Thursday, June 13, 2013

Madison Musician Brandy Held

I did a fun shoot with Madison's Brandy Held over the weekend.  Brandy is a local musician and owner of Brandy Held Music Studio.  Brandy offers both piano and guitar lessons, and is also a pianist and vocalist for weddings.  Please visit her site here: Brandy Held Music Studio and make sure to catch her at one of her shows!













Rave! Great Results with Google AdWords Express!

After much dilemma, I finally decided to give Google's AdWords Express a try.  This is my first experience with any of Google's AdWords advertising.  I had looked into AdWords a couple times, but was confused by the numerous settings and options, so I never ran an ad. 

I decided to check into AdWords Express, which I didn't know existed until just recently.  It was simple to use, and with a few clicks my ad was up and running. This is a "pay-per-click" format, so I set my max bid at $1.64 and my total limit at $50.00.  I had immediate results.  Using major search phrases in Google, I show up at the top, or on the right side almost every time.  I have had 4 clicks so far, totaling $6.56, and have had one serious inquiry for a portrait session - which is $150.00. If that session is booked, Google AdWords Express and outdone my expectations!

I recommend giving it a try!

Alex & Bri - And the Camaro!

Loved how these photos turned out...featuring Brianna, Alex and Alex's gorgeous Camaro! Here are a couple of my favorites.






Friday, June 7, 2013

Variety Showcase with Sound Mindset at Lazy Oaf Lounge

My friend Travis, owner of Sound Mindset, holds a variety show once a month at the Lazy Oaf Lounge in Madison, Wisconsin.  He asked me to photograph the most recent one with feature artist Skylar Nahn for his LP release party.  If you are in need of guitar lessons, DJ service or recording services be sure to contact Travis at Sound Mindset LLC and to learn more about Skylar, check out his page here: Skylar Nahn Music.

The photos turned out great!





Thursday, June 6, 2013

Senior Portraits with Jordan - Madison, WI

Jordan will be attending UW Madison next year, so we thought it would be appropriate to do her senior portraits around the downtown Madison areas. We photographed around State St, the Memorial Union, State Capitol and the Overture Center. I am quite happy with how the portraits turned out and so is Jordan! 








Madison, Wisconsin Senior Portraits
Madison, Wisconsin Portrait Photographer

Mark & Joie

Mark and Joie are currently working with an adoption agency in hopes of having a little one of their own in the near future! I helped them out with some photos for their adoption book. Good luck Mark & Joie! 

Here are a couple of my favorite photos:





Baby Landon - Madison WI Newborn Photography

Some adorable photos of Baby Landon at 3 months old! Both take with my Canon T3i and my go-to lens, my 50mm f/1.8. 





Wix - The Ultimate Website Design Tool

I am an independent portrait and wedding photographer in Madison, Wisconsin.  Until recently, I had been hosting my site with Zenfolio.  For approximately $60/year, I had a decent amount of features, was able to use my own domain, and it was quite SEO friendly.  I ranked within pages 2-3 for Madison, Wisconsin Portrait Photographer. 

However, I am now expanding my business from more of a hobby to an actual business.  And while my page rankings with Zenfolio were great, that was about the only advantage.  The negatives: lackluster layouts, sloppy looking pages, Zenfolio branding all over, and not very user-friendly. Sure, I could have upgraded to the $120/year package, but the only advantage for me was removal of the Zenfolio branding.  The rest of the options were mainly e-commerce focused, which I am not needing. So, the hunt for a new website builder began. 

I set up trials and started building pages with more of them that I can even remember...Weebly, Moonfruit, SmugMug, Webs, Squarespace, etc.  But for one reason or another - be it lack of customization, not user friendly, overpriced, lack of SEO customization - I would give up and search again.  I kept seeing Wix pop up in searches and wish I would have tried it first.

I love Wix.  This is the simplest, cheapest, SEO-friendliest, website builder I have found.  There are numerous templates to choose from to build basically any website you need.  All are professional looking and some are down right stunning.  Once you have your basic design created, there are multiple features you can add with a simple drag and drop. PayPal, Social Media Links, Media Players - and Wix has its own Beta App shop.  There are easy to use SEO options - I easily linked my custom domain, set up Google WebMaster Tools and Google Analytics.  But the part that I was most excited about? The incredibly easy to configure Mobile App link.  It looks awesome. (See photo below).  And on top of everything, the site is performing quite well in Google and Bing rankings.  I couldn't be happier.

What does all this cost? A mere $15.95 per month.  This package includes removal of Wix branding and ads, 2.5GB storage, unlimited bandwith, a Favicon (!), custom domain, free hosting and fully customizable templates.  The only higher priced package is $19.90/month and includes all this plus a shopping cart.  I cannot speak for how their e-commerce site would work, as I have not used it. However, based on how impressive the rest of what Wix offers, I would imagine it's just as great!

My Wix site has been up and running for about a week now.  I still make little tweaks here and there, and am still impressed at how amazing it looks.  It's perfect for my business needs.  

You can view my site here: Vejvoda Photographics 

For anyone looking for the best website builder out there - I hope you have stumbled upon my blog and will try out Wix!

Jennifer Johnson
Vejvoda Photographics
Madison Wisconsin




Madison, Wisconsin Portrait & Wedding Photography

Welcome to Vejvoda Photographics! I am an independent, published Madison, Wisconsin Photographer. I specialize in portraits, senior pictures, engagement photos, wedding photography as well as commercial photography. My style ranges from traditional, to modern, to photo-journalistic, based on the needs of the client. Whichever style you choose, your photos will be sure to stand out!

My rates are very reasonable; photography is my passion and I love to do it as often as I can. Portrait sessions start at just $150, and include all professionally edited images on DVD/CD. No two sessions are alike!

Please contact me if you are interested in booking and I look forward to working with you!

Please visit my website here!


Jennifer Johnson
Owner/Photographer
Vejvoda Photographics