Portrait Tips

CLICK HERE & Read Our Tips Booklet pdf file

Putting a little planning and clothing harmony into your session
helps create a better looking portrait.

If you avoid busy or distracting/contrasting tones, you're portrait will be more pleasing to the eye, much more decorative on your walls at home, and your attention will lead you directly to the most important part of the portrait, the people. (not the clothing)

Avoid patterns, mixing dark and light colours. IE Black pants, white tops. This looks very BUSY and distracting. Solid, muted tones work best.

You DO NOT have to be all in the same colour, although in the same tonal range is good. IE: pastels mixed with pastels. Or darks, some in navy, some in burgundy. Avoid busy patterns and florals. Of course choose styles that you personally like and feel good in.

Where should we have the portrait done? In the studio or on location?

Studio sessions are great, but nothing beats the personal and unique look of a portrait created at a place that has meaning to you.

Your cottage? The home you live in and have lived in for generations? Give it some thought and consider creating something unique that you and you family will cherish.

Samples of family portraits taken at homes or on location....
(call us. We'd love to come over to discuss your favorite place in person)

Studio samples can come in white, or darker, more traditional, moodier backgrounds. Your preferences are important to us.

Fun and relaxed....

Darker backgrounds work very well....

 

How do you choose the best image from your session?


Here's a couple tips on choosing the absolute best images from your portrait session. First off, consider what you are going to do with the images. Are they as gifts?

By far the absolute BEST way to choose your favorite pose is when you initially go through the images after the session is over. When you are looking at the images and you have a 'gut' reaction to one or more poses and expressions, and you instantly like it, well, that's your heart talking. Trust your instinct more than anything.

An image for grandparents may not be the same pose that you and your family feel is the best pose that expresses who you are. (We don't always see eye-to-eye on all matters)

We tend to get analytical with images, trying too hard to narrow it down to the 'perfect' one. There is no such thing as perfection. When you choose an image from the heart, years, many years from now you will still love that image.

A mistake we often make is to listen to other people. People we love and trust. Opinions from well-meaning friends or relatives. They tend to analyze the images in a worst way. Only you know where your heart lies. Follow it! And just nod your head and smile when they give you too much advice.

Where is the image going in your home? A favorite place is on the living room wall, over the sofa, as a decorative art piece. Is it going in the family room? Have a look in your home and give this some thought.

Call us and arrange for us to visit your home for a decor consultation. We're brimming with ideas!