Gregg's Studio Blog

I always said I'd NEVER do this...

For my entire career my prices have only gone one way...UP!

After all, it's not like the cost of running a business ever goes down!

So, it may come as a surprise that I've decided that it's time for a price cut on Weddings.

Why? It's a variety of things. Being an optimist by nature, I always believed that the economic situation for Americans would get better before long. Yet, here we are three and a half years into the Global Economic Crisis and for most people, things still pretty much suck. Yes, the stock market has rebounded but jobs are still hard to come by for a lot of people and most of the ones who are working are doing it for less and less.

The wages of living sure haven't kept up with the cost of living...ask anyone who's filled up their gas tank in the last few weeks.

So, I've cut the costs of our wedding coverages.

Yes, I'll be working for less, but at a time where so many people are doing the same thing, it's only fair. I love wedding photography and, even after all this time, I still think it's a great way to spend a Saturday (...or Friday...or Sunday).

I'm still going to only do a set amount of weddings per year. I love my portrait work and most families and many seniors can't get to me during the week, they need the Saturday appointment and, when I'm doing a wedding, I don't take those appointments for that weekend.

If you're already one of our brides, you'll be happy to know that the new prices are in effect for you, too. If you've been on the fence about asking me to be part of your wedding day, I hope this helps.

I haven't lost my optimism, but for the time being, I'm going to be a realist.

Gregg

PS Thanks to our new pricing structure, I'll be able to save our clients up to several hundred dollars in sales taxes, allowing our clients to keep more of their money. I'm sure they can use it...

A Very Special Offer For Our 2012 Brides.

First of all, thanks for coming by to see us at the Perfect Wedding Guide's Engaged! Show at Union Station.It's great to talk to all of you.

I hope you got a chance to see our Engagement Signature Album. Custom designed for each of our brides, it contains all the images from your engagement session and plenty of room for your friends and family to leave special messages on your wedding day.

For a limited time, I'm giving an engagement session and our signature album, a value of $500, at no charge to our 2012 brides. Yep, absolutely FREE!!

Why? Well, I always like to get my schedule set early in the year. I'm a busy guy but I love my vacation time and I really can't schedule it until I know how my weddings are going to happen. As you know, I only take about 15 weddings a year and once I've hit that number, well, that's about it and I know my busy weekends for the year.

Plus, the way I see it, if you get on the calendar early, you should be rewarded for your wisdon and foresight. It's really a win-win situation.

How long will it last? Good question. Once I get the schedule about 75% filled, that will be the end of the offer. It could last a month, a week or it could be over quickly. I know that last year, it didn't stay on the table for very long. We're currently ahead of last year in bookings, so I don't expect it to last.

I hope you're able to take advantage of this special offer.

Just give us a call at 816.741.7090 or drop me a line at info@gregghejna.com

I'd love to hear from you.

Gregg

 

Thinking about waiting to do your senior portraits in the spring?

DON'T!!!!!!

Waiting until spring for your senior portraits is an invitation to disaster. First, the weather stinks until mid to late April. With most graduations around mid May, it doesn't give you a whole lot of options for taking your portraits. Rescheduling sessions because of the weather is the norm not the exception and at a time of the year where you should be concentrating on the end of the year, it's thrown into chaos because you haven't gotten your portraits done.

It seems every year, we have a large percentage of seniors who wait until spring, only to say "I wish I'd done this sooner..." There's no reason to be that stressed out just before graduation.

But...you can beat the rush and call now to schedule your sessions and get some of the most coveted times (like Saturdays) before they're snapped up.

The trees are starting to change (earlier than I've ever seen), the temperatures are great and our fall sessions are on sale...what other reason do you need?

~Gregg

The Flood of 2011 Part Two

The water is finally here....

I was at the studio on Monday when they closed English Landing Park and by Wednesday the park was mostly under water, yep, that quick! Of course, I'm not surprised by any of this, we all knew the flood waters were on their way but I don't think any of us expected it to hit that quickly. Especially after being told that the river was supposed to crest weeks ago.

What now? Essentially, nothing! While the river is out of it's banks, it's still a long way away from the studio (okay, three blocks, but three blocks is a long way in Parkville). Of course I feel badly for the business and offices in English Landing, the water's a lot closer to them and I hate to see any of those businesses affected by this. 

Part of the issue that I see is that there seems to be a lack of consistent information. On one hand, I've driven by the signs in waiting directing drivers toward the Hwy. 9 North detour, even though the water isn't close to the highway. I can't believe it wouldn't take a serious influx of water to puch the river over the highway, but I guess anything is possible, but I don't seem to be the only one guessing. I know...be prepared...the Boy Scouts were on to something...

As for me, I'm not planning on going anywhere, the studio will stay open and I'll keep struggling to find a parking space while the tourists are here (by the way, nice to see you all..) and business will go on as usual. I've got sessions booked and appointments to keep. I was planning on going to reduced hours during July to let everybody, including me, enjoy the summer before August and senior portraits begin to fill up the schedule. I'm just concerned that everyone will think it's because of "THE FLOOD"...when I had it planned all along.

Our newest promotion, Take Your Family to College, begins next week. It's designed for our past seniors and it's any family session and a 5X7 portrait for only $49. After all, it's easy to get homesick away at college and this is a great way to say "thank you" to our past clients.

I guess the long and short of it is that we're open along with the rest of Downtown Parkville. After all, this is the town that won't die, whether it's the great flood of '93, the not so great flood of '07 or the train wreck of '99, we'll be here, I hope you'll be here too. When you come to look at the water, please stop in and say "Hi!"....I'll be here.

Gregg

The Flood of 2011 Part One

For the last two days volunteers have been working night and day to create a sandbag wall between Parkville's historic downtown business district and the rising waters of the Missouri River.

First and foremost, like all of the downtown merchants, thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who gave their time and worked in the 95 degree heat to create the "Great Wall of Parkville", your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Next, we have to deal with the speculation and rumors about the flood. What we know is that the water is expected to come out of its banks sometime this weekend and is expected to crest around the 18th. It's also generally accepted that the water will be with us anywhere from four to eight weeks. What we don't know is how high the water will get and this has been the fodder for the rumors. Could it be as bad as 1993? Anything is possible, but I keep hearing, that it's extremely unlikely.

We last dealt with floodwaters in 2006 that left most of downtown untouched. Hopefully, this is our worst case scenerio, but it's always best to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

I'm still planning on being here every day (even if I have to wear my ID badge I was issued yesterday) and we WILL be open until someone tells me we can't. I'm an optimist with a dose of reality, I really think we'll be allright.

In the meantime, we seem to have become a bit of a tourist attraction with a steady stream of onlookers, even though the river is still in it's banks. Personally, I'm glad to see the faces, but it's turned us into No Place To Park-ville.

Thanks to eveyone who has called or emailed to show their concern and support, it's great to have people who are concerned about you and your business.

If you're in the nieghborhood (and you actually find a place to park!) drop in and say "hi", I'll be here!

Gregg

The Death of Radio As We Know It

A little over a month ago, the suits at KFKF decided that they could live without a voice that has been waking Kansas Citians up for almost 25 years when they decided they didn't need Mary McKenna anymore. Along with Dan Holiday she was given her walking papers.

Now, granted, I'm a little biased, this is my wife we're talking about after all, but there was no reason other than greed and mismanagement that caused this to happen. Once upon a time, radio was run by radio people, people who understood talent and it's value to the listener. People who understood when the surveys said "play more music" it wasn't "talk less", it was "play fewer commercials". After all, if I want music, there are more than a few outlets like Pandora, satellite radio and mp3 players that give me music without commercials.

The idea of radio is to be entertained. If you don't believe me, why are the all talk stations so popular? In fact, they're so popular that now you can listen to the same station on AM and FM, yes, Rush Windbag is now available in stereo.

I, for one, am just giving up on Kansas City radio. I'm tired of the barrage of car dealership and mortgage company commercials that flood the airways. I want to be entertained, and that's NOT entertainment. I'm not one to long for the "good old days", that's living in the past and that's not me. It's like driving through life looking in the rear view mirror, sooner or later you're going to crash into something.

I blame the people who own and run the stations, people who only know how to compete for the ad dollar by lowering prices and stuffing the airways. They've created the button pushing that we all do in our cars.

They've also fell victim to and incredibly flawed ratings system. Did you know that in the Kansas City metro area, ratings are determined by a device called a Personal People Meter? This device picks up the radio signal in the proximity of the individual wearing it, even if they didn't tune to that station.

And, it's not like everybody has one of these, in fact, it's estimated that there are only 220 meters for the age group 25-54...that's right, 220 for the ENTIRE metro. To call this flawed, is to be kind...to call it a major CF would be accurate.

Local radio is caught in a trap that it built and can't get out.

The interesting thing is that I've begun to listen to a station out of St. Joe, K-JO. Fewer commercials, a nice play list, interesting people and I'm not hitting buttons. Maybe KC could take a lesson from it's little community to the north. This is radio worth listening to.

I won't be sad when Kansas City radio is crushed under its own weight and becomes a shadow of its former self...but it will be disappointing.

Gregg

 

I've been a very busy guy

As some of you know, I recently was in the Caribbean doing some shooting. No matter what you're doing on the beach, it never seems like work and that certainly was the case this time.

Right before I left, Jenny, Rosey and I began work on the new studio website and our two mailings, one to the brides we saw at the last two bridal fairs and our first senior card of the spring began to arrive.

So, with all that on the stove, I wasn't exactly surprised to come back to non-stop work.

I began teaching my three part class on understanding light and I've got some really great photographers in the class. This is the first time I've taught it at the studio but with Photographx condensing their retail space, there's just no room for a class there anymore.

The phone has been ringing almost as much as it's been snowing and raining (yeah, spring in Kansas City!). We're down to just a few times available for the 75% discount on senior portrait sessions and our wedding bookings for 2011 have begun to fill the calendar.

I love to be busy, heck, I'm easily bored when I'm not, so this is great. If you haven't made your senior portrait appointment or you'd still like to discuss your wedding, I'm happy to find a spot on the calendar for you. You can always call the studio at (816) 741-7090 or fire off a text to (816) 550-1692.

And....drum roll, please.....coming to a computer near you....our brand new website!

I'm expecting the site to be up and running early next week. I've still got a little tweaking to do on it, but I'm excited! The new site is much easier to navigate and we've condensed the pricing sections down to a more manageable size.

We've also changed the portfolios. Now, when you want to look at just the senior Downtown session or the getting ready images for a wedding, it's a simple click of the mouse. No more having to wade through gallery after gallery just to find what you're looking for.

In addition, our client previews section will be contained within the site itself, no more logging on and off the site to see your session or you wedding.

It's really a fun time here at the studio, here's my invitation to join us in the fun.

Gregg

One of the good things about snow.

Snow means something special at the studio, our Senior Snow Special.

A Studio and Outdoor session for FREE! That's right...FREE!

I'm one of those strange creatures who really likes the snow and I love being a photographer in the snow, it's the one time I just really don't feel cold in the winter. Yeah, I know, it's kinda crazy, but that's just me.

So, if you'd like to have really unique senior portraits and capture the best of the winter of 2011, you can email me at info@gregghejna.com (while the snow is falling, I'm not sure when I'll actually be at the studio, hey, I love the snow...but I'm not crazy) for availability. It looks like we could start shooting by Friday and have snow well into next week.

If you haven't visited my website, you can check out my portfolio and pricing at www.kcsenior2011.com

Snow angels anyone?

Gregg

Why does wedding planning have to be so stressful?

The venue, the flowers, the guest count, table settings, DJ or band, pick a caterer, choose a dress, choose bridesmaid dresses they’ll love (haha…good luck), deal with your new mother-in-law, stay on budget…AHHH! I thought weddings were supposed to be fun, not stressful!   Congratulations, by the way! With the stress of planning a modern day wedding affair, sometimes you need to rely on others to help you through the stresses of the big day. But with all the elements you have to deal with as a bride it can seem extremely overwhelming, even with a wedding planner by your side. Trust me, I’ve seen it all!    I’ve been creating professional wedding images for my clients for 30 years. Last time I counted, that’s over 1200 weddings under my belt and counting! I’m not doing 50-60 a year anymore, though—I like to keep it around 15-20 at the max with a few destination weddings thrown in there as well. One of the reasons is that I like taking the time to actually get to know my clients beforehand. How else am I going to capture the true essence of you and your groom unless I know a little something about you!   About 80% of my brides today are current clients, many of which were high school senior clients of mine.   It's pretty cool, I've been called upon to photograph my client's special day all over the place from Kansas City to Maine, New York to Chicago, and Iowa to St. Louis!

So after all these years, do I still love photographing wedding and engagement portraits? You bet! Call me a hopeless romantic—I love helping couples capture their love through photographic art. Your wedding day will be one of the best days of your life, but you only have one chance to capture it.   Unfortunately, these days, my staff and I get phone calls from frantic brides all the time hoping we can “fix” their wedding photographs. With the advent of digital photography, anybody and everybody with a camera thinks they’re a photographer. You know what I’m talking about; everyone has a “friend of a friend.” It seems all you need is a camera and website…now you’re in business! This could not be further from the truth; there is a difference between a full time professional and someone with a “nice” digital camera.

Would you choose a DJ because they have a “nice” iPod? Would you trust a caterer who said they are just doing weddings for cheap to build up their experience? Would you let someone fix your hair so they can tell their clients they’ve done weddings?      You see what I am getting at? Unfortunately, many brides are doing this with their photographers and thinking there is nothing wrong with it until it’s too late. This can add major stress both the day of wedding and beyond. But it’s not the brides’ fault—they are inundated by photographers at the wedding shows where they seem to be in every other booth! Talk about stressful!

Yes, experience is nice, but what does that mean for you the bride? Simple—I know what I am doing!    Ok, seriously, I’ve done this long enough to know how to do it right. I’m not the photographer you hire via email, see once, have show up the day of the wedding, and leave you with thousands of images to sort through on a disc.   Part of making your wedding day a successful and un-stressful affair is planning and trust. From your first consultation with me to the meetings leading up the wedding day, you’ll take comfort in knowing that your photographer has a vested interest in your happiness and sanity! I actually care and take the time to get to know you. Even how you see your final images is different and hands on!   A mere 12 days after the wedding you’ll see your edited and color corrected images on our website in a password protected folder. No proofs you’ll have to share with everyone, no dorky slide show to sit though and high pressure sales to go with it…no, this is about YOU and taking your time to enjoy your wedding images in the comfort of your own home.     Then, one by one everyone gets to pick their favorites and place their order for prints/albums; we even begin to design your final album immediately after you place your order! That’s another thing; we have an in-house album designer to help you get the wedding album of your dreams!  No waiting forever to see your album design…and YOU approve the final design, after all…it’s YOUR album!

As for wedding day stress, it’s something I have seen time and time again. In a sense, planning a wedding is like planning a life together. Having a wedding in itself is a test for a young couple’s relationship; it forces you to have to work together. But just like in life, people along the way will help you through stressful times.   A photographer should fill that role on the wedding day. I always see myself as not just an image taker the day of, but someone who helps the bride and groom enjoy their day.   Wow, this is a little longer than I expected, but it comes from the heart. If you think you might be a good fit as one of our wedding clients, give me a call; I’d love to have you out to the studio for a free consultation. If you already have a photographer, I wish you nothing but the best and congratulations on your up-coming wedding day!   Gregg Hejna www.kcwedphoto.com (816) 741-7090

Photos from the KC Weddings Bridal Spectacular are online

Okay, it took a little longer than I expected because of the weather, but if you were one of the many people who visited our booth at the KC Weddings Bridal Spectacular, you may be on our Facebook page.

To check it out, go to www.kcwedphoto.com and click the Facebook link.

Thanks again for coming by.

Gregg