Edie Grace really….really appreciates you sharing my portraits with your friends!!  There is no compliment greater than when you refer me to your friends.  No matter how well we market my work and the studio - nothing compares to the value and power of your referral.  We track all of our marketing efforts very closely.  Word of mouth referrals remain at the top of the list. 

We understand that today there are more options than ever when it comes to photography.  All of the options give you a wide range of price, creativity, artistic ability, quality and customer service choices.  We find that all of these choices also create a tremendous amount of confusion in the market.  A picture is a picture right? 

Well hopefully you know the answer to that question.  Three years ago there were four professional photography studios in Statesboro.  Today there are twelve studios and 54 - that’s right FIFTY FOUR photographers in the Statesboro area charging for photography services.

In spite of the tremendous explosion of photographers brought about by relatively easy to use and inexpensive digital technology - we continue to be tremendously blessed with business thanks to YOU!  However, we are experiencing record numbers of new clients that have had not so good experiences trying to find the right photographer for them.  Often by the time they realize the fit is not right and book a session with me - they have missed critical portrait opportunities.  We see this mainly during the baby’s first year experience.   Your referral to me protects your friends from a less than amazing portrait experience.

In fact, clients that come to us based on your referral are more informed about my difference, the value of my creative abilities - backed up by over 20 years of experience in the photography industry,  and a dedicated and loyal staff that understands the investment you are making in fine portraits.  We know that you have to have a great experience from the first phone call - all they way to the delivery and hanging of your portraits in your home.  We work very hard to ensure that every experience exceeds your expectations.

Competition is always good in any industry.  We are certainly enjoying growing with the market and adapting my creative options to continue the competitive edge we have been blessed to maintain for two decades.

Thanks a MILLION for continuing to share your wonderful portrait experience at my studio with your family, friends and co workers.  Please make sure that they let us know you referred them so we can appropriately thank you.

When four of your friends book a session with me - you will receive a special thank you gift from us.  The gift choices for four referrals are a free session, 44 wallets, 24 Christmas Cards or a spa service at my favorite spa - Serenity Day Spa.

This week several of you received referral thank you gifts.  Next to photographing you and delivering beautiful portraits - referral gifts are the second most exciting part of my day.

This is another small way of thanking you for continuing to be a loyal and dedicated client.

Mrs. Angelique Harville was crowned Mrs. United Nations US 2007 recently and was featured in the Statesboro Herald today.  Mrs. Harville was Edie Grace’s teacher at the Georgia Southern Family Life Center when she was four.  Mrs. Harville and Mrs. Staples made Edie Grace’s days very fun and educational.  We are proud of Mrs. Harville and wanted to salute her on our blog.  You can send a congratulatory email to Mrs. Harville at mrsunus@yahoo.com

Every morning Edie Grace and her dad start their day reading the Statesboro Herald while they are waiting for the bus.  Edie Grace was very excited to see Mrs. Harville in the paper and wanted me to tell all of you about her success.

Read the entire story by clicking on this Statesboro Herald link.

From the pictures posted in this blog - both Mrs. Harville and Edie Grace have changed a little in the past few years.

Well sorta…..the shore was my studio and the temperature was about 74 degrees and there was no water.  Mom saw this portrait in my studio of another little boy and had to have one of hers.  We had lots of fun recreating the beach for this handsome little boy.  Granddad came along to supervise the session.  That was certainly a little added pressure - since his social circle is so impressive.  In fact, recently he introduced DeWayne and I to a very close friend of his former President Bill Clinton.

Fortunately I passed his high standards.  Older brother came along and had to test drive this beautiful little airplane in the studio.  After buzzing us a few times he concurs that the airplane is in perfect working condition.

When mom and dad are not chasing these two beautiful boys and their grand dad around - they are making sure all of us do not go hungry.  They own the Shane’s Rib Shack in Statesboro.  If you have not tried it - you are missing out!  We are fortunate to have lot’s of great food options in the boro.  Since I do not have time to cook - we certainly spend our time trying them all out.

Edie Grace LOVES their ribs.  Their peach cobbler is pretty amazing also.  DeWayne loves the fried okra. So next time your at the Rib Shack - tell them how adorable their beautiful young boys are!

They are big blogger’s also.  Take a second and check out their personal blog here.

   Mom and Dad first allowed me to photograph them for their wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding and mom was a wonderfully special bride.  In fact, her bridal portrait won me a few awards.  After they were married they embraced our community in amazing ways.  They are both doctors and have played a large role in building one of the largest medical practices in our region.  They became entrenched in our community.   With a busy practice and lots and lots of community activities outside of the practice they decided to add a little more fun to their day.  After a long road, they finally learned that they were going to be parents of not one, not two - but three BOYS!  Of course, being great doctors - nothing could be easy about this pregnancy.  God threw them every curve ball possible.  After weeks of bed rest the boys simply could not wait any longer. 

Two years later these boys never look back.  They are so full of ENERGY!  Mom and Dad still work hard to take care of all of us, keeping us healthy - then hurrying home every evening to enjoy every minute possible with these three bundles of joy! 

I have so many more great portrait ideas waiting to be created of this wonderful family.  For 18 years of my career I dreamed of photographing triplets…now I have TWO sets!!!  They have blessed me in so many ways.  It is so humbling to help chronicle artistically the tremendous journey of life. 

Enjoy a small part of this journey here. 

Friends come in all size and shapes.  This beautiful young lady shares a very special friendship with Denny, her favorite horse.  Mom wanted me to come out and create some portraits of her at their new home.  (We make house calls!)  I had a great time photographing her near the water in her back yard with Canadian Geese posing perfectly for us.  After we had worked for a little while she asked if we could do a few images with Denny.  When we drove up to the farm where Denny resides - I knew this was going to be loads of fun.  The light was perfect and the day was beautiful.  When Denny saw her it was electric.  The special bond these two shared was amazing.  Before we left her house to head for the stables I looked around her home to scope out some great portrait spots.  In her room I saw this beautiful antique chair.  We brought it along - never imagining that the color of the chair, the barn, the horse and the evening light would blend so well.  As you will see in these images we had a great evening capturing the loving interaction between these two. 

These three are my favorite images from the session.  I love how they capture the relationship and the beauty of that evening.

For those of you who did not make our girls night out - road trip - in Atlanta this weekend - you missed a GREAT trip!  We stayed at one of my favorite hotels in Atlanta the W Hotel, did some “retail therapy” shopping, ate at some great restaurants and enjoyed the Annie Leibovitz exhibit at the High Museum.  We also visited the Louvre exhibit in the Ann Cox Chambers wing of the High.

What a relaxing and inspiring trip!  I have always been in awe of Annie’s work.  For the first time she has incorporated her personal and family images into her collection.  For me, this was one of the best parts. 

The photos are our suite at the W and my photo pass to the High.  Unfortunately due to copyright protection I could not photograph any of the collection.  You can purchase her latest book which includes images in the collection for $75 here. 

We are working on our next trip to St. Augustine in October.  Contact me today if you want to know more about this family photo safari at info@lorigrice.com

  There is nothing like the love a mother shares with her girls.  Very few portraits display this love better than this one.  It also is a testimony to how important the bible is in guiding this wonderful family.  Would you ever guess their dad is a minister?  How proud he has to be of his influence on these wonderful girls.  I have been fortunate to photograph this family from the beginning.  Each daughter has multiple individual portraits.  This session was the youngest one year portrait.  Each year that we create the individual portraits we also do mother and the girls.  They have one or two wonderful family portraits also.

Looking for a great gift idea for yourself or for grandmother?  We have the perfect idea for you - a photo pocketbook.  These high quality pocket books will thrill you and amaze your friends.  What better - unobtrusive way to show off your beautiful children?  I have two (pictured here) of Edie Grace.  Every time I wear it out someone asks me where I got it from.  Then they go on to tell me how incredible it is and how beautiful my daughter is.  This is a much better way to show the world how proud I am of Edie Grace than that plastic wallet fold out thing or the 5×7 albums I carried in my pocket book.  However, if they really think they want to see more - I do have my video Ipod loaded with a great slide show or two of Edie Grace.  I can hook you up with that also. 

The pocketbooks begin at $185.  You can use images from a previous session or for a little extra we can create some images especially for your pocketbook.

The other images or a few examples that many of you have used on your pocket books.  You can see the diversity from classic to casual - it is all here.

Continue reading “Pocketbooks make great gifts!!”

One of the ways that I keep my creative eye as fresh as possible is to continue to stick my neck out for criticism or praise through juried print competitions.  The mother of all competitions is the Professional Photographers of America’s International (PPA) Print Competition.  Each year members of the PPA (which currently numbers over 18,000 internationally) are allowed to enter four total images to the competition.  Normally these images have been judged several times prior at a state and regional level through affiliate PPA organizations.  The goal of the print competition is to challenge an artist to continue to grow creatively and technically.  This process is critical in the grow or die world of photographic art.  It can be a very humbling experience, putting your images beside the best and brightest photographic artist in the world.  When you are lucky enough to win - it can also be one of the most exhilarating experiences in the world.  The judging for 2007 has just been completed and again this year the PPA judges liked my work.  Out of over 5,000 entries, Two of my images were selected to represent the PPA in their Loan Collection and one was selected for the general collection.  The Loan collection is the PPA’s “best of” collection.  The collection contains 400 images which will be published in the 2007 Loan Collection book by PPA.  The collection also becomes a traveling collection and is displayed in gallery’s around the world, inspiring and encouraging photographers and admirers of great photography.  I am honored to be included again in this prestigious collection.  Every day I work hard to create images that could easily be included in this collection for every client.

Continue reading “PPA Loan images selected…”

  Several weeks ago Dr. Kevin Ault invited me to tour Emory’s Winship Cancer Center in Atlanta.  Dr. Ault ran the clinical trials for the HPV vaccine Gardasil in 33 countries.  The journey to meet Dr. Ault and my advocacy

Continue reading “HPV Vaccine - Emory Meeting Dr. Kevin Ault”