Alchemist Studios – The Science and Magic of Modern Media

Alchemy, derived from the Arabic word al-kimia, is both a philosophy and an ancient practice focused on the attempt to change base metals into gold.

The Science

The field of photography is easy to enter, but hard to excel in.  Anyone can pick up a used DSLR, a hacked copy of Photoshop, and be in the photography business; but capturing the vividness and beauty of our world – both people and places – involves more than shooting JPGs in auto-mode and adding a vignette and a watermark with software.

We assure quality work for our clients by constantly refining our processes.  We push ourselves to learn and command the vast variety of methods that our colleagues around the world are using and discovering.  We are actively involved in the fields of photography and design by both appreciating and critiquing the work that modern photographers (including ourselves) are producing.  Every image is an experiment: a hypothesis, an adjustment and a result.

When it comes to our own work, we are our own greatest critics.  Therefore, our assurance of quality is reinforced by our constant refinement – our constant question, how can this be better?

The Magic

Modern photographers and designers have a wealth of tools at their disposal: lights, reflectors, filters, lenses, software, plug-ins etc.  The alchemical photographer carefully blends these elements together, creating something greater than the base materials alone.  The most important ingredient, however, is the subject: You.

Not us.  When we take a picture, it should appear that we were never there at all.  Our composition, our equipment and our processing methods should be invisible.  To that end, our picture of you should be all about you.

The alchemists were not interested in trickery.  They wanted to genuinely turn lead to gold. Our base materials are cameras and computers and composition.  Our gold is a picture as vivid, detailed and inspiring as its subject.  Our magic is to produce something beautiful, while appearing to do nothing at all.

Therefore, our work is not meant to showcase our abilities, but to be a celebration of our subject.  We don’t want people to say, “that’s a great photo.”

We want them to say, “that’s a great photo of you.”

Services

Basic Photography (personal)
$100 – 1 Hour Session
$150 – 1 Hour Session with remote setup (in city limits)
$20 – Processing per image (color adjusting, “grooming,” minor alterations)

Wedding Photography
$150 / Hour
Processing per image as consulted (averages $40 by nature of the shot)

Real Estate Photography
$150 per location within city limits (includes 10 images)
$10 per image after the first 10