what exactly is a digital negative?

a digital negative is simply, the digital version of old school negatives.

the purchase of a high resolution negative (or the whole set) allows you to duplicate the photograph, using it as you need.  (unless you plan on making bank, in which case, we will need to talk ) you are not granted any rights to the photograph, , instead you receive a license to print the photograph- all photographs remain property & copyright  of Shauna Maness Photography.

why would you purchase digital negatives?

you want great duplication and printing quality?

you need the digital negatives.

you know for sure that you need 4,567 5×7’s to send to every aunt, uncle, cousin, best friend’s sister, and neighbor-

you need the digital negatives

are you a scrapbooker? blogger? do you know that you are going to want more than a “few” from your session to display in your home and give as gifts?

you need the digital negatives.

are you a DIY crazed archivist of all things family?  will you make books, file neatly, and store in the safety deposit box all sacred photos?

you need the digital negatives.

are you the kind of person (i am) that just wants to have them ALL in case, well, you never know when you are going to need them- or as you look through them you don’t want to have missed one that ends up being your favorite!! (gasp!!!)

you need the digital negatives.

what you receive when you purchase a set of digital negatives

(individual negatives are delivered online)

a really great wrapped metallic case that will look great on display itself!

High Resolution Digital Negatives of every Photograph in your collection

a printed license outlining what your printing privileges are (you may need these if you are printing them in a store)

the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have every image, FOREVER.

how incredible is that???

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quite honestly, there are a million options when it comes to products these days- and sometimes when i sit down with clients i feel like one of those guys in Venice that opens up his trench coat and has watches lining the insides up and down… sooo overwhelming…  i try to keep things limited and simple, but it’s kind of tough when there are so many cool ways to enjoy your collection & everyone’s different tastes would merit a couple of target aisles worth of options so as to ensure you have what you like.  even with that said, simple is key.

two of my favorite heirloom products are coffee table style books & flush mount albums- they both allow custom design and allow for many images to be selected.  i really loved the session i did of Zoe and Rai, so i created a studio sample using their images- here is an example of a little birdy told me {art} album.  thanks to jessica for creating these layouts for me in the fall!

this is what a finished flush mount album looks like:

here is a small peak at the {a little birdy told me} {art}albums

and here is the customized version- up close and beautiful! one of the greatest thing about albums is that you can use them to tell your story- with the image selection, editing style, and layout- a really beautiful story can be told with your images… a story that will last for generations!

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here is what the float wraps look like on the wall- I hung them last night- me+specific measurements+desire for clean look= way too much thinking.

in case you missed the HOW TO SELECT IMAGES FOR YOUR STUDIO... check it out here.

more to come later today…. happy monday!

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i mean, seriously.  3 boxes… 12 FLOAT WRAP PRINTS… who wouldn’t love ups more than cotton candy & popcorn? (i seriously love those things)

it has taken me MONTHS to decide what to adorn our walls with, how to do it excellently, and give my clients a great visual that teaches them how to tastefully live with their images as art- as opposed to throwing stuff of the walls & calling it a day.

your walls should be a reflection of the things you cherish most.  for me, personally, that’s the people i love and the places i love. for, me professionally, it is what will communicate what i do most clearly to everyone who walks in our office- client or no client.

so, naturally- i want my walls to look great.

truthfully, i want them to be so stellar that it looks like a magazine feature (who doesn’t right?) you know all of those houses in pottery barn are REAL houses, they just style them to look incredible- so figure i should style my own- and you should too.  Not that we could all go out and pick anything we want from the most recent pottery barn- but we CAN do the best with what we have. (for me that means finding what i like in an expensive magazine and then looking for a translation of that at the thrift store or antique shop- most of the recent design is all throw backs anyway… so i’m getting the real deal for a FRACTION of the cost)  you would laugh if i told you the stories of each little piece in our home.

so, this is how i’ll break it down- if you are running your business from the place you live- you might want to think about these things!

i just realized there are two days in a row of lists… this won’t happen daily- but i’m learning a lot here so i thought i would share!

first- we live in the same place that we do business- BUT differently that someone “working out of their home”.

our entire downstairs is devoted to Shauna Maness Photography- we live upstairs- there are no bedrooms or personal things downstairs.  all my family photos, little things that i love, clothing, jewelry, “stuff” you just have when you live… it’s all upstairs. the only exception are two images that i took of me and brandon- i love the shots, so i have them as displays.

downstairs is “supposed” to be clean, neat, professional, and really stinkin’ groovy.  most days it is- but sometimes junk comes out of no where!!

SO, BACK TO THE WALLS. (this is for the photographers)

here is what i considered when picking wall displays:

1. WHAT I WANTED TO SELL: my clients trust me, and they want their art to look amazing.  if i have it and they are blown away with it- they know that if they have others will be too… so, simply- the products that i love and want my clients too… i have to display
2. CHOOSING WHAT WALLS TO USE: i don’t like going places and every wall being covered- i get overwhelmed and loose interest.  i wanted to choose the walls and space within the walls so that rooms felt balanced and personal- not like you were walking into a gallery with price tags by each image
3. CHOOSING THE PRINTS TO DISPLAY: this can be TRICKY especially when there are soo many that i love- i made it happen like this: PICK MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES (there were over 200), consider what images really translate my style, and think about which clients would value being able to purchase a sample at the end of the year when i am ready to re-cover the walls.  none of my clients would ever be obligated to purchase the sample, they would simply have the opportunity to- and most jump at that opportunity because i sell them for 60% off.  that’s hard to pass up considering the other option is the trash… YIKES.
4. FIGURING OUT THE SIZES & ARRANGEMENTS: this took me FOREVER.  i promise, i walked around with a measuring tape for 2 weeks and when i finally decided on the size of the area- i had to decide on the prints IN the area… so that took another two weeks!
5. DECIDING WHICH PRODUCTS GO WHERE: for me, i knew that i wanted to feature 4 different product options- MOUNTED PRINTS CUSTOM FRAMED, FRAMED PRINTS WITH MATS, FLOAT WRAP PRINTS, AND GALLERY WRAPPED CANVAS. i knew i wanted to display them all tastefully… so that took 2 more weeks.
6. RESEARCHING COST WITH MY VENDORS: this is the time of year that samples go on sale (because everyone is changing their walls) so i looked through my vendors and tried to find the best deals- i ended up saving 25% on one product  and 30% on another- that translates to SERIOUS cash when you are printing as much as i do… so it was well worth the research time!
7. SET A BUDGET: you want to make sure that this investment will return- if you can sell your displays at the end of the year, that is great- but if you don’t have the opportunity to- will your displays endure the changing fads, styles, and trends? will the money you invest in samples come back to you in orders? are you ordering products that YOU LIKE? or products that YOUR CLIENTS WILL INVEST IN?
8. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ORDER: the last thing you want is to spend 2,000 on a canvas printing to find out that they didn’t wrap the images like you wanted.  some ordering systems are tricky… so make sure that you are uploading correctly- when in doubt, CALL. i placed my order and received a phone call 2 mornings later to double check on my gallery wraps- i didn’t see the box to check to actually WRAP the image (they had changed their ordering system) and they knew my normal ordering preferences and wanted to double check- GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!  – so, learn from my mistake- your vendor might not be so thoughtful!
9. WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE DELIVERY MAN: i almost tackled the ups guy yesterday i was so excited to see the float wraps- they exceeded my expectations- i couldn’t be more thrilled!!  so, once you place your order, double check your intensity level and don’t camp out on your front porch

i hope this was informative… and that it helps with the difficult task of picking your favorites! when i get the gallery wraps in, i’ll post pictures and share how to select images for your walls at home!

hope you are enjoying the brisk weather!!! here are up close images of the little beauties!! (these are all metallic finish… and sooo yummy)

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