HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Wow, this first year of Angela Valerie Photography has been so great! Thank you to all of my clients for choosing me and for making my job so much fun. I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

In this first year, I went into business with a plan. I went for the type of photography that I love; lifestyle photography. Although I enjoyed every minute of it, something was missing. I felt off. So I tried using props in a few sessions. That wasn’t it. Then I realized that no matter how I tried to adjust each shoot, this type of photography wasn’t 100% me. Then the panic set in. I was in my first year of business and I had not yet found myself. I was lost and ready to quit. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to wake up one day and feel clarity. Well, it wasn’t as easy as waking up one day, but a few different things pieced it together for me and I am happy to say that I am SO excited for what is to come.

I am making many changes as an artist and as a business owner. It has been very challenging combining the two and I hope that this year will be my ultimate year of growth. I want business and photography to become the best of friends. I will start by explaining my artistic changes and then head on over to the business ones.

As far as lifestyle photography is concerned, I still love it, but I found that I tend to try to document and observe rather than direct and stage. In all of my past personal work and schooling, it seemed that documentary photography was my thing. I didn’t want to be a photojournalist, so I just wrote it off as a style that would be for my personal projects. Now that I am working as a photographer, I can’t help but want to get back to my roots and offer documentary photography as my main focus. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good casual portrait and I fully intend to take them during your session. In fact, I love to do them right off the bat so that they are out-of-the-way and everyone can begin to have fun and relax. What I am going to accomplish during your session will be that of visual story-telling.

Here are some examples of what you can expect to see.

A family picnic:

Tool time with dad:

A family nature walk:

Life with a newborn:

First day of school:

A stroll with the Dog:

I am inspired by REAL life and REAL moments. I love all things honest and genuine. I love imperfection and awkwardness. Most of all, I love a good story. Your story should be documented. Your story should be available for your future generations to grab hold of, soak in, and understand who you were. Documentary photography provides a story and a priceless keepsake for your family. This is what I feel passionate about. Life is filled with fleeting moments of joy and adventure and laughter. They pass so quickly and time will often take those memories away. Take action and prevent that from happening.

Ok, on to business. On my website you can view my new pricing structure. I have included two documentary options. I have also updated the “about me” section and added a couple of other items under the “about” tab. Please take a look around.

When adjusting the pricing structure, I realized that what I had offered last year didn’t really appeal to ME as a consumer. I value value and although what I offered was considered at (or less than) the industry standard for my type of photography, I still didn’t feel like I was offering a good value to my clients. I understand that most people want the digital negatives and although I fear the print results from your local one hour photo, I have decided to offer some options. A disc of high res files from your session can be purchased and I am also offering a disc of web sized images that can make up to 4×6 prints (which is a much cheaper option). The best value that I feel I offer now is the print credit with each session. When you book a session with AVP, your session fee isn’t just for your photographer’s time and talent. You will also receive a print credit to use to order prints, canvases, standouts, cards, etc.

This year I have also added a referral program. If you refer your friends to AVP and they mention your name when they contract a session, you will get a $100 credit towards prints. With just a few referrals, you can earn yourself a large gallery of prints to decorate your walls or give as gifts to your loved ones.

I just want to end this by sending out a HUGE thanks to my awesome family, friends and clients for all your support in 2011. I am so excited for 2012 and the future of AVP.