Early Start to the 2012 Sugaring Season

Yesterday morning, on a very chilly President’s Day, I had the bright idea of calling up the local Sugaring House owned by Eastman “Easty” Long and Sons to see what was up. The word on the street was the sap has been running in many parts of the state due to the warmer than usual temps. Easty told me if I was there by 10am, I was welcomed to tag-along.

Eastman and Sons are located about 1.2 miles up Tucker Hill Road in Waitsfield, VT

Well heck, I’ve been wanting to explore the world of sugaring for the last two years, so I bundled up and headed over to Tucker Hill Road in Waitsfield. I was a few minutes early, but Easty told me to just follow the path… so I did! A few minutes into my walk I heard the sounds of snowmobiles and what turned out to be a mini-looking-snow-cat-ATV-of-sorts ready for the occasion…

Eastman "Easty" Long (Red Hat) with one of his crew Stefan Kluckner of Fayston, VT coming up the path with an arsenal of drills to tap the last of their Maple trees for the 2012 Season.

Easty invited me to hop-on and we weaved and ducked around and under the maze of lines that the sap flows through. It’s bit of a “cat’s cradle” when you look through the woods!

Here’s a visual story of my time walking through the woods with Easty and learning a tiny bit more about the operation behind the more modern day ways of tapping Maples… Frankly I have a lot to learn!

Easty grabbing some extra tubing to bring out into the field, with fellow crew AJ Wimble in the background.

Giving his crew Dennis Schofield a little direction before they each head off to finish tapping the last of the trees.

There's a lot of ducking and weaving!

Easty checking the line and tap before drilling a fresh hole for the season. He explains that you have to be mindful not to tap where you have before because the tree creates a pocket in that area and needs time to heal.

He also uses this time to carefully inspect the lines, and the trees.

I asked if it all gets a bit confusing and Easty explained that all the smaller "light blue" lines are like side-streets which all lead to the "main drag" which is the more sturdy pipe-like line. If I get lost, follow the main line!

Easty and his crew first remove last year's tap...

They then drill a fresh hole away from previous tap locations...

Clean the new hole out...

They then gently tap in the little "spout" where the sap will flow from tree to tubing...

From one tree to the next... till they are all ready for this week's warmer temps!

I mentioned early in the post how it looks a bit like a gigantic "cat's craddle" as you look out into the woods!

This was such a tiny sample of what the full Vermont Maple Syrup operation truly entails! I was grateful for just an hour of their time and the beautiful walk through the woods. Easty told me that normally it’s not this cold when they do this, and that typically they would be tapping very early in the morning. However, on this day they had to wait till it was about 20 degrees out before they could tap the trees, which was my luck! I was actually able to catch them in action!

Across the state sugaring enthusiast and professionals like Eastman and Sons are already tapping, and in some cases have already boiled their first batch of syrup! Easty’s trees are in a slightly cooler zone, so I have maybe a week before heading back to visit -catch them during the boiling process. I can hardly wait! I’m the girl who puts Maple Syrup in and on EVERYTHING!

Special thank you to Easty, his son Eric Long, and rest of the crew: Troy Thayer, Stefan Kluckner, AJ Wimble, and Dennis Schofield. It was the perfect start to my week! Be sure to keep an eye out for their Maple Syrup while visiting the Mad River Valley!

It’s all in the Details. What you get when you hire THIS Photographer.

What do you get, besides my smile and charming personality?

It’s all in the details, and a few other things, mostly and nearly all unrelated to the camera itself…

This post is inspired by another blog post from the company I work with to manage my own website, archiving and e-commerce – Photoshelter. They came across this interesting find on Craig’s List that brings up a decent question: Why does it cost so much to hire a photographer? Granted… the bride, who I am sure is lovely, does exhibit a few “bridezilla” traits.

I am not a $3,000 wedding photographer. Does that mean I am not worth $3000? Heck no! Ha, ask my parents and they will tell you I am worth $3,000,000!!! The point is, what determines a photographer’s rates for weddings, portraits, events, and so forth; is generally based on their individual cost of doing business. That changes from state-to-state and even country. This also depends on their “way” of, or “style” of photography. From my experience, and I assisted other photographers before going at it on my own, here’s my take:

• How many photographers are included in that price? Maybe you are paying for two photographers.
• What’s their style? You love their work, but come to find, those “vogue-like” photographs that attracted you to that specific photographer are the result of a highly  stylized event. Meaning they bring with them the fancy lights, reflectors, and possibly an assistant who helps lug around and set-up the lighting to ensure your wedding photos are worthy of a full page spread in ‘The Knot’. That’s a lot of over-head.
• They are just over-priced. Period. That happens and I have no explanation.

There are other factors one can add in, and I’ve not even touched on the basics of what you get when you hire a professional photographer, over someone who is equally talented, but does it purely for fun.

I’d also like to just stick to what you get when you hire me, because I can safely explain to you what you get and why I charge what I charge, where another photographer has a whole other method to their madness! Trying to figure out what to charge is maddening after all, but for most photographers, they are not evening coming close to “banking” that $3,000. Taxes, insurance, etc…

What you get when you hire THIS photographer

Well folks, you do get my smile and charming personality! That’s just a given because I love my line of work and when you call me about a possible booking, I am genuinely pretty excited before even knowing WHAT it is you may like me to shoot. This is my passion after all.

I lightly joke, but not really. When you hire a photographer, you are hiring how they “see” the world around them. This also includes their personality. How they handle themselves and interact with others. In addition, you are paying for their time away from their own family, and life, so that they can capture your own world, family, business, wedding, etc. as they perceive it, because while looking through their galleries or portfolio, you fell for something special.

You fell in love with their perspective.

Now, sometimes their “perspective” of your family, portrait, wedding, means a highly stylized photo-shoot and hence the increased cost. It’s all preference. For example, the folks who hire me are generally not interested in stylized shoots, detest stock photography, and otherwise want to be photographed just being themselves doing what they love.

I’m a photojournalist and my photos are generally unrehearsed. You are paying for my ability to be mindful and fully aware of what is going on so I can naturally capture the precious moments. You are counting on me to see the details in the day that give a sense of time and place. You are holding me responsible for moments in time that can not be repeated, but you never want to forget.

That’s a tiny bit of pressure!

Yet, I love it and as a result, when you hire me, I get so immersed in the moment a passerby may actually think I am apart of the family and ask if I’d like them to take the picture for me, so I can get into the shot too. It’s an awkward moment that I take as the greatest compliment.

How do you price all that? It’s taken me a long time to sort that one out, and I am always tweaking it. This is a business and I do have the same basic bills as most, but I do believe photography services, like milk, need to be affordable. My prices purely reflect the value behind my eye and at the end of any given assignment, the cost per hour of work is the average wage for most.

You are not paying for my equipment or software.

You are paying for my artistic perspective of the world. My professionallism. My compassion to ensure I capture images you will feel good about and cherish for years. My attention to details that include archiving those photographs in a way that ensures you can retrieve them in an unlikely event of loosing the originals. My personality and energy that will help calm your excited family pet or young child unsure of this lady with the big camera. My eye for little details, ones that help ensure everyone in the frame is looking their best without a telephone pole or tree “growing” out of their head.

As a photographer, who does this professionally, it’s all in the details when you hire me. This is just a small sample of what you may get. The details are unique to each client. Your details will be your own, it’s my job to capture them for your.

All photos taken on Sanibel Island, Florida, January 2012

It’s Good to Mix it Up. Adventures at Riverdale Kiwanis Medieval Faire!

Fort Myers, Florida

Periodically I find myself in a position where the subject is not a typical “Jenn Subject” and the location is not “local.” However, I think it’s good to mix it up! Earlier today I had the joy of attending the Riverdale Kiwanis Medieval Faire held at Lakes Park in Fort Myers, Florida. This is only a teaser of the characters in attendance. The costumes and acting… AMAZING!!

Actors: Mike Quinn(lt) and Ashley Mojica(rt)

Actor: Mike Quinn

Actor: Ashley Mojica

Actors: Mike Quinn(rt) and Ashley Mojica(lt)

To view more images from this event, check out my fan page gallery…

I Love Photos of the Moon in Vermont

I pretty much love  photos of anything in Vermont, but the moon captures my imagination in some way and she’s not the easiest of subjects to capture. This evening, she was softened by a light layer of cloud cover. Being this was taken in the Mad River Valley, a lovely little area tucked in the Green Mountains of Vermont, we do occasionally have more clouds then other areas of the state. It all just seems to depend…

Tonight… it did not hinder her glow and in fact, I think the little skirt of cloud helped her glow a little brightert!

Happy New Year from Central Vermont’s Little Photographer

Hello 2012, It’s so nice to finally have you here!

Happy New Year from Vermont’s “Little Photographer.” 2011 was a wonderful year and though it was fraut with some challenges, one namely being ‘Irene,’ there are no other complaints. I had the most memoriable moments working with Norwich University. The Vermont families I photographed will be remain forever in my heart. The most ROMANTIC weddings. I won’t even dive into the food photos = YUM!!

How is 2012 to top 2011?!?!

Somehow, it always does…

For those just visiting, please inquire further on my availability in the upcoming months. My 2012 Rates/Collections/Product Lists have all been updated! Those interested in booking me and my camera for a shoot with either you, your four-leggers (aka pets,) the whole family, and maybe the neighbors too… please click here to contact me today. I take a limited number of sessions per month, and only book a select number of weddings. I’ll accommodate commercial and editorial assignments as they come.

Just getting to know me? I’ve been taking pictures for over twenty years, and though I learned everything I know on film, very much a digital photographer. I love what we can do with images today, and how easy it is to share with friends, family and colleagues in every ‘corner’ of the globe. Yes, I facebook!

When you book me as your photographer, I like to listen. I want to hear your story whether it’s for a family portrait or a small business putting together a marketing campaign. Tell me everything and I will do the same. When it’s time for our scheduled shoot, we will feel like old friends or long-time colleagues and the end result will be spectacular photographs.

My photographic style leans towards editorial and photojournalistic. I love a narrow depth of field and soft light for portraits and capturing the fine details of a wedding. However, when the light is bright and the colors grand…I open it up, shooting wide and tight to get in all the details, energy, and enthusiasm of the moment!

An example… my rediculous pup after a few inches of fresh powder!

It would be a pleasure to capture your priceless moments of 2012! Shoot me a note and lets talk!

Cheers,

Jennifer

Family Fun Portrait Sessions in Vermont

Lets get the family together and ditch the JCPenny’s or Olan Mills “pretend” backgrounds and plastic snow. How about you and your family join me for an hour or two for a photo session doing whatever it is you and your family enjoy… if you are lucky… you may even get to toss REAL snow at the photographer in the process! *smile*

Please Vote! PDN Sports Photography Contest

EEK!!! Only votes away from having Sophie’s NCAA Championship victory lap from winning the Fan Fav’s Vote. To vote click on the image. If we win, sending out signed prints to all who voted! Thank you for your support!