now a big brother! I was so excited when she called me a couple weeks ago to set up baby Jack’s newborn session. Its always neat seeing how much kids grow between their sessions! Such a cute family

OMG. I’m gonna stop there and first say that I am too old to be saying that. My 1st grader talks like that…and I am way old. So I’ll stop.  Let me rephrase:  Whoa…I am in love with this session!!  Perk #1: This was an OpLove session.  Never heard of it? Operation Love Reunited is a program I volunteer my photography services for.  We provide free portrait sessions to soldiers who are deploying or deployed.  Soldiers have their choice of portraits with the family before the deployment, on their R&R two week vacation from overseas, coverage at their homecoming ceremony, OR my personal favorite: portraits from the family and sent to the soldier overseas as a surprise.  Love it.  I have volunteered for this for many years now, and I love it.  My husband was military for 4 years, and deployed to Iraq for 13 months.  If this program had been started during that time, I seriously would have jumped up and down and then done the outdated Cabbage Patch dance, followed by the disco sprinkler move.  I told you I’m old.

Seriously though, we all know how little the military salary is, and I am so proud I can provide photos for them during this rough time.  These photos are sent overseas, sometimes expected and sometimes as a surprise, as moral support.  My husband told me this numerous times: Mail day over there can completely change how your month is going.

I just get goosebumps thinking about that day when these photos show up over there, and he has photos of his loved ones waiting for him at home. Makes their day, week, and month over there seem better.

Ok back to my perks.  Perk #2.  I LOVE ANIMALS!!! I get emails and calls from people all the time with a regretful and almost scared tone in their voice asking if dogs are allowed at their session. Heck yes!! I am such an animal lover. And if an animal comes, you better believe I’m going home dirty cause I love that slobber and dirt from rolling in it to get the best pictures.  Love it.

Anyway, back to my session story.  Laura brought her lab puppy to the session, and it was perfect!! Perfect for a dog session is not the same as a perfect “people” session.  A perfect animal session is getting a super loveable dog that is in Heaver with the location.  Like a park. This dog was in sheer Heaver I tell ya! Woodsy smells, endless geese flying by, lots of people walking around, and the grand finale: water.

Do you love these pics as much as me? I called my family on the way home so excited to edit them!

About that grand finale I mentioned earlier. What does a lab do when he sees water? THIS!

Thats right, nothing like a dip in the fountain when its 104 degrees out.

Laura’s boyfriend also loves his dear truck, so what could be more perfect than a pic of his girlfriend, dog and truck together? To position this photo, I needed the dog on the truck bed and to sit next to Laura. Sounds easy enough, huh? Well, this is the first pose he gave me….sitting on her! It’s the small things in life, right? I love this picture of her reaction!

Finally, Laura actually thought she was gonna sneak out of there with no photos by herself! I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting a thank you letter from her boyfriend when he finds out I forced her to take them anyway! bahahaha! Look how pretty she is! Love it.

Well, thank you for taking 4 hours of your time to read this blog. Time well spent. Til next time, have a good night!

I keep telling myself I’m going to start narrowing down my portraits to specialize in a certain type. Problem is, every time I do a session I think “I definitely want to specialize in this!!”  This happens with babies, seniors, families, ALL OF THEM!! I guess I will jus specialize in all of them, right? Seniors are seriously a blast to photograph.  They’re young, happy, college-bound, and LOVE posing!

Every year I choose a senior model to represent my business at their school. Mandy is a senior at Yukon High School, and was chosen as this year’s model.  Isnt she gorgeous? We took these in an ally downtown (which I do not recommend even though it looks cool!)  It was a tad scary and we shot these photos and got the heck out of there! haha.

Last week I photographed Jaylene and her cute little family.  Aren’t they such a good looking family? Bricktown is always fun for sessions with older kids. They love to jump, climb, and walk to neat spots around there.  Love these.

Ok Ok Ok…I know what you’re thinking. Its been forever again since I’ve blogged! Well, that is true. However, it has been such a BUSY summer!! Had a ton of summer sessions, vacations and moved twice. We’re settled in now, and you really should meet the family.

Now, before I introduce the herd, its important that I mentioned those left out…which include Molly, our pitbull who won’t move out of her spot because she’s old and lazy. Also, two nasty wild hogs that my husband brought home randomly. These are not cute little pigs…they are gross and stinky and have noses as long as a ruler. And fangs.

Last but not least, our five fish that swim in the donkey water trough. *Trough* That’s a new country word I learned last month.

Anyway, on with the cast:
This is my attempt at a self portrait with Scout, one of our dogs. You can see everyone tried their hardest to photo bomb my picture. Success.

Next is our cat Hercules. We adopted him from the Petsmart in Yukon. He use to have long long hair that was all matted. We took him to a groomer and had a “lion” cut done. He likes it. And, he sits on the porch with us and pretends he’s a lion in the wild.

Next is our American Bulldog, Chops. We got her in Hawaii in 2005 when we were stationed in the military there. She sleeps in, sometimes til noon before we see her come out of her doghouse. If you wake her up earlier than that, her face droops really far (we call it the old man face).

The newest to the family are our two mini donkeys, Gabby and Melvin. Gabby was named by the kids after watching the summer Olympics and Maddie falling in love with Gymnastics. She’s pregnant, and clearly the boss of the two. Melvin…I’m not sure how I thought of that name but it fits him perfectly. He’s a people pleaser and looks like he’s half cow I think. His color is rare, white spotted.

Here’s a pic of Maddie with Gabby. Don’t you think her hair looks like the mammoth on ice age??

And here’s Hank with Melvin:

That should be the end of our family for this year. Who knows what we’ll have next year haha. My blogs featuring clients and their sessions will start tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Earlier this spring Nick & Paige had their engagement session in Bricktown. I just love this couple Can’t wait til their wedding this fall!

Well hello there strangers! If youre family or close friends, you knew my husband and I were cruising to Alaska to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. If you don’t fall into that category, you had no idea we were in Alaska-because my husband assumes you are a weirdo criminal and won’t let me blog about it until after we return.  bahaha.  Anyway, everyone has been asking where the Alaska photos are, and here they are!

We took a cruise to Alaska and Canada, and to say it was awesome would be an understatement.  Even on the ship between ports was great. 1) Because my husband is a great gambler and won a blackjack tournament   and 2) I’m a great card counter. And yes, I also won a blackjack tournament on the ship.  Wanna hear a funny story? Here it is: Started with $60 on the blackjack table. Six hours, and multiple dealers later, the first dealer comes back to the table and say, “WOW! Not bad for starting out with $60!”  Kid you not…the minute she said that the floor manager got on his security phone, turned his back toward me, and told the “Eyes in the Sky” to watch me. He was on that phone 10 minutes and when he hung up he stood at my side and watched me play for a good 30 minutes. Apparently seeing me go from $60 to $500 doesnt fly. Too bad so sad.

First stop was a cute little town called Ketchikan. I told my husband I could seriously live there if winter didnt exist in Alaska.  He then bursted my bubble by pointing out that EVERYONE would live in Alaska if there was no winter….
I apologize beforehand of all the pics of my husband I’m throwing in here. He’s hot and can’t help it.

So anyways, we’re just walking through this little cute town and what do we see? A man walking across the street with a dang ole bald eagle on his shoulder! Only in Alaska. Turns out, this bald eagle was shot and unable to return back to the wild. Alongside him was a cute little owl with the same story.

Now, I’m proud to say I knocked a few things off my bucket list while we were there, one of which was NOT planned. All I wanted was some stamps to send my kids a postcard…and what does the tourist agency do? They take advantage of my husband by telling him there are two seats left on a float plane that will take us 60 miles through untouched Alaska. I hate flying. My husband put on his pouty face, they reduced the tickets to half off, and the next thing I knew I was on a dang old floating plane.

This is right before I flipped out when we hit a cloud.

On the upside…how awesome are these?

This is my husband’s favorite picture…mainly because I’m holding on for dear life.

A few days later, captured these two images from our ship.

I think the highlight of our trip was our 8 mile hike up a glacier. Oh yes. That’s right. Halfway up, it still looked normal…rocks, trees, and flowing water.

Mile 6 was completely covered in snow and our clothing had gone from t-shirts to full out ski gear. The snow shoes and I had a love/hate relationship at first.

This is me pretending I’m at the peak of Mt. Everest.

And finally, when we made it all the way back down to our starting point, the picture perfect train picked us up for a scenic ride back to the ship. The end.