
One of our beach scenes located at our studio.
	Do you offer beach scenes?
	Yes, At our studio! The number one rule to quality outdoor portraiture is never stand your subject in direct sun. So unless it's a heavily over cast day, it's impossible to find shade at the beach. Our solution was to create our own private beach scene right at our studio! You can have the casual beach look without the problems. (no direct sun, wind, shiny skin, people staring, extra cost). Use the savings toward more poses or wallet pictures instead! Our private beach gives us complete control over the natural light which means you'll look your best and that is always our primary concern. Everyone likes to have variety in their outdoor portraits and this allows you to get a few with the beach, along with a variety of our other awesome outdoor scenes as well. More for your money - is what 'value' is all about.

We've heard that senior pictures at HOUSE are expensive, but comparing your prices we see you're only slightly more and wallet print prices are even lower than the ordinary studios?
Our customers love our work so much that most end up spending more than they originally planned. People hear we're expensive because they ask their friends and neighbors what they ended up spending on their senior pictures and when they hear the total they feel we must be expensive without knowing everything the person received for their money. We feel it's a great compliment when our customers order a lot and from many different poses. It means we've done our job extremely well, it's hard to say no to all the awesome poses and selections we've created and presented in your preview folio. So our customers just have to have them all! It's the comment we hear most often... "I've never seen such beautiful pictures and you've made it incredibly hard for us to select the best one. We love them all!" We believe in treating the customer the way we would want to be treated, so you'll get no sales pressure from us. We prefer to let our work do the selling. After you've had your proofs to review for a week, Joy simply asks... Okay, what would you like to order? Then what you spend is then up to you. Some studios price their work higher because they want to make you think their work is superior, while others charge less primarily because they have to in order to compete. Due to our work's popularity, we work with large volumes of seniors each year that allows us to keep our prices in a range that is affordable to pretty much everyone. So you can get our extraordinary portraiture for about the same price you would pay at an ordinary studio. Compare for yourself... Senior Price List (.GIF image format) Complete price list in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format Senior Price List < right click and 'save as' to your hard drive.
Are all the scenes/locations I see in your brochure and on your website's senior gallery really at your studio?
All of the props and locations you see are at our studio! No extra charges or travel fee's required. No need to pay extra for the beach, or pay additional session costs or add modules for urban city walls, old English columns or wrought iron gates. No need to travel to the country to do your session in a rustic barn. Or spending time traveling in search of a field to get colorful flowers in the background. Whether you're interested in sport shots in our "Locker Room", or showing off your 'Country look' in our "South-Western Arizona Dwelling", you're sure to find something that really suits your personal style. Not only does this mean we can offer more variety, it makes your session more fun. Your poses will be uniquely you! This wide assortment of scenes keeps us excited too! We enjoy working with new looks and we're never afraid to experiment to try something new - Got an idea? just ask. We'll work on it together, or leave it to us - cut us loose and let us do our thing! We'll select the scenes that will go best with your outfits. Ordinarily, studios use the same white or black background and swap piece of fabric or colored cardboard for variety... but we invest literally thousands of dollars each year to acquire the finest hand painted backgrounds and sets in the industry. Many are the same type that are used on movie sets. Right now, we have many new props and backgrounds being created for setup this winter. Ready just in time for the summer of 2004, all for our 2005 graduates! As an artist, Ron is also a great decorator and is constantly shopping for unique items from around the world. Recently he's added a hand made iron "star bench" which he had bussed up from Texas, southwestern serapes from Mexico, Adobe ladders from Arizona, real lasso ropes that were used at a ranch in Wyoming... even a old car door and traffic light from old time down town Grand Rapids. We have things to compliment any look and enhance your every outfit! Just look through our senior gallery on our website to see only a few! While others claim to have the most variety... we prove it! Unique props and backgrounds give your portrait a one of a kind, tasteful, classic look that allows them to stand the test of time. We want you to be proud of your portrait for decades, not just until the recent fad comes and goes. We like to have our portraits look as if they were taken on location, at the clients country club, home, farm or at exciting far away locations other than in a studio. So these are the sorts of backgrounds and sets we strive to create. Ron's senior portraits don't look like the typical senior pictures you've seen elsewhere!

How many studio's and photographers do you have? How do I know if I'll get the best one?
Just one - Ron Kramer! While it's easy to claim to be the best award winning photographer in the area, we let our work speak for us. The countries top photographers need to be located somewhere... Isn't it awesome that one of them is right here in Michigan! Each year many seniors travel hundreds of miles to obtain Ron's extraordinary portraiture. Many of the seniors in our galleries have traveled from Ohio and all corners of the state to work with Ron. One young lady and her mother even drove 3 hours to Grand Rapids, then stayed at a local hotel the night before so that she would be fresh for her senior picture appointment with us the next day. Here's is just ONE of the unsolicited emails we get each and every week! Cannot say THANK YOU enough for helping us get Kim's pictures back in time for the yearbook deadline. The pictures are fantastic, just as I knew they would be. Kim was impressed with Ron, and the fact that he was able to make her feel relaxed and comfortable during the shoot. Joy, you are wonderful to work with. Your upbeat attitude and excellent customer service is a testimony to the success your studio has. Thank you both. I will refer everyone I know to House of Photography, and promise them that they will be as happy as we are. God Bless you both, Chris and Kim La More This sort of following is to be expected when an artist consistently delivers exceptional images session after session as Ron does. His style is unique, as is his down to earth way of working with his subjects which quickly makes them feel relaxed and at ease. Attempting to train other photographers would not be possible, because no hired help could possibly care as deeply as we do about the quality and level of service that we provide. There is more to artistic portraiture than knowing how to take good pictures. It requires a passion and talent that only a select few photographers in the country possess. Unlike typical products such as a car, insurance or brand name shirt which can be price shopped. Portraiture is not created equal. Prints can not be compared by price alone... because no two studio images will be the same. To fully appreciate the difference in quality and skill, we need to have a trained eye. This is why we love to read comments from other skilled photographers around the world! Read for yourself... Other Photographers Comments to Us! There is only one place where you can acquire Ron Kramer's style and level of portraiture, right here in Grand Rapids Michigan. This means there is a limited number of seniors that can be photographed each season. So call early to be assured of a senior session. We recommend calling the studio at least 6-8 weeks in advance. And to call before summer. May-June would make the best appointment times available to you and will assure you a session with Ron. Lucky photographers from near and far come to our studio to attend seminars and training sessions with Ron. In addition Ron often shares his expertise and trend setting concepts in online professional portrait forums. After years of photographers requesting that Ron write books and make training videos for them to learn from. He has recently created an Online seminar with lessons and videos called "PortraNET" at PortraNet.Com Ron has been flown to all corners of the U.S. to do work for clients around the country. But in recent years, Ron has limited his travels to concentrate on the work he enjoys most... photographing seniors. If you're location doesn't make it possible to come to our studio, Ron recommends these other 'fine art' photographers around the country. Our friends at Don (Wolfgang) & Cindy at "Legend" photography Vancouver, WA Dave Junion N. Wisconsin And Fuzzy Duenkel Wisconsin
How long does it take to get my previews (proofs) back after my session?
Not only are we the best, we're also the fastest! During the normal senior season we will have your proofs back in 3 working days. During the heat of the season in July, August it's not uncommon for us to have them ready for you to pick up the next day! REALLY! - but we can't promise this time frame, so we feel more comfortable saying 3-4 days will be the norm. (Black and White session proofs sometimes require an extra day or two on top of the normal processing time). Compare this to other studios that make you wait weeks. After you order your pictures from your proofs, final print orders will be ready in 4-6 weeks. The final prints require extra time due to the complexity of the 27 steps required in the printing and finishing of your images. All of our portraiture includes: Blemish retouching on all prints, no extra charge. (Other retouching such as moles, freckles, can be done per request) All prints are delivered in our deluxe embossed folders. All 8x10's and larger are delivered mounted on art board and sprayed with a protective acrylic spray coating. All 8x10's and larger are 'hand signed' by the artist. All wallets are die cut with rounded corners and include our logo.

What if I want indoor and outdoor, do most people get more than one session?
Yes, most people select our "Creative Deluxe" session and our "Outdoor" sessions. Some add black and white as well. What sessions you choose will depend on the senior styles you prefer. If you like the more traditional head and shoulder poses with little or no props then our "Traditional" session would suit your needs. If you are after a specific look, background or scene that we offer make sure you ask about it when you schedule your session time, because some scenes are only available outdoors and others that may look like outdoors, may actually be done indoors. Also our bushes and flowers bloom at different times of the year, so if you have your heart set on something special outdoors, check with Joy when you phone the studio for your appointment. To learn more about our sessions, jump to our SESSIONS page, then click the session type to see samples of that session style.

	What if it rains on my session day?
	The key to any portrait is lighting. This is especially important outdoors! Skilled photographers frown upon the use of a 'flash' for outdoor portraiture. The light needs to be soft and natural. Luckily our outdoor area is landscaped to deliver the proper light needed for outstanding outdoor portraiture. When it's sunny, we have areas of shade. If the sun leaks through the tree's we use panels to block the sun. If it's overcast, we no longer have a problem with direct sun and the overcast sky gives us beautiful light that we control with reflective panels. A hard rain makes it impossible for us to shoot a full outdoor session primarily because it would get the camera equipment wet. Most of our posing areas have overhead canopies of tree's or awnings that keep our subjects dry. If it's a drizzle or a mist type of rain we often still shoot the outdoor sessions. In fact, some of the best outdoor portraits have been done in a light drizzle since the light is wonderfully soft. So don't rule out being able to get your outdoor session done if the weather looks questionable. It could be perfect for senior portraiture! Kentwood senior, photographed in a light rain.
We always do the indoor portion of your sessions first. This keeps your hair from being affected from the humidity in the summer and allows us to get the indoor poses done in the comfort of our air conditioned studio while your still fresh. Outdoor sessions take less time since we don't have lights to move around. Outdoor sessions require about 15 minutes time, and are much easier to reschedule in the event of bad weather. So if the weather looks nasty and you have indoor and outdoor sessions scheduled, make sure you show up on time for your session since we will always do the indoor session no matter what the weather is. In Michigan it can be pouring rain when a senior shows up for their indoor/outdoor appointment and an hour later when the indoor portion is done, the weather has done a complete change. So even when it's raining, bring your outdoor outfits with you to the indoor portion of your session.
Can I select the backgrounds and scenes I want?
Certainly! we actually prefer it. Though many say "your the artist" and let us just do our thing... others bring in the brochure or print-outs from the website and say we would like this one and this one and that one... and not that one as that's not me. No-Problem! We then help you select which outfits will best fit the backgrounds and scenes you've requested. There really is no limit to the amount of backgrounds you can have per session. The number is only limited by the number of images created in each session. For the best results, we urge you to stop by the studio for a free, no obligation consultation. Sit and relax while viewing literally thousands of examples. Joy will share some tips about clothing, what will work best for the backgrounds you like best. So you will know what sorts or outfits and colors to bring to best work with the backgrounds you like best! She'll answer any questions you may have and help customize your session specifically for you! It really helps to see the samples of what is good and not so good to wear. For example, it's best to stay away from stripes, but until you actually see samples showing stripes compared to solid shirts, you won't realize how important that tip is. Not only can you select the backgrounds you like best, you can specify the poses you like best. While Ron often makes up the pose on the fly - if you see samples in our brochure or website of poses you really like, let us know... we're more then happy to give you what you like best! Seen it somewhere else? In a magazine? A friends senior picture? Bring it in - we'll improve upon it!

What if I wear glasses or contacts?
If you wear glasses and wish to wear them for your senior pictures, you must do either of these two thing. 1. Remove your lenses from your frames prior to your session. We can not shoot your session with lenses intact. Doing so would require that we compromise the quality of our portrait. And we never compromise when it comes to our work. 2. Go to your optometrist and ask them to loan you a pair of empty frames like the ones you normally wear. They are use to this request for pictures and will often loan them for free or for a small 5-10 dollar deposit that you are refunded when you return the frames to them. Some frames use a nylon line to hold the lens in place. These look strange with the lenses removed, so it's best to borrow a solid frame that is the same basic shape and style, but one that doesn't use the nylon line to hold the lens in place. If you stay with the same basic frame, no one will notice the difference in a picture. Why do I need to do this? Because we want everything to be perfect. Ron's custom lighting and techniques were designed to flatter our subjects. The placement of each light and reflector is done in such a way, that you'll love the way you look. However, if you have lenses in your frames we will see massive amounts of glare. (reflections of the lights in the glass) and your eyes will be hidden. If your lens area is small, we can sometimes move the lights to where the reflections are minimized. But doing this is a trade off, to minimize the glare the lights will no longer be where they need to be positioned to best flatter how you look. And we don't like making compromises when it comes to the quality of our work or your portrait. Glare can be minimized with costly artwork, but it rarely looks as good as if there was no glare in the first place. Contact Lenses? These are less of a problem because they don't cause glare like glasses do. But we highly recommend if you can get by without them, to not have them in during your session. The subjects eyes in our work are very important. It's been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul and we have to agree in that the connection with the eyes is an important part of our portraiture. The "speculars" (the reflection of light in the eyes) are very important. The brighter and clearer these speculars are, the more impressive the eyes will be. Soft contacts have less reflective properties than the human eye has. This plastic film over the eye reduces the specular reflections in the eyes which reduces the impact of the eyes in the portrait. Certainly we can do your session with your contacts in. But your portrait will be just that much nicer if you can remove them for the session. Glass contacts have very good specular reflective properties and can remain in. But both types of contact often irritate the eyes a bit making them slightly red and causing some of the blood vessels to expand. This can be even worse if you also have allergies. Of course we want your portrait to be INCREDIBLE, so we recommend doing everything possible to make it happen. A little "Visene" before you session to "get the red out" can also be a good idea, especially if you just removed your contacts for your session. Some people have a tendency to look cross eyed or have other wandering eye problems without their contacts in place. We recommend keeping your contacts in if this is your situation. Other people have wandering eyes and don't wear glasses. Let us know this and we'll work with you during the session to minimize it from showing. Sometimes this evolves simply having you look far left, then right, then back at the camera... sometimes it is minimized with certainly angles of the face and the way the eyes glance. We've had a great deal of experience with this over the years so don't be embarrassed to bring it to our attention so we can help you with minimizing the problem.

Can I bring a friend or family member to watch my session?
We encourage you to bring a friend or family member to assist you in getting ready for your session, but it's not necessary. Ron is there to help guys with their ties... and his wife Joy is always there to assist the young ladies with their zippers, jewelry and buttons if needed. Though it can be helpful to bring a extra person for support and last minute inspections, it is our policy that no one with the exception of those being photographed can be in the camera room or in the outdoor area during a session. In addition to it being unsafe around lights and equipment that can fall or be tipped over without our undivided attention. We've found over the past two decades that the quality of the session depends heavily on the personal connection between the photographer and the subject, and that other people in the camera room cause distractions and make the subject feel self conscience. We've also found that expressions are far more natural and flow more easily when someone isn't watching from the shadows. It's also clearly evident that most of the time, the subjects attitude toward the session changes dramatically when they enter the camera room and leave their parent behind to relax in the waiting room. Often this transformation is nothing short of magical. We know as friends and parents it would be more fun to watch and that the anticipation of waiting to see the results can drive you crazy with excitement. But everything we do is with the same goal in mind. "To create the best images possible". And if you know our reputation, you already know we'll make no compromises when it comes to achieving our goal. Yes, we know some studios will allow you to watch and will let you do anything you like as long as they can sell you something. But the quality of our work, our reputation and the excitement you'll have when viewing your images are far more important to us then simply doing a session in any way to make a sale. Sometimes we hear "But we got to watch at the other place that took her sisters picture last year?". We humbly explain that this is part of the reason they didn't return there for their pictures again this time around. We will only give you our best, we WILL earn your repeat business... because we won't compromise our work just to make a sale. Our past clients often comment that they know we'll take good care of their son or daughter, and will make sure things are as good as they can possibly be before and during the session.
Do you sign all your pictures?
As the artist, Ron personally hand signs all 8x10 and larger prints. His signature is complimented by the present year or seniors graduating year. Smaller prints are not signed, but have our copyright text on the back. All of our wallets proudly have our "House of Photography" logo in a lower corner, just like a Polo shirt or a Mercedes automobile have their logo's on their products. We're equally proud of our work and so are our clients. Showing that you went to HOUSE for your senior pictures says something about who you are and shows that you appreciate quality. For these reasons all of our 8x10 and larger prints will be signed and our wallet sized pictures are only available with our logo in the corner.
Who designs your websites? They're awesome!
Ron does! As an artist and designer, Ron uses his talents in all areas of our business. He designs and codes our web pages, creates the designs and layouts for our brochures and mailings. And has does several websites for other photographers and world wide companies like http://www.PrismKites.com . We thank you for your comments regarding our brochures and websites they are a labor of love, and we thank you for allowing us to show your portraiture on them!

It is so important to remember that 'every little thing' you do to make the portrait good all add up to making you look great. Just like each of the individual elements that we handle, add up to making your portrait great. There isn't any 'one element' that makes a portrait fair, good or great. It is the combination of all the elements coming together. We want them all to contribute to the creation of an INCREDIBLY GREAT portrait... and nothing less. This is why we have earned a reputation for being the best!.
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