FotoFly will rock your portrait-studio world

Forget everything you thought you knew about portrait studios, especially if your experience involves a studio with a name that rhymes with “tears” (or invokes such when the poses remind you of those on AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com). Or, in my case, you cringe because you have to take out a second mortgage to pay for the portrait package offered by yet another popular portrait studio. (Hint: the name starts with “K” and ends in “iddie Kandids.”)

This week I discovered a portrait studio that is going to change your life. Seriously. Tuesday evening I met up with my good friend Becca from Blue Cricket Design at FotoFly, a new portrait studio in the Draper Peaks shopping center, for a free photography class and intro to the fabulous concept behind the studio.

I am here to tell you FotoFly ROCKS! And to prove it, here are the top ten reasons why I am in love with FotoFly—and why you will fall in love too. Promise.

1. The location: FotoFly is located just off the freeway at the 12300 South exit in Draper. It’s next to Kohl’s (perfect for emergency outfit changes) and eateries like The Sweet Tooth Fairy and In-N-Out Burger (perfect for bribery).
2. The owners: Eric and Melinda, husband-and-wife team, are genuine, sincere, friendly…and that’s just what I discovered in a couple hour’s time. Eric comes from a family of professional photographers; great photography is in his blood. Though I didn’t get to chat with Melinda long, I can tell she is the one making everything—and everyone (Eric)—look good. The guy on the left? That’s Daniel. Love him. The end.

   

3. The decor: From reception area in the front to the studios in the back, FotoFly offers visitors a clean, crisp, modern, chic design. It’s refreshing and inviting and a welcome change from the norm.

   

4. The studios: Graffiti, brick walls and garage doors, oh my! FotoFly has got backdrop skills. With a left-wing and right-wing studio, one larger than the other, the options are endless if not pretty dang close!

   

5. The viewing room: Okay, that sounds a bit morbid. I’m not sure of its official name, but after wrangling kids for 45 minutes I’d rather view my photos in FotoFly’s version of a viewing station than the cafeteria-style, seemingly impersonal bar-style counters elsewhere. This room whispers “serenity now,” which is a good thing because I’m usually screaming it by the time the session is over.

   

6. The props: Have you ever seen such gorgeous tutus? Tacky props are non-existent at FotoFly, thank heavens. What you can’t see in the photo is the sweet, old-fashioned yellow scale and the rest of that fabulous umbrella. Guess you’ll have to check those out in person!

   

7. The photos: I’ve seen samples of shots taken by FotoFly’s photographers and they’re stunning. I could also describe them using words like artistic, breathtaking, sweet, hip… Though their site doesn’t yet have the gallery up and running (trust me, they’re working feverishly on it!), you can view some photos via the Photos tab on their Facebook page or by clicking on the image below.

   

8. The classes: Oh, the classes. The two-hour basic class was by far the best basic photography class I’ve taken. Eric’s casual, easygoing manner was engaging and made everyone feel more at ease, even if we had to ask him multiple times how  that whole f-stop thing worked. The accompanying slides were easy to follow and full of examples and a few fill-in-the-blanks. (We were right 50% of the time—dang that f-stop!) The best part? We all received a copy of the presentation on disk to take home. It felt just like Christmas! I’m already looking forward to the next one…hint, hint.
9. THE PRICING: Holy crap, the pricing is so unbelievable it almost makes me want to swear. Out loud. You only need to remember two numbers, that’s it. The first is $79, which includes your 45-minute session and all prop changes, clothing changes, backdrop changes you desire, BUT it also includes the copyright release of all your images. In other words, you’ll receive a disk with the photos from your session; you’re free to do with them what you like. Do you need to go back and read that again? This is unheard of in the industry. Normally you’d pay a couple hundred dollars minimum for the rights to your photos. Trust me.
   …
   The other number you need to remember is $4. This is the price you’ll pay per sheet if you’d like FotoFly to print your photos. Remember that second mortgage thing? No need for that here. of course if you want something like a 16×20, you may have to pay closer to $30, but that’s still about a thousand times less than anywhere else. Okay, I’m exaggerating…but not by much! And the shipping is a flat-rate of $5.95 whether you order 10 sheets or 2 canvas-wrapped works of art. I swear I’m going to have a heart attack right here, right now just telling you about these prices.
10. THE DEAL: Ready for a deal that might send you into coronary arrest? Book a session from July 2nd through July 9th and get $30 off the $79 studio fee! Let me do the math for you; it is summer vacation after all. That’s $49 for a 45-minute session of the most adorable pics ever AND a disk with high-res images (and copyright ownership) of the photos. Do I need to grab the defibrillator?

    

To take advantage of this deal, visit FotoFly.com, click on Schedule and then book your appointment. You will need to register to use their booking software, but it’s quick and painless, promise. Our family already has a time slot for next Wednesday. I’m so excited I’m about ready craft a paper chain to count down the days!

By the way, I wouldn’t wait too long to book your appointment—dates and times will fill up quickly, especially the hours between morning and afternoon naps!

Oh, I forgot to mention one important thing. They have a children’s play area too:

Which is perfect for someone like Becca:

You booked yet?

You can find FotoFly on Facebook and Twitter as well. They’re going to quickly become your new best friends.

P.S. Our kids had their studio session and FotoFly more more than lived up to expectations. To see how the photos turned out, check out my follow-up post!