times they are a’changin’ ~ it’s now or never ~ Kitchener Waterloo Ontario pet photographer

For those of you who don’t follow SDP on Facebook and/or Instagram  and if you don’t receive the scruffy dog newsletter … well … you will certainly be out of the loop, and will not have gotten the memo.  So I’m posting it here on the blog as well since time is running out!

Here’s the thing…  In my 15 yrs of photographing exclusively pets, I have always made it a priority to be accessible to ALL pet guardians.  Distance hasn’t mattered, with clients traveling from all over Ontario and Quebec, from Michigan and New York, and even as far as Kansas and California.  Training and behavior hasn’t mattered, as I continue to work with every dog from young puppies who have yet to learn their name, to dogs with a bite history, and everything in between.  And just as relevant as those, I have worked hard over the years to make the scruffy sessions as affordable as possible to my clients – no matter what their socio-economic status.  I’ve had clients show up in their Porsche Cayenne and two days later have a client arrive in their rusted Ford, held together with duct tape and dog slobber.  As I have for the past 15 years, I continue to strive to make it possible for ANYONE to have images of their pet, whether that is a few good prints or a full wall of artwork and a custom-designed album.

The fact is, though, year after year – besides the increased level of talent, skill and time that I invest into every client’s session and their images – my other costs have continued to rise, even before the pandemic.  Equipment upgrades (to the tune nearly $30K in just the past two years), insurance, vehicle, software, website costs, overhead, and all of my corporate fees … they just go up and up and up.  And then there are the costs at the lab for the fineart prints and products I deliver to my clients; as the lab costs go up, so do mine.

Still, in spite of all that – because I want to continue to be accessible to ALL pet guardians for those very important and priceless photographic memories – I have not raised the scruffy dog session fees or the print and product prices in OVER FIVE YEARS.

However , now, with the pandemic, times have changed. Drastically. Not only have the costs of running my business increased by an alarming rate over the past two years, I have just learned that the costs on the fine art prints and products for which my clients hire me have risen 30% due to a struggling supply chain and exorbitant shipping fees. As such, I can no longer skate along at 2016’s fees.

So … it’s sink or swim time … and – as an artist and someone who understands first-hand the love people have for their pets, and the importance of those photographic keepsakes – I simply HAVE to keep swimming. But, sadly, the ONLY way I can do this is to raise my session fees and product prices to reflect the current inflation.

As with any change in a business, this is a major undertaking and has required great gobs of time to address all of the website content, brochures, and especially my online and printed client materials, and invoicing, while STILL working hard to keep things as affordable as possible for my clients.

Currently  I am in the final stages of this complete overhaul, and the revised fee structure will come into effect as of April 20th.  So … until that date, I am honouring the current prices (or more accurately, the 2016 prices).   NOW is the time to get yourself a scruffy session at today’s prices.

The only catch: I need you to have your session booked by APRIL 20th … and your session needs to take place before the end of September. This is the only way I can offer the current rates.

So please, if you’ve ever wanted a scruffy dog session, please consider booking soon in order to take advantage of the current rates.

Please reach out now, let me know you are interested in booking at the current pricing, and I can send you the Welcome Guide to get the process rolling.

I look forward to hearing from you … almost as much as I look forward to the possibility of working with your scruffy to capture some unforgettable images!!

 

NOTE: For those scruffy clients already on the books for a session this year, no worries. I will honour the pricing you booked with.