As we count down the hours, minutes, and seconds to 2008, Why not review 2007? Announcing…. Betsy’s Blog Awards! Ok, not really, but we did want to share a few of our favorite posts from 2007 with you, as well as a few highlights from 2007.

And now, just a quick note from Betsy’s Photography Studio. This year went by so quickly! We have enjoyed working with so many wonderful clients this year — it is a pleasure to create photographic art for you! Betsy’s Photography Studio has been very busy this holiday season, and we know you’ve been busy too. Thank you for your patience as we’ve filled last-minute holiday orders and appointments. We wish you an exciting end of the year, and hope that your upcoming year is filled with happiness, celebrations, and many good times. So, before you take a break from our blog to celebrate the new year, let’s take a moment to recap the year’s highlights.

Early in 2007, a few exciting events happened — besides joining Professional Photographers of Michigan, we were excited to move from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Dexter, Michigan. While not a far move, our new location provides for easy trips to the studio, as well as wonderful scenic locations nearby!

Your favorite photographer also received a number of honors and awards this year: Betsy participated in three print competitions and won awards each time. The regional and national competitions accepted two of her images into the 117th International Exhibition of Professional Photography (January ’08). At the local print competition, all of her images received awards, and one was voted “Best of Show” (also “Best of Category”)! It was very exciting, especially as this was Betsy’s first year entering print competition.

Because it is so important to support our local community, this fall Betsy’s Photography joined the Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce. It has been great to work with the local businesses and be able to schedule location portrait sessions both in the Dexter and Ann Arbor areas.

Now onto the Best of 2007! We’re glad that you’ve enjoyed our blog this year! Since we started opening up comments to our blog posts, we’ve found quite a few regular readers, and that’s great! (By the way, to our anonymous commenter leavers — we’d love to know who you are, so when you’re ready, start posting with your name/nickname :). We love your contributions, and we’d love to know who you are :). Without any more ado, here they are, the top ten Betsy’s Photography Blog posts from 2007.

Top “Ask the Artist” Posts
“How Can I Convince My Mom to Let Me Choose My Senior Portrait Photographer?”
“What if My Kids Can’t Sit Still?”
“Help, I Hate Getting My Picture Taken!”

Top Wedding Posts
How to Avoid the Wedding Album Woes
Choosing the Right Wedding Vendor

Top Studio Posts
Local Photographer’s Work Selected for International Display
Local Photographer Wins “Best of Show” in Print Competition
Dexter Leader Features Local Dexter Photographer Betsy Finn

Top Fun Posts
Creative Crafts & Activities to Keep Your Kids Entertained!
Home for the Holidays - 10 Tips to Get Organized

So, I am curious about your artistic background. Who are your top 5 favorite artists (photographers, painters, whatever you like), and why do you like them so much? — Anonymous

This is a fun question, thank you for asking this! (I had to pick a more light-hearted question for our last Ask the Artist! of the year).

It’s so hard to narrow my list down to just five. There are so many individuals who have been influential to me as an artist and photographer. But, thankfully, I should be able to pick a few photographers and artists whose work has been the most inspiring to me (now, if you had asked me for one name only, I would’ve been in a pickle!).

In narrowing down my list, I would have to start with those mentors and inspirations closest to me. Of course, those artists and photographers will be the least well known, so not all will be mentioned by name. My great-grandfather was a sculptor, and although I was not old enough to learn from him before he passed away, the presence of his work throughout my family’s home was a definite influence. Additionally, my both of my grandfathers loved photography — one took many pictures while in the navy, and the other while traveling the world in his later years. Though not professional photographers, these two men valued the art of photography enough to inspire me (there was also my father, also an avid fan of photography). Proceeding on from there, I would need to consider all those who have mentored and trained me in the course of my artistic career. Kindergarten art teachers, middle school, high school, and finally college-level art professors, have all made a positive impact in my creative style — as well as my present-day photographic colleagues. But, I can’t just look at the direct influences, can I?

So, onto the art history books! I was lucky enough to extensively study many artists and artistic time periods while pursuing my Studio Art degree. Of course, we studied the classic works by painters such as Michelangelo (painter), Claude Monet (painter), Edouard Manet (painter), Edgar Degas (painter), and even more contemporary artists such as Wassily Kadinsky (painter), Ansel Adams (photographer), and Richard Avedon (photographer). One of my more specialized courses focused on the influential women artists who had been overlooked in classic history, such as Berthe Morisot, an impressionist painter. Women photographers like Margaret Bourke-White and Annie Liebovitz have been very influential in the course of history as well. But, since I have to pick my favorite five, naming off all these names only seems to make things harder! The thing is, there are so many artists and photographers who have helped shape their artistic medium into what it is today. Things once considered avant-garde are now considered “classic” — and today’s art that pushes the boundaries will at some point become more commonplace and well-accepted.

Yes, I know I haven’t answered the question yet — but I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. My five favorite artists and photographers are listed below, with a short description alongside.

Franz Marc — a German Expressionist painter, Franz Marc’s work uses bright colors, simplistic forms, and is full of emotion. Much of his work focuses on the portrayal of animals, and I love his renditions of horses. His earlier work was more realistic, while his later work became much more abstract, focusing on the dynamics of forms and colors.

Luke Swank — Modernist photographer Luke Swank was well-known during his lifetime for his influence on modern photography, but is relatively unknown today. His eye for detail and light allowed Swank to create technically powerful and emotional images. One of my favorite images of his is “Meason Mansion Staircase,” other favorites include an image of a child on laundry day. While his early work was more pictorial, Swank’s later work was documentary in nature, capturing the fading lifestyles of America — traveling circus performers, steel foundry workers. I had the privilege of seeing Swank’s work in person, and they are stunning.

Katsushika Hokusai — Japanese painter Hokusai is most famous in the West for his print of “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.” This is one of my favorite prints, and is from the series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuiji). In addition to his ukioy-e art pieces (”ukioy-e” is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints), Hokusai also is known for his collection of sketches, “Hokusai manga.” I may be drawn to Hokusai’s work because of my interest in printmaking — but you have to admit that Hokusai’s use of bold colors and lines creates very powerful imagery.

Ansel Adams — American photographer Ansel Adams is quite famous for his landscape work and his impact on the world of photography. I love the detailed nature of his landscapes, and the quality of light is amazing. Did you know that one of his photographs was recorded on the voyager spacecraft’s “Voyager Golden Record”?

Berthe Morisot — French Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot is one of the lesser known artists of the Impressionist period. She was a contemporary of Monet, and actually married Manet’s brother. Her paintings reveal the restrictions placed on women during the time period, and her subject matter was more focused on domestic life, rather than street life or nude models. The comparison between her work and her male contemporaries is an interesting study in 19th century culture. I particularly enjoy her landscape paintings and en plein air paintings (french for “in the open air”).

I’m sure this list would change if I were to answer this question a few weeks or months later, but overall, these five artist and photographers are a good representation of my “favorite” artists. I struggled with narrowing it down, and other runners-up included Frank Lloyd Wright, Monte Zucker, Dorthea Lange, and Michael Collopy. Again, I’ve enjoyed thinking about this question, and I hope that you’ve enjoyed learning about my inspirations and favorite artists!

Ask the Artist! features your questions, answered by Betsy Finn, photographic artist. Trust Betsy’s Photography, You’ll be Trusting the Best!

Mark’s location portrait session was planned during the winter months. Now, before you start thinking that winter means indoors-only… that’s just not the case. Snow and holiday decorations lend to very creative portrait sessions!

Here is one of my favorites from Mark’s session:

Planning the wedding of your dreams, and want to make sure you have the perfect wedding album to capture all those wonderful moments and emotions from your wedding day? That’s no small task, and while you may be up to the challenge, you definitely want to avoid the wedding album woes. Find out how to ease the post-wedding stress on yourselves AND still get the perfect wedding album you’ve been dreaming of.

Ok, so admit it. You’ve given at least some thought to putting together your own wedding album. Theoretically, it is possible; theoretically it will be a fun and relaxing experience. But, things don’t always happen the way we’ve planned. Maybe you know someone who planned on putting together her own wedding album…. and is still working on it, even after several years! Before you finalize your decision to create your own wedding album, why not listen to those who’ve been there? Who? Well, I’m going to tell you my own wedding album experience in a minute, but you can also hear from some other not-so-recently wedded brides in an article by Jessica Heasley, a writer for Columbia News Service. Heasley discusses the post-wedding experience for several do-it-yourself wedding album brides in her article, “After the ‘I do,’ Brides Say ‘I Don’t’ to Finishing Those Elaborate Wedding Albums.”

My own wedding experience, actually, is what led me to including custom album design with every wedding I photograph. While my husband and I had a great experience with our wedding photographer before and during the wedding, where it fell short for us was afterwards. We had experienced great service throughout the entire planning process, but when it came down to our wedding album, we felt like we were left to fend for ourselves.

Initially, we thought, “ok, no big deal, we can do this!” And so we sat down for several late nights of picking and choosing which images were (or weren’t) worthy to be included in our wedding album. At the end of the week we figured we had a good variety of images for our photographer to put into the album. Somewhere along the line there was a miscommunication — not only did we need to select the images that we would want displayed in our album, but we had to sit down and think about the order, the size, and the arrangement of the images in our album. It all became overwhelming, especially when you realize that the wedding is over… and you really just want to be done with the remaining wedding tasks! At that point, my husband and I really just wanted to be done with the whole ordeal, but unfortunately we had more wedding album planning to do before we could tackle our thank-you notes.

With our post-wedding experience in mind, Betsy’s Photography offers wedding packages that include both wedding photography coverage and custom-designed wedding albums. There is nothing better than having the photographic artist who created your wedding images also design your wedding album. Besides having the luxury of someone else do all the work for you (which you definitely deserve), your album will seem more complete, and possess that extra creative “oomph” too! Of course, at this point, I could tell you all about my artistic training and knowledge of photography, art, and design, but I figure you know that by know, so I’ll spare you all the details! What it really boils down to is this: your wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration. And you’ve already decided you want a professional wedding photographer to capture your wedding memories, so why not go one small step further and entrust your wedding album design to a professional photographic artist?

A little concerned about whether your album will truly reflect the emotions and memories of your wedding day, if you’re not the one designing it? Don’t be! When you trust Betsy’s Photography you will have plenty of time to discuss your tastes, your style, and even your likes and dislikes. By taking the time to talk with you beforehand, I’ll be able to do an even better job of capturing your memories — and you will be confident that your wedding album will be everything you’ve always dreamed.

Just in case you’re not completely convinced — the wedding albums we design come with a guarantee! You’ll have thirty days after receiving your album to make sure you love it. If you’re unhappy, we will sit down, discuss your album, and make a one-time change to your album so that it really can be the perfect album for you. Have we had any takers on this guarantee? No… All our clients have absolutely loved their wedding albums!

Happy Holidays from Betsy’s Photography Studio!

We wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. This year has been very busy for us, both here at the studio, and at home. I’m sure 2007 has been similarly busy for you. Hopefully, you will be able to find some time to relax during the remainder of December — and maybe, just maybe, be able to enjoy the company of your friends and family. We’re looking forward to working with you again soon, it’s always a joy to photograph our clients!

Again, happy holidays!

I normally just do a Christmas card (plus picture) to friends and family, but I was thinking it might be nice to do something that included our new cat. Are you even ABLE to do portraits with pets, or does your studio focus on people only? — Pet Lover

Good question! While many of my clients are human ones, I do have some animal subjects as well. As a cat owner and pet lover myself, I know where you’re coming from. In fact, our holiday portrait includes Jake, our cat, whenever possible (See our holiday family portrait!). If you genuinely want to include your four-legged family member in the family portrait, I am more than happy to do so.

The most common pet portraits I create are either individual pet portraits or portraits of pet and family portraits! Pet portraits are done a little differently than standard portrait sessions. Obviously it’s a lot harder to tell your cat or dog to sit still; so when I work with animals the session atmosphere is a very relaxed, and we will work at a pace that your pet is comfortable with. I generally recommend planning a location session if you’re going to include your pet, because it is good to have the session in a location your pet is familiar with (especially for cats).

As with any portrait session, a little planning will go a long way towards making your session a great experience. At your pre-session consultation appointment, we will spend tome time to discuss your pet’s personality and temperament. As I find out a little about your pet, I’ll be able to recommend the best option for capturing your pet’s personality during our session. It’s very important for your portrait experience to be relaxing and not stressful — and that goes for your pet’s portrait experience too!

Ask the Artist! features your questions, answered by Betsy Finn, photographic artist. Trust Betsy’s Photography, You’ll be Trusting the Best!

I’m soooo excited to have my senior portraits done; all my senior friends’ pictures turned out so amazing! I need help though. I want to choose my own photographer, but my mom wants me to use the one she used ages ago… And that totally is not what I want. His style is boring and stiff… I want casual and fun. What can I do to convince my mom we should go to someone like you for my senior pictures? — Just a Junior

My answer this question has several parts, so stick with me, ok? First of all, in order to convince your mom, (or even to have a chance of getting her to change her mind), you need to talk with her. And when you do, make sure you keep things cool. While this decision means a lot to you, you’ll need to be mature about the discussion to show her that you are capable of making decisions as a mature person (trust me, this is probably very important from your mom’s perspective). So, before you talk with your mom, read the rest of my response so that you can share your feelings with your mom in a way she’s more likely to understand.

First of all, do you know if there are any specific reasons why your mom wants to use her old photographer? Knowing her concerns and reasons will help you be able to answer her questions and make her feel better about the whole situation. Without know exactly what it is, I can only provide some more general suggestions. So, make sure you find out her reasons before you start giving yours!

Your mom probably wants that one formal senior portrait. Are you willing to make a compromise if she lets you choose your senior portrait photographer? In other words, if she really wants the formal outfit and formal pose to remember your senior year — it might go a long way to offer to do this in addition to the fun, casual senior portrait session that you’re looking forward to. Actually, a lot of my senior clients often do something similar — either before or after the “fun” part of the senior session, we take a little time to do the formal senior portrait. And, since it’s not the only thing we do, you and your mom get to enjoy a variety of styles, all of which are great portraits of you.

Your mom may have concerns about using a different photographer for your senior portraits because she wants to make sure both of you will enjoy your senior portraits. This is a completely valid concern — and you want to make sure you have a good experience too, don’t you? So, since you mentioned that you like my style, let’s say you are telling her about Betsy’s Photography. You can mention the style of senior portraits that I create (remember, I can do those formal ones too), and you definitely want to mention some of my qualifications. Your mom will probably feel a lot better about considering another photographer if she knows the “new” one is properly qualified. In fact, send her to my website — she’ll be able to read all the details there:

• Betsy Finn is an award-winning photographic artist (recent press)
• Betsy Finn is a Certified Professional Photographer
• Betsy’s Photography is a member of the Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce, and belongs to several professional photographic affiliations: Professional Photographers of America (PPA), Professional Photographers of Michigan (PPM), and Detroit Professional Photographers Association (DPPA).
• Betsy’s Photography has many happy clients (read some recent testimonials)

I’m sure you know why these things matter, but just in case — when you choose a photographer you are entrusting your memories to them. You want to make sure you’re trusting the best. Not just anyone can be a Certified Professional Photographer (read about the requirements), it takes dedication and expertise. Betsy’s Photography is dedicated to being the best, and these organizations are there to support us as we increase our creativity, technical understanding, and advancement of the photographic arts.

Ok, so after addressing your mom’s concerns and telling her why you want to have Betsy’s Photography create your senior portrait, what’s the next step? Well, first make sure her main objections have been answered (keeping things calm, remember?). Then, if she’s still not completely convinced, maybe you should suggest visiting my website, giving the studio a call, or even scheduling a consultation to discuss your senior portrait choices.

It’s important that you and your mom to both be happy with the photographer you use for your senior portraits, and by finding out what the real concerns are, you have a better chance of helping your mom consider other photographer when it comes time to schedule your senior portrait session. Keep cool, discuss things calmly, and present supporting points. Don’t try tell your mom she’s wrong (she’s entitled to her own opinion!), but ask her if she’d be willing to consider hearing you out. A little information never hurt anyone, right?

Who knows, maybe when you’ve finished discussing everything, your mom will be the first one to contact me about scheduling your senior portrait session!

Ask the Artist! features your questions, answered by Betsy Finn, photographic artist. Trust Betsy’s Photography, You’ll be Trusting the Best!