Whew..another month has passed

Twas the night before the night before the night before Christmas and we have delivered virtually every order our customers needed before Christmas. And now its time to wish all of our friends and customers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you for making it possible to do what we do here at the studio for almost 30 years.

Its almost Thanksgiving

All of a sudden I realized it has been over a month since I have posted here. It has been a busy time at the studio. Portraits In The Park, seniors, babies, families...whew. Also we have been busy with portraits for Christmas. Our Christmas cards are always popular. They are high quality, very professional looking and quite reasonably priced.

Somehow Georgia and I managed to sneak off for a couple of days and headed off to Yosemite National Park for some R & R. I shot 1200 photographs in 3 days at the park. I have included one of my sunset photos from the trip.

Happy Thanksgiving to all........

Portraits In The Park

Time Flies

I cannot believe it has been almost 2 months since my last post..... We have been busy with seniors and babies and preschools. I also was away from the studio for about 10 days on a commercial assignment. It involved a lot of photography and a lot of flying. I am lucky to have Amanda and Renee here at the studio in my absence. We are about to announce the date for the fall PORTRAITS IN THE PARK. I am afraid at the rate the leaves are changing (or not changing) it will probably be the first week of November before we have good color. Check back here after the weekend for the real dates. We will be busy with a wedding this saturday and a planned outdoor reception (hoping it stays dry).

Location Photographs

We have worked very hard to have a number of different outdoor"looks" here around the studio. I think there are about 2 dozen different locations here and around our property. We also take a lot of pleasure in going out to find the perfect location for someone who wants more. Spencer wanted to combine his love of his truck and of fishing so off we went. We can do it for you as well.....

Don't forget our "Daytime Special" for seniors, Feree 48 wallets and an addition pose to any package, a $75.00 value.

Yearbook Deadlines

I have just been informed the the ECHS yearbook deadline is November 13, 2009. This new deadline gives us an extra month or so. This is perfect for seniors who were too busy over the summer, or who just wanted to wait until it was cooler. This is also an opportunity for those who went somewhere else and were not happy with their photographs, to come to and experience real portrait photography in a studio and on location. The NGHS deadline is the end of September, and NHS is as always in January. Some of the private schools have given us deadlines in October as well. Remember our WEEKDAY SPECIAL, 48 Free Wallets and an additional pose in any package.

School is starting and I have a deal for you

School starts tomorrow and our pace becomes a little less hectic at the studio. You still have time for your senior portrait even though school has begun. We have openings during the week after school, and we will be staying open later to accomodate all of our seniors. If you have your session during the week between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM you can still take advantage of our FREE 48 WALLET SPECIAL plus add an additional pose to any package. This is a $75.00 value. Just mention this when you make your appointment. Just call Amanda or Renee at 770-253-4821

Last Week of Summer

We have reached the last few days before the beginning of school. We have been busy photographing seniors from Coweta and surrounding counties. To be honest we only have a few open appointments before school opens on Friday. We have some open sittings on Wednesday afternoon (a time when we are normally closed) and a couple on Thursday morning. We have decided to continue our FREE 48 wallet Special until the first day of school. Remember we do not have a sitting charge or session fee. This has been our policy for 29 years. We also offer location sessions at only a small charge. You can look through our portfolio page to see some examples. We have a group of very loyal customers. Most of the time when we photograph one senior in a family, we will then be the choice of that family for each of their younger children when it is their time. Thanks to all of them, and thanks to all of my friends and customers.

Two Weeks Before School

Its hard to believe but school starts in about two weeks. We have been busy with Senior Portraits. In fact, I am doing this during my lunch break before getting back to my favorite thing, photographing seniors. We have decided to extend our July Special until the first day of school. If you have your Senior Portrait made before the first day of school you can add a FREE 48wal SPECIAL to any package order. If you would like to go on location for some of your images we can arrange that as well. Also be sure to check out our facebook page for some of our favorite images from this years seniors. It's at Shapiro Photography...or there is a link on the main page of this site. Back to work...More later

Apollo 11

July 11, 1969 The day Apollo 11 left for the moon. It doesn't seem possible that it has been 40 years. Everyone my age watched it on TV, except me and a few of my fellow GI's. At the time I was in the Air Force and where I was stationed we did not have TV. We had to listen to it on short wave radio.

Spent some time photographing pecans, cashews and chocolate covered nuts today....Had to hurry though before Amanda and Renee ate all the subjects.....Well I had my share as well.

After The Fourth

It's back to work for us at the studio after having been off for a week. Georgia and I have been to St. George island, Renee and her family have been in PC and Amanda and her family went to the mountains. Just catching a moment between appointments to update our blog. Check our facebook page for an extra special July discount just for our facebook friends. More later as my next appointment is due....Thanks

July Special

Wow, I can't believe that June is about gone, but the calender doesn't lie.

Our July Special is 48 free wallets (one pose) added to any Senior Portrait Package. This is a $39.50 value. This really is an extra bonus when you add the fact that we don't charge any sitting or session fees. Everything you pay goes towards your final print order. I must be working for free....hmm. The studio will be closed for vacation from June 29th until July 5th. We will be back bright and early on the 6th to a fairly full schedule. If you want to make an appointment just give us a call at 770-253-4821 or email us at shapirophotography@newnanbiz.net and be sure to include your name and phone number and we will get back to you on Monday, July 6th. Check out our Facebook page at Bob Shapiro Photography.

A Word About Black & White

I love a great Black & White print. The first roll of film I ever shot was a roll of B&W which I then processed and printed. I never failed to have a darkroom at my disposal from that time. The skills I learned in all of those years of darkroom work have served me well. In this digital age, it is easy for just about anyone to produce an "OK" B&W image. It is another thing to be able to produce a "quality" B&W image. One that includes all of the tonal range of a traditional film B&W print. It's not as easy as just pushing a button in some computer program, but then, most things worth having are not easy. Skill and experience still count.

Thanks, see you again.

A word about Senior Portraits

Just something for you seniors (or parents of seniors) to remember. I understand ECHS seniors have been told they must go to the school photographer for their yearbook portrait. This is not true. Your public schools cannot restrict your choice of vendors. You can have Senior Portraits done at the studio of your choice (hopefully here). Don't think that just because someone calls themselves "The Official School Photographer" that you have to go there. You can spend your money anywhere you want. I have been supplying Senior Portraits to our local high school yearbooks for 29 years and they have always been happily accepted for publication.

Artistic Magic

It never ceases to amaze me the skills I have learned over the past few years. For many years most of my studies in photography were in planning the image before clicking the shutter. Making sure it was perfect before the image was recorded. Now my studies have changed.....now it's what I can do post production. The included two images illustrate my point. This is a well planned photo...simple but well planned. Nice pose and well lit. But look what happens after the image is made. Other than the braces, the changes are subtle but dramatic. Just a little enhancing of an already pretty girl. The removal of the braces is fairly impressive though. Every finished image we produce goes through the same painstaking process. This retouching is included with all our our Portrait and Senior Portraits.....the braces removal is optional...

Thanks

The Last week of school

As the Class of '09 gets ready to graduate this weekend, it makes me think of all the seniors we photographed this past year. What a great group. All of the promise of graduating and beginning the next phase of their lives, all of their dreams and goals, all of the new horizons to reach. To all of them, and to those few who we didn't photograph, we wish you the best of luck and the hope that you have fun and stay safe this summer.

Senior Portraits 2010

Senior Portrait time is rapidly approaching. Our May-June Special is a free 48 wallets and a free pose change with any portrait order. This is a $79.50 savings. This special is only for May and June. There will be other ones later in the summer, but this one offers the most savings.

There are many new specialty items this year. One of my favorites is the Composite Wall Portrait, like the one pictured here. It is offered on wall portraits 11x14 and larger. You can order it with 2, 3 or 4 smaller images on the larger image. I will be posting more examples of this and some of the other specialty items available next time.

Don't forget to sign up as a follower of this blog so when new items are posted you will be notified. Thanks for looking.

For those of you smart ones out there....your Prom Portraits are now ready.

They are also posted on our site. Just go to the opening page, scroll down to the login box and put "prom"in the box, enjoy

Our 29th Anniversary

On May 1, 1980 this ad ran in the Newnan Times-Herald. It was our first day as the owners of, what was then Norman Studio. Yes, 29 years ago today Georgia and I walked into the old studio on the court square and and tried to act like we knew what we were doing. Those of you with sharp eyes will recognize Alan and Denise Jackson in my ad. It was one of my first weddings, shot while I was still with the newspaper. I wonder what ever happened to them.........Wedding prices have gone up a bit since then but Prom portraits have not. Thirty dollars this year but for a lot more photographs. Just like then, the proms are tomorrow and we will be set up next door at The Major Long House in an area we have never done Prom Portraits before

Mother's Day is May 10th. It's the perfect opportunity to surprise her with the gift of a portrait. There is nothing a mother loves more than a portrait of her children. There is still plenty of time for either a new sitting , or perhaps a wall portrait from a previous sitting. Just give us a call at 770-253-4821 and speak with Amanda or Renee, they will be happy to help.

Prom night is May 2nd. We will either be photographing at the Major Long House, next to the studio, or in our garden, depending on the weather. Our prom portrait package is 2-5x7, 2-3 1/2x5, and 12 wallets all for only $30.00. Hope to see you then...more later.

Today we have upgraded our website with a link to this blog. We will begin using it to post news about the studio, special events, and anything else I can think of. We have just finished our Spring Portraits in the Park and we had fabulous results, even if the weather was not.

Our New Blog

So here it is our new blog. Now as soon as I can get a link from our website....... This is where we will post our special activities like "Portraits in the Park" and more. We will brag on ourselves and perhaps others will as well........ Thanks to my friends at NEWNAN-COWETA MAGAZINE for their profile of me in the current issue. I have now been a photographer in Newnan for 35 years, the first 7 of those with The Newnan Times-Herald. Also check out the new issue of LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE where we were again chosen The Best Photographer in The Southern Crescent. I appreciate Monica and specially the people who voted for me. Thanks