Finding older sports galleries

When we undertook the process of redesigning our website, one of the reasons was to make it a little more user friendly, especially for those who are looking for galleries from pervious sports seasons.

Finally, we have completed our archiving process and we are happy to annouce that any sports gallery we shot since 2008 is now much easier to find.

When you click on the sports link on our home page, you will now see this listing of the sports for which there are galleries.

So for instance, if you were looking to see BFA-St. Albans football galleries from 2010, you could click on the football link and it will bring you to this screen.

Then you would click on 2010 High School and you will see this page.

Then you just select a BFA-St. Albans gallery - pretty simple.

The same process follows for all sports: Click on the sport, then click on the year and age group, i.e. High School, Little League, Youth, etc ... and then click on the gallery.

Another option is to search for the image using the little box at the top left of any screen on my website.

Because we did not initally set up key words for all galleries, the search feature doesn't always work as well as we like for older galleries, but it seems to work well for anything taken in the last year. It will only work with school names and sports, not a person's name. Sorry, that would take forever to set up - hahaha!

Senior portraits tips and tricks

Thanks for letting me take your senior portraits - I promise to do all I can to make the process fun (or for the guys, at least tolerable) and get you and your folks lots of photos you can all be proud to share with friends and family.

Here are some general guidelines to make sure your session goes as smoothly as possible.

Don’t look for the sign - I rent from Jenny's Barn on Route 120 in Franklin. Because I'm on there by appointment, there is no sign. That said, if you see a barn with a bright red roof and an old tractor in the front, you are in the right spot. Please park next to my car.

Timing is everything - I try to get the studio about 15 minutes before the first shoot of the day and then the day is pretty tightly packed so while I’d love to have you show up a few minutes early for your session, please try not to show up too early as I could still be still working with my previous client (or I may not yet be at the studio) and that’s an awkward moment for all concerned. Likewise, if you are going to be more than 10 minutes late, please call 782-5317 and leave me a message so I know you are still coming.

Bring help - If possible, please have a family member or friend join you at the session. This is for two reasons - it’s always nice for you to have someone there who can help you feel comfortable at the shoot and if we get a sunny day, we use a sun blocker (a piece of fabric on a wire frame) to keep you out of the sun. We can do sessions without a second set of hands, but it can be a bit limiting on a sunny day.

But not too much - Unless you are pairing a family portrait session with the senior session please try to limit the amount of people who will be joining us that day. If we do a family sitting, we will do it first and then ask the rest of the family to either take a short drive to get a snack or wait in the studio as we progress onto the senior session. It’s my experience that more people who are watching, the less comfortable the senior is apt to be. 

You gotta want it - Getting your portrait taken can be very stressful for some people. It’s normal to be anxious, but if you are well-rested, well-fed and have a good attitude I can get you great images to choose for your yearbook photo. That said, if you really DON’T want to have your photo taken, it’s going to show. I don’t have a magic button that I can press on the camera to make you smile or to make a fake, half-hearted smile seem real. It’s OK not to get your portraits taken professionally if you are going to hate the experience. I like to keep things light and moving quickly. There’s nothing worse for both sides when the happy photographer meets the grumpy teen. If that’s you, do us both a favor and have a friend snap your photo for the yearbook not waste both of our times (and your folks’ money).

Going the extra smile - There are two kids of smiles, fake and real. You know the difference. Everyone does. In one you look OK, in the other you look like you when you are happy. You are smiling for real when your cheekbones lift a little and your eyes squint a little. It’s the way you look just before a laugh. I can’t make you laugh, but you can. A little fake laugh will go a long way to getting the smile you (and especially, your folks) want. 

Get serious - No one can smile non-stop. You need to take a break and sometimes a closed-mouth grin works just as well. We will do some of those ‘looks’ so feel free to practice a couple of those in the mirror, too. 

The rain game - If it rains, it’s lousy for photos (unless you are the one-in-a-million senior who only wants indoor shots). I ask for cell numbers of all clients in case of rain so we can reschedule. That said, overcast skies are the best thing for photos, so it’s a fine line between perfect and unworkable conditions. Communication is the key. If it rains midway through your session you can reschedule for a full-session at no charge (and you still get your other images to choose, from too). 

Change (of clothes) is good - My rule of thumb is bring more clothes than you think you will want to wear - guys typically do a couple of different shirts and gals might opt for three or four outfits - feel free to bring more, though. Depending on the time of day, time of year, etc ... some outfits work better than others. 

Avoid the light - While you are free to wear what you like, it’s my experience that white tops and pastels can sometimes be problematic, especially on a bright, sunny day. This doesn’t mean you can’t wear them, so bring them and we can make the call on the day of the shoot.

Glasses half empty - Do you wear glasses? If so, bear in mind that transition lenses will make it look like you are having your photos taken with sunglasses on. Also, sometimes the fill-flash we use causes the lens of the glasses to be filled with white light. We can typically work around that, but if you want a trouble-free glasses experience, you can always remove the lenses before the shoot - sure you won’t see as well, but sometimes vanity should prevail. Another option is to not wear the glasses at all.

Get propped up - Feel free to bring props - sports uniforms, sporting equipment, musical items, dogs, cats or even a special ‘friend’ to the shoot. 

We can fix that - Don’t fret if you have some skin blemishes - you’re a teenager, it’s pretty common. We touch-up photos for free when you order them, so don’t worry about it.

Relax - You will feel like a dork the first few minutes of the shoot, but it does get easier and most people leave the studio with a big smile and tons of great images to choose from.

Buddy-up - We offer sessions where you and a friend can have their photos taken at the same time - it’s a little less expensive than the normal sitting fee because there two of you. And it tends to be a lot of fun for you both because you have someone there going through the process with you and helping you look and pose your best. 

After the shooting ends - You will get an email from me within about 24 hours with a link to a private web gallery. No one without this link will be able to find the photos on the internet. You can share the link with friends and family. The gallery never expires and you can order from it as often as you like. You can also narrow down your choice easily by ‘favoriting’ the best images - you can then toggle back and forth between seeing all the images or just your favorites. We do not provide a proof book. You can request one, but there is a fee. We do not provide a CD of all the images, either. Any image you order will be professionally cropped and edited, but we will not over-blur the image or make it look fake. We want it to look better, not different. After an image is ordered and edited, you can request a Facebook version of the photo - it will be large enough to look good on the web, but it will have a discreet watermark and if you try to print it, it will print horribly.

Tips just for guys

OK, I get it. You hate your photo taken. So do I. So let’s make this as quick and painless as possible. Strike a bargain with the folks - they get to pick out one outfit and in return for your kind cooperation you get to choose the second (and can wear a hat if you want to). Oh yeah, and they have to buy you a meal at your favorite restaurant after. 

Your end of the bargain is this: You will smile, really smile. And not complain all the way to the studio. (Your folks have done a lot for you over the years, being a good sport is a nice way to show your thanks.)

My end of the bargain is this: I will work quickly, show you all the poses (and trust me, they are all guy poses; leaning against a tree, sitting on a picnic table, a couple of Captain Morgan-style poses) and get you images your folks will love. It should not take more than 45 minutes, I promise.

Tips just for girls 

Whereas guys almost universally hate having their photos taken, girls split about 50-50 between those who love it and those who don’t. 

If you don’t love to have your photo taken, it’s OK, but do bring an open-mind and a smile to the session. Your attitude really counts and if you don’t feel comfortable you won’t photograph well. If it might make it easier for you, ask a good, supportive friend to join you at your session. We also offer ‘buddy-sessions’ at a discount where you and a friend get their photos done at the same time - you get to watch each other getting their photos taken and get some shots taken together, as well.

Choose clothes carefully - bring items you feel comfortable wearing. Please bring at least one, dark long-sleeved shirt - you might not end up wearing it, but we want the focus in at least some of the shots to be just on your face, not a bold, bright print or your sleeveless arms, etc. Speaking of arms, very few girls (or women) like the way their upper arms photograph (Often, this is when we break out the dark, long-sleeved shirt - hahaha!) - so keep that in mind when choosing outfits.

Dresses and skirts are a little limiting in what poses we can do, but if you like them and you are comfortable in them, bring them and we can make it work. 

Wear comfortable shoes. We will do a little walking around the portrait park, and shorts are OK if it’s warm. Come prepared to go barefoot - some of the poses we like to do involve kicking off the shoes and sitting or laying in the grass. Flip-flops or sandals are a practical footwear choice, unless it’s a cool, damp day, of course.

Accessories are like ice cream, there is such as a thing as too much, but a little is great. If you are going to wear a scoop-necked shirt, some sort of necklace can be a great accessory. Earrings, bracelets, scarves and belts can also bring a different look to an outfit. Bring some, even if you don’t wear them. More options are better and you don’t want to get to the studio and play the ‘wish-I-had-brought’ game. 

Make-up is a tricky question; my rule of thumb, wear what you normally wear. Most girls want want their senior photos to look like them, not some glammed-up version of them. That said, if you want to glam it up for some - or all - of the shoot go for it. Just make sure its OK with the folks if they are not coming to the session. 

The same applies to your hair - if you have short hair, it’s easy, but if you have long hair, we might try different hair positions (over the shoulder on one side, over the ear, down straight on both sides, etc ...) so keep that in mind. If you want to wear your hair up for some shots and down some, that’s fine. When we are working outdoors you likely will have some stray flyaways - we can usually fix those in photoshop - it’s unavoidable, but usually correctable.

Tips for parents

If it all possible, one parent should join us on the shoot. You know what you are looking for in terms of poses, smiles, clothes, etc ... but if you cannot be there, please make sure someone joins them, if possible. 

Please be patient with your senior at the shoot - remember, this can be a stressful day and if you add to it by constantly critiquing, it’s only going to make it harder. I have some techniques I use to put seniors at ease and over the course of the session their comfort level typically rises quickly if they are allowed to relax. 

If the first couple of poses and smiles aren’t perfect, it’s pretty common. Give them a few minutes of posing before judging their ‘performance.’ 

That said, I do want your input and assistance throughout the shoot - if you notice a necklace is off-kilter or a shirt is not sitting right, please speak up - I try to notice those things, but I have a lot of things on my mental checklist. 

My goals are two-fold, to give you great value for your investment in the portrait session and to make the experience pleasant for your senior. The more we can keep this a stress-free experience, the better I will be able to achieve my goals and send you both away feeling satisfied with the experience.

Payment is due at the session - we take checks, credit cards or cash. After the session you will be given instructions on how to get the photo you need for the yearbook, how to order prints, etc ...

Thanks for taking the time to review these tips and tricks to make the most of your senior photo experience!

Ordering yearbook images and prints

Ordering yearbook images and prints

Now that we have taken your senior portraits, you might be wondering: ‘Now what?”

The answer depends on what you want to do next. This document will lead you through the steps to order the image for the school yearbook, how to order prints and covers some frequently asked questions.

Ordering your yearbook image

We send the image you choose to the yearbook advisor, unless they request a hard copy (which seldom occurs).

These are the original images before cropping and editing.

These are the edited and cropped images we sent to the yearbookIt’s important that you select your image a week or so prior to the due date to allow us time to edit and crop the image and proof it back to you prior to sending it to the school.

You cannot order your yearbook image through the website (you can purchase prints of the image there, of course). You must tell us the image you want and we will then edit, crop, etc ... The best way to do this is via email.

Sandy is the yearbook image editor and when you have chosen your yearbook image please email her - sandy@coldhollowphoto.com and give her the four-digit image number that appears under the image in your gallery.

Please let her know what the senior’s full name is and what school they attend. If you have any cropping or editing instructions, please let her know (you can write “crop to the elbow, or crop down slightly from the top, etc ...) You can also request enhancements - brighten eyes, whiten teeth, remove blemishes, etc ... when you email her.

She will then edit the image, put it back in the front of the gallery and email you to have you review the image. Once you approve the crop and edit, you are done. (It’s not a bad idea to check with the yearbook advisor near the deadline to make sure the image has been sent - although in most cases we have been asked to send all of our images from seniors from a particular school all at once on a disc around the deadline date, so if you order the image early, it will not be delivered to the school until close to the deadline).

If you have any questions about this process, please email Sandy or give us a call at 933-8849.

Ordering prints

A couple of things to remember - the gallery never expires, you can order from the website as many times as you like, any image you order will be professionally edited and enhanced to make it look it’s best.

To order prints, choose an image you would like to buy. To the upper right, above the photos, but below the gallery description, is a ‘Buy’ button.

Click on that and you will have four options - This Photo - Photos in this Gallery (use this if you plan on purchasing more than one image)  - Create a Card - Photo Package (click this if you want to see the different packages we have a available.

Click on the option you would like.

If you choose ‘This Photo’ you will be directed to a screen that looks like this.

From here you would select the size, finish and quantity that you would like. If you click the merchandise tab, you can see other items we can create with the image. If you click downloads, you will see that this is not an option - we do not sell downloads of portrait images (either edited or unedited) under any circumstance.

Once you add a quantity, the screen will change slightly. Notice the View Product Video below the photo - click this to see a short video that will tell you more about the product you selected.

Once you ordered all the prints you would like, you can either click the Back to Photos button to order a different print or the checkout button to the lower right. (If you are planning to order several images you should choose the ‘Photos in this Gallery option to save yourself some time.)

If you choose the Photos in this Gallery option, you’ll be directed to a screen that looks like this:

All of the photos will be displayed in the gallery and (scroll down the web page to see more) and you can simply click on the photos you would like and  then click the Add Photos to Cart option when you are done. 

The default setting for the product is 4x6 Print when you click ‘Add Photo to Cart’ In other words, it will automatically put one 4x6 print of each image you choose into the cart. However, you can change the quantity, the size of the prints, etc ... easily when you advance to the next screen.

This is the screen you will see once you click the Add Photos to Cart screen. You choices from here are pretty clear, I think.

Ordering a package

If you would like to order a package of a single image, choose that option from the ‘Buy’ selection screen and then choose from the packages you see listed on this page.

Once you choose the package, click continue and you will advance to the next screen where you will choose the image you want to add to the package and simply drag it into one of the empty boxes - the rest of the boxes will be filled automatically.

Cropping

You have the ability to crop any of the photos to your specifications (people often fail to do this and if you do not and we feel we can improve an image with cropping, we will contact you via email and ask if you would like us to crop the images for you).

If you want to crop the images, you do that from the shopping cart (you can also change quantities, add or remove photos and products from this screen).

To crop, either click the help button to the right for some web-based instructions or follow these simple steps.

Click Adjust

You will come to this screen - use the little ‘handles’ in the corners to adjust the crop.

You can also move the crop around by clicking on the middle of the photo and moving the mouse to re-center the image.

Once you are happy with the crop, click Save Crop.

You can also rotate the crop from vertical to horizontal from this screen, as well, and hide the grid if it is a little distracting for you.

Again, if you do not crop images and we feel they would be enhanced by cropping, we will email you to suggest it.

Checking out

Once you have made all of your choices and are ready to check out, click the green check out button.

You will be directed to a screen where you fill out shipping address information.

You will choose your shipping method - remember, we have up to nine days of re-editing time we may need to use before your item can be printed and shipped, so plan accordingly.

Once you have chosen, click on the Payment Info link.

Fill out new personal information if it is different from the shipping address, or click the button to auto fill information from the previous page.

Then enter your credit card number, security code and expiration info. We also need your email information - you will not be spammed nor will your information ever be shared with a third party. You can also type in your coupon code here, as well.

Then you review the order and complete the transaction.

You will get a confirmation email detailing your order and another email when the order is shipped.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get my prints?

We build in a 9-day grace period from the time the order is placed until we have to provide our printer with the edited image. It’s possible, depending on the method of shipping you chose, it could take up to three weeks for the images to arrive.

Can I get them faster?

Yes. Sometimes we don’t need the extra time to edit the images - or if you have already ordered an image, we don’t need to edit it again. If we don’t need the extra time, you will get your images fast.

Can I pay to get them edited faster?

Yes. We charge a rush fee of $40 per image for 24-hour turnaround on editing images. You must pay this, in advance, via credit card over the phone - 802-933-8849. If you would like us to print the images locally, pick up the images and deliver them to you rather than wait for them to be processed by our normal printer - there’s an additional $75 charge for this service. Typically, we can edit, print and deliver an order within a 24-hour period within Northwestern Vermont. We do not deliver prints outside of Chittenden or Franklin County. They can be overnighted to you instead of hand-delivered at no additional charge.

How do you know what I ordered and how do you know how I want them cropped?

When you place an order, we get an email that has the images you chose and the crops you applied so there’s no guesswork.

Can I buy a disc of the images instead of prints?

Yes and No. We do not sell all the digital images from a portrait sitting, but starting in the summer of 2013 we began offering the option to buy edited images - there's a minimum of six images you can puchase for $150 - you can purchase additional images for $25 each, but you cannot purchase less than the six-pack minimum. These images will be high-resolution and ready to print, email, post Facebook, etc ... you own the images ... period. This is a great option for computer saavy folks who don't need any assistance in making their own photo books, or ordering prints. It is not a good option for those who need that next level of customer service - those folks should stick to ordering prints through us instead.

Can I get an image to put on Facebook?

Yes. We will create a Facebook-sized image of any image you order and email it to you on request. It will be the same professionally-edited image you had made into a print, but it will be re-cropped slightly and resized so it will look good on the web, but will not print well at all. It will also have a Cold Hollow Photo watermark on the bottom.

Can I pay via check?

Yes. You can order through us directly and pay via check. There is a $10 service charge on all orders placed over the phone or via email. Prints will not be ordered until the check has cleared, usually about two weeks, so plan accordingly.

Can I pay over the phone with a credit card?

Yes. You can order through us directly and pay via check. There is a $10 service charge on all orders placed over the phone or via email.

Change is gonna come ... unfortunately

Hi folks,

If you were hoping this post would have good news, think again. But it's not all bad, I guess.

First, the nut-graph: We will soon raise our price on 99-cent downloads to $1.99.

Here's why: The company that hosts our website - smug mug - has decided to raise the cost it charges us for downloads by 50 cents. Wish it weren't true and wish we could absorb the fee increase, but as you can imagine our profit on a 99-cent download isn't a lot.

When will this happen: Short answer - any second now. Long answer: We were told the price change was to begin March 1. It didn't happen. But I'm told it will happen. Soon. And when it does, our prices will jump as soon as we can make the changes to the galleries.

So, if you want to lock in those 99-cent rates, I'd suggest you act soon.

(Remember, not all galleries have 99-cent downloads, especially galleries more than a two years old. If you want to know if a gallery qualifies, email me the name of the team and I can tell you quickly.)

Of course, another complicating factor is that many of our galleries are not listed because of our new website design. There are over 1,000 galleries we need to re-catagorize and it's taking forever to do that. It will get done at some point, but not soon.

However, all is not lost. We have a new search feature at the top of the website that works like a dream to find galleries. Simply type in the name of the team you are lookinf for and the list of the galleries with that team name in the title will appear.

For instance, say you want to find all BFA-St. Albans girls hockey photos from 2012. Type in BFA-St. Albans 2012 and you will find these, and probably some other BFA games, but you'll find your galleries soon enough.

A couple of hints on searching - we always use the proper school name in our gallery titles and not the mascot, i.e. BFA-St. Albans, BFA-Fairfax, not Comets, Bullets, Rockets, etc ... Also, we always put the year in title, so searches for Richford 2012 should yield great results. Sometimes we put the sport in the title - we will do so for all galleries moving forward, but it's possible a search for Enosburg girls soccer 2012 might not yield results, but Enosburg 2012 will - you will just have to search for the girls soccer galleries.

Make sense? If you have any questions, email shawn@coldhollowphoto.com

Thanks for visiting the blog!

Shawn

Growing pains

Greetings from the great state of Alaska - I am here for a few days on vacation and will be back Tuesday.

Some of you might have noticed we have changed the look of our website - www.coldhollowphoto.com - and while we are hopeful in the long term that it will be a change for the better, at present this process is not going as well as expected and the site is, for all intents and purposes, unusable.

Moreover, this is not likely to change until st least Wednesday.

Rest assured, all of the photos we have taken over the years are still going to be accessible in the future, but for right now they are not.

I apologize for the situation, but it's out of my control until I return.

If you would like to be notified when the site is functional again, please email me - shawn@coldhollowphoto.com and I'll shoot you an email to let you know when this occurs.

Thanks for your patience with this process, but we are hopeful that these growing pains will eventually lead us to a website that is better organized and easier to use in the future.

Thanks!