Memorial Cards

• How We Go About It:  Begin by emailing Diane or phoning toll-free, if you'd rather: 1-888-629-3998.  I'm never far from my computer and check email often.  If you are local (Armstrong, BC area) please call 250 546-2560.  Tell me some particulars about the project-- if it's for a gift, or if time is of the essence for a funeral or memorial service.  If you have ideas about what you'd like the end product to be, this is the time to let me know.  Once we have an idea of what we want to accomplish, send me some low resolution jpgs of the images you wish to use, or if you are local, simply give me the prints.  Using these, I will come up with a quote.  If you wish to continue, I ask for a $200.00 deposit.  I do not charge extra for coming up with the theme but it is not free for someone else to use.  The prices are seldom less than $200.00 and can go up to $800, more for extremely extravagant work.   The wonderful thing about the Net is that it doesn't matter where you are-- we can still do this and quickly.  As with all my work, there is a 100% guarantee.
  
  Not sure about the pictures you have?  Even if they are fuzzy and have very little detail, it's amazing what I can do with them!  If they're fixable, I'll do that.  If not, I'll make them look like they were supposed to be that way.  Send them anyway and I'll have a look and let you know.

• Prices:  The cost is completely dependant on how involved the card will be.  If you have several images that you wish to have me place into a collage or design a story board, the cost will of course be greater than if you only have one picture.  Also variable will be the photographs themselves.  I've taken photos in which the subject was tiny within a 35 mm negative.  The person's eyes were black, virtually with no detail whatsoever.  I actually created the eyes by using another image of the person to see what his eyes looked like. From there I turned the small, pixilated snapshot picture a larger, beautifully artistic  image, worthy of hanging on a wall.  As one can imagine, the time put into this project was extensive.  I charge by the hour: $85.00.   This is only the time I spend at the computer and does not include the time spent with the client, the time it takes to come up with a theme, gathering the pictures and so on.   However, once I see the project and start to get an idea of what will be involved, I will provide a quote and will stick with it, as a maximum.  Many times the project ends up taking me longer than thought; I will always honor the quote.
   

• Text: The price will include writing the text from information you provide, editing it and formatting.
   

• From there and one rule:  For cards, once you send payment, via PayPal, you will receive via email, a high resolution copy of the front and back of the 5 x 7 card.  You can then burn it to a CD or send it to your local printer to get copies printed.  I work very hard to make certain you get these in a timely manner-- knowing how important it is.  Please though, do what you can to expedite the process by providing snapshots as quickly as possible.  You will need to scan them as cleanly as possible, at 300 dpi.  If the final copy is a large piece of art as opposed to the cards, it will be sent to you as a print-- and you can decide on the substrate-- from glossy, matte or art paper, to  stretched canvas, ready to hang.
  
  
   

• About Stillborns, Very Early Births and Newborns: Since I have gone through this myself, I have a special place in my heart for this art.  Some babies are born very early and have translucent skin.  Others have severe defects that make that "pretty picture" very difficult to define.  But I know that there is always beauty that shines through-- that this is your child no matter what and the love cannot and will not die. 
  
  I take the honor of creating these pictures very seriously and treat them with the preciousness that I know they have brought to you, in their own unique way.
   

• I will not work with another professional photographer's image unless the client has obtained  his/her permission in writing.  The photographer must understand that I will be cropping and sometimes adjusting the image in order to make it fit.  Sometimes the images are very old and come from photographers who are long out of business.  If this is the case, and you have done all you can to get permission, I can make exceptions.