Girl + Camera LLC

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Which of these two sandwiches do you believe was prepared by a professional chef with years of culinary experience for the Nassau Inn in Princeton, NJ? Which one was created, from scratch, by some schmuck kid with a degree in psychology (of all things!) in a kitchen that’s smaller than the bathrooms at the Nassau Inn? (Answer at the end of the post!)

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Same question. Which of these salads was created by a culinary professional for one of the most popular places in Princeton? Which was created by a twenty-something in her house using just a George Forman grill, a cheap pot from Target, and a dull chef’s knife? (Answer at the end of the post!)

More importantly, which one would you rather eat?
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Whenever I host a professional portrait day and invite potential clients, I get the same basic question: “Why do I need a professional portrait? I’m just a _____.”

With the proliferation of social media websites, and with more and more hiring professionals checking out the sites you list (and googling to find the sites you don’t) you can’t afford to have a mediocre photograph on social media websites.

But, don’t take my word for it. From Social Media Examiner’s “12 Ways to Market Your Event With Social Media”:

#10: A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Although Twitpics and iPhone photos are great and shareable, hire a photographer for the day. If you can’t afford one, consider an in-kind trade of a free pass. Make sure you come to an agreement on who owns the photos and how they can be used online to promote this and future events.

Want your professional portrait taken sooner rather than later? There’s still time to Register for a Professional Portrait with Girl + Camera

Enjoy a day down at Belmar’s beautiful beach and have a full half-hour portrait sitting during the last days of summer with Girl Plus Camera!

Girl Plus Camera is closing out the summer season with a one-day photo shoot at the shore. All ages, groups from individuals to couples to families, and portrait styles (engagement, senior, family, modeling) are invited to stop by for a thirty minute portrait sitting with Elizabeth Williams.

All sittings will include thirty full minutes (no set up or break down) and images posted to a personalized, password-protected website for your viewing within one week of the event; any senior portraits or children’s portraits will also automatically enter your child(ren) into the recently-extended Girl + Camera “Be the Face” contest! (Surf, Sun, and Sand summer sittings do not include portrait credit.)

Girl + Camera is also offering a special Sunrise Portrait Sitting for $95.00 for one hour. Have your portraits taken in the early morning hours, known by photographers as “The Golden Hour” for the spectacular light and incredible images that come from the rising sun over the glorious New Jersey coastline.

Rain Date: September 12, 2010

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. It is understood this Studio/Photographer is the exclusive official photographer retained to perform the photographic services on the date and time of the appointment booked.

2. The Studio/Photographer reserves the right to use images created under this contract for advertising, display, publication or other purposes.

The Client purchasing this sitting warrants that he or she has actual authority to agree to the use of the likeness of all persons included in the portrait in this manner and shall indemnify and defend the Studio/Photographer in the event of litigation arising out of such use. Negatives, digital files and previews remain the exclusive property of this Studio/Photographer.

3. All sitting fees are non-refundable.

4. If the Studio/Photographer cannot perform this Contract due to fire or other casualty, strike, act of God, or other cause beyond the control of the parties, or due to Photographer’s illness or emergency, then the Photographer refund the payment IN FULL to the Client but shall have no further liability with respect to the Contract. This limitation on liability shall also apply in the event that photographic materials are damaged in processing, lost through camera or media malfunction, lost in the mail, or otherwise lost or damaged without fault on the part of the Photographer. In the event the Studio/Photographer fails to perform for any other reason, the Studio/Photographer shall not be liable for any amount in excess of the retail value of the Client’s order.

5.NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT: All images created by Girl + Camera LLC are protected by Federal Copyright. It is illegal to copy, scan, or reproduce photographs elsewhere without Studio’s/Photographer’s permission.

Purchase of a Ticket through EventBrite will be considered an agreement of these terms and conditions and incorporates the entire understanding of the parties. Any modifications must be in writing and signed by both parties.

Leland E. Rainier was a United States Marine who served with the 6th Marine Division during World War II. He was a reserve police officer; a custodial and maintenance worker for the City of Burlington, New Jersey; a member and former President of the American Legion, Post 79; and a survivor of both prostate and skin cancers. He is a husband, father, and grandfather. He is, in fact, my grandfather.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1996, Lee Rainier suffered a stroke — he stubbornly waited until after the last of the pumpkin pie was cleared from the table before he would allow his middle daughter to drive him to the hospital. It was soon after that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

For fourteen years, I’ve watched my grandfather deteriorate from a loving but hard-as-nails Marine (Semper Fi) to a man so broken that he would cry and beg God to “take me home”. This past week, my husband David and I were called to the nursing home where he and my grandmother are living out their remaining days, as he’s gone unconscious and is on oxygen, an IV, and morphine.

As a family, we’ve been here before; he refused food and slowly slipped out of consciousness earlier this year, only to pull through and make as full a recovery as someone in his mental condition can. He was at least speaking words again, even if they didn’t always make sense, and he could sometimes recognize me and my husband–or at least my husband’s curly head of hair, which my grandfather adored. So we’re faced with a situation that is not unfamiliar, but for which the inevitable seems to be once again reminding us of its omnipresence.

On our visit this Sunday, I took some basic camera equipment with me to document what was happening as the family–his sisters, his daughters and grandchildren–trickled in and out of the room. This was a man who once was able to walk down the street of Burlington City and know everyone on the street by name, who walked around the diners before being seated greeting most of the patrons he knew (and introducing himself to those he didn’t) as if he could have run for mayor and won, even though he dropped out of high school to defeat the Axis powers when he was only in 10th grade. I don’t know if any of the many members of his various organizations, his church, or his community will see this before the time has come–if they do, I hope they see him soon. Sadly, the truth seems to be that someone so well-known and well-liked can be destroyed by this terrible illness, left isolated and alone by a disease that frightens away others because of the way it ravages the victim’s brain.

On 7/7/10, I took some instructor photos at Sphericality LLC in Flemington NJ. I’m doing a reshoot on some of the photos, which will be revealed at a gallery opening on August 27th, 2010 — in the meantime, here’s an outtake from the sitting that didn’t quite make the cut.