Elias Photography

The photos you are seeing (if you have a Flash player in your browser) are of the resurfacing of the floor of our new gallery, plus a few photos of the empty gallery and then the gallery with only the artwork on the walls, and none of our furniture. We figured that it would be a long time before we ever saw it empty again and had better get some images of it.

We have to say that we are really thrilled about the way the gallery looks. The space is quite long, and is warm and inviting (the leather sofa is especially inviting, if you ask me).  It’s quite dramatic, and after only having been partially open for a few days, we are getting  many visitors and have already sold some of the fine photography that we have displayed.

Come by and see us soon, and we can show you some of our new products!

~~ Carol

Elias Photography now has newsletters!

Recently, we started putting together our customer information and are working on our first newsletter. Each newsletter will feature a little information about our studio and include a coupon or other offer for our services. Our plan is to try and send at least one E-mail per quarter, but no more than one each month (unless something really spectacular is going on).

Besides our photography services, we may include photos from a recent photo session, plans for a photography workshop, local interests, or simply a topic that we have in common with some of our clients.

You can sign up for our newsletter here.  Just check the newsletters you wish to receive, and you will get only the information in which you are interested. We use “best practices” for our list, which means you can change your settings any time.

If you are a previous customer and would like to keep in touch, just give us a call and let us update your account with any changes. Have us add you to our mailing list, if you prefer, as well.

And on another topic… We know you didn’t want to think about Christmas already, but if you are planning on having finished portraits before the holidays, now is the time to get started. Art should never be rushed, and by starting now, you can have everything done before the season becomes busy and hectic.

~ Carol

Have you ever participated in a silent auction? It’s fun to put down your name and offer a few dollars to buy an item, in a fun competition among friends. As you consider different the different items available in the silent auction, you wander back to those for which you already put in a bid. You weigh the options. Do you wait until just a moment before the auction is over, hoping you have enough time to put in last minute bids? Or do you just jot down your bottom line dollar and hope that you get at least one thing on which you bid?

The great thing for non-experienced auction bidders is you don’t feel pressure of a live (traditional) auction. You don’t have to hold up a number and try to understand the fast paced speech of the auctioneer. You are generally surrounded by friends. The atmosphere is fun and exciting, and everyone scrambles around to write in their bids, keeping an eye on that one thing they really hope they get.

It’s fun to watch people hover over the auction, seeing which things get the most attention. If you see something that has caught a lot of attention and has many bids, you might consider putting in a bid yourself. Of course, the more popular an item is, the more money it will raise; a very good thing for charity and non-profit fundraising.

Many of our customers have been put in touch with us through charities and non-profit organizations who use “silent auctions” as fundraisers. This works well for us, and seems to work well for the charities and non-profits to whom we donate.

Do you belong to an organization that holds silent auctions? Our donation package usually consists of a gift certificate which includes a consultation, a portrait session and one 11×14 print,  usually generating several hundred dollars for each event. Because of the nature of our business, we can only offer this donation to charities and non-profit groups that hold their events in our local community (Whittier, California and surrounding cities). We also lend an 11×14 print for display -  inspiring bidders and showing them the quality of our work.

If you think our donation package is right for your organization, contact us now, so that we can be set up for your next silent auction fundraiser!

~ Carol

Send mail to:
Elias Photography
6736 Greenleaf Ave., #1
Whittier, CA 90601

Call us at:
(562) 696-6868

Read on for a great gift idea and a special offer from Elias Photography

One of the most stressful elements of the holiday season is the age old question: “What do I get for (insert special person’s name here)?

Usually, a gift certificate entails a plastic card or a nondescript piece of paper that you place in an envelope and hand it over on the special day. To some, the gift card or certificate is sort of a catch-all thing you can give for a gift exchange or to someone you don’t know that well. Of course, they can be lost, which is only good for the merchant from whom you bought it!

But what if you are really stumped and it just *has* to be good?

Every year, we get a few customers at the last moment, looking for a gift, but not really knowing what to get, they come in and get a gift certificate.

At Elias Photography we offer specially made gift certificates. We understand that, if you come to us, you must know that the recipient really needs photography done, or else would appreciate the very personal nature of the gift. When you get a gift certificate from us, if there is time, we will custom-create wordage just for you, with special seasonal graphics to suit your needs. We have you sign the certificate, yourself, and put it in a clear envelope with with backing, for protection. You can then wrap that up in a box to put under the tree, or purchase a document frame for presentation.

We recommend that you buy a small “package” with us for a gift certificate. The absence of a dollar value, but with a brief description, looks much nicer and lets the recipient know exactly what they will be getting.

Elias Photography gift certificates are great gifts for special employees, spouses, parents-to-be, young families, thank-you gifts to great customers, or a “from Santa” gift to both you and your spouse.

We offer gift certificates year round, for all occasions. However… Today I was cleared to make a special offer:

From now, through January 15th, 2009, You can get an Elias Photography Gift Certificate for a photo session and an 11×14 print for 50% off the regular price. Depending on demand and time constraints, we may be able to customize each one!

So look no further for a special gift - and at a great price!

~~Carol

PS.  Our “gift certificates” are not just a piece of paper. They represent an account with a positive balance that belongs to the buyer until the gift is brought in by the recipient, and then we transfer the account to them. You never have to worry about losing your gift!

What is “Gallery Quality Photography”? I’m not sure where I got this term… maybe I pulled it out of my hat.

In another post or page somewhere I was trying to find another way describe our work. I think the distinction I am trying to make is that our work is not done in a studio with the same blue or brown background, the same props, the same lighting and the same pose. I think there are four elements at play, here.

1. We do our work in the real world, in real environments, using real lighting, photographing real people having real moments. Hence, Rick Elias has used the term “Real Life Photography” to describe his work.
2. Our work is as unique as individual people are because it is a reflection of them as described as above. Therefore…
3. You will not see image after image of the same setting with a different face in it. This is what you will see in a lot of portrait photography studios… and it’s fine… but not that interesting.
4. In each photo session, you will be able to find images that are unique and dynamic, interesting enough to be appreciated by many people, not just the family of the person who is portrayed. This is important because when you put artwork on the wall, you hope that everyone that enters your home enjoys it, not only your immediate family.

What you get at Elias Photography is artwork that is created specifically for you, but which anyone can appreciate.

~~Carol

There is not much that can hurt a business more than having the phones out for a day or longer.

Unless your phones do not go out, but parts of your service do not work and there is no way of knowing it, unless you call yourself. And who does that?

Our voice mail has not been working properly for weeks… Continue Reading »

The links to the left will provide a lot of information about our services and our philosophy about photography. Whether you feel more comfortable knowing how and why we do things the way we do or you just want specific information, we hope you find it here.