MudEyes

Thank you for your interest in a portrait session with us! We would really love to do a session with you but we also really try and work with people who share our style and will be happy when we give them images that reflect that style.

Our Style should be taken into account before booking your session with us as we may not work as well under the more traditional standards that some people are used to.

We are strictly on location, and mostly natural light, so by booking a session with us you have to be aware that we are at the mercy of the weather and therefor will have to be flexible to fit in your session. We try and use the beginning of or end of the daylight to more easily control shadows to get more of a flattering light for our subjects.

If you are wanting the majority of your senior pictures done in nature settings, we can do that but we must let you know that we are usually unable to provide more variety in those settings. We thrive and work best in urban settings that are more grungy and rustic to achieve a “beauty and the beast” type of contrast that makes colors pop and gives our images a very unique and edgy look.

Q and A:

What is your payment policy?

We ask that you send us a check for half to book your date, and then we require the remainder before we begin the session. If you decide to order more then your allotted print credit we would need a check for that before we can submit the order.

How long do sessions last?

That can depend on a lot of things but usually from one and a half to two or more hours. In either case we reserve control over when I feel like we have enough images to give you a good variety. I like to start about 3 hours before sunset so the times will vary or we could do shoots a few hours before noon to get similar light.

Do you retouch your images?

Yes we know that you want to look your best for senior pictures and don’t leave any images looking anything but the best they can. Our theory is that if it wont be there in a month we will remove and smooth. Things like moles, scars or anything else as to not offend people you will need to tell us you would like us to remove certain things that bug you. On the same note, retouching does take a great deal of time so anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated, even if you don’t tend to wear makeup, even a small amount will help us to make you images look much better.

Can I bring a friend?

Yes! I wish more people would bring friends because it makes it less awkward to be honest! Anyone who helps you to be yourself I really encourage that you bring. After all the whole goal is to get images of you being yourself in a natural and relaxed way!

Is facial hair good in pictures?

My personal opinion is that unless it’s a big part of who you are it’s best to be mostly clean shaven unless you have a descent five O’ clock shadow going on. I had a “goatee” in my senior pictures, and I think back and think it looks ridiculous but that’s just me. I still find the images have a more clean look when you shave.

Yes this is me demonstrating how bad it can look =)

Do you travel to locations we want?

We do travel for 50 cents a mile to and from a location outside downtown kalamazoo. We feel we need to charge this rate because of the time traveling, and the gas and milage put on our vehicles.

Can I suggest locations?

This subject is kind of hard because we love to give people lots of variety in there set. 90% of the time when people ask us to go to certain locations they don’t cater well to our style and a lot of times we travel a good distance to a location where we can only get a couple good shots. We spend a lot of time scouting areas to find locations that yield the best variety shots you can get in a single location. We really ask that you trust that we know the best location which is why booking us because you like our style is so important. Like I said before nature locations are not very good for what we do. Trees and flowers can be nice for a few shots, but they start to all look the same very soon.

Why do you Charge up front?

We have had to learn the hard way unfortunately that money is kind of a pain to deal with after the actual session. We used to do half down on the day of the session and then the rest when you get your proofs, but our turn around time is fast enough to where we would rather just get it out of the way so that we can focus more on getting you results. Then we don’t have to wait for a check from you to release the proofs, or worry about people getting the proofs before we are compensated for all the work we have already done. Hope this isn’t an inconvenience to you, but we have to do what’s safe and best for our business.

Why do pictures cost so much?

Most people kind of have the idea that all you need is a descent camera to give people senior pictures. And in one sense that is true. We try and give you images that are set apart from the norm. We really pride ourselves in giving people the highest quality pictures they can get from anyone. This means keeping up and researching the best Camera, lenses, computers, software, and proofing sites we can. Then we have to buy all those things. We have spent thousands on equipment and computers to give you what you paid for. Not to mention we really put our hearts and souls and hours of our time to give you great pictures. We hope you see the value in what we do!

Do you give people full resolution disks with printing rights?

I’m sorry but no we don’t and you may think its more about the money but to be honest its about the artistic integrity. When people go to print pictures it makes me cringe to think they are bringing my images to walmart to print them on low quality paper and ink. You must understand that my reputation and name is on my images, and word of mouth and my images are all I have. When people design there own graduation announcement cards with a bad design and sub par printing it makes me look really bad. I hope you understand that I have to reserve all printing rights because I feel like it’s what is best for our business. We also backup your images in 3 different places so you will always be able to order prints down the road if you so choose.

Holly is a graphic designer so we do offer custom designed grad announcements!

What is the turn around time on proofs and prints?
We always try and give you a good preview to tide you over until you get the full set but depending on the week we try and complete your set within a couple weeks. As soon as you submit your print order it only takes a couple weeks to get them.