Never Pay for a
Family Portrait Session Again

Family portraits are a wonderful thing. They can really enhance our lives and our relationships. However, digital photography has changed the nature of family portraits and has introduced problems that many people haven’t noticed.

The Problems

Family portraits used to be a record of our familes, however, digital photography has made that more temporary. With digital files lasting an average of 5 to 10 years and most printing processes lasting 8 to 12 years, special things need to be done to have our portraits last.

We used to display family portraits in our homes more. Digital photography has turned our family portraits into something we share on social media but pay less attention to displaying them in our home.

Digital photography has added technology that has made newer photographers lazy. They make it possible to get an OK image without knowing the skills of photography. There are a lot of families who share horror stories with me about having to deal with unskilled photographers.

There Are 3 Essential Elements for a Complete Famly Portrait.

1. You need to get the right images
2. You need to be able to regularly enjoy your portraits
3. You need to be able to preserve your portraits for future generations

The current trends in portrait photography generally only address one of these three elements. Today’s photographers are trying to get good images. However, most of today’s photographers do not address displaying your images or preserving them.

#1 You Need to Get The Right Images

The first step of the family portrait is to get images you like and would want to display. It is our faces that endear us to each other. When you look at a person’s face you begin to create a relationship with that person.

 

 

 

 

 

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Candid images, where you don’t see faces, can have a neat feel but the people become interchangeable. You could replace the people in the image with any other people and the feeling would be the same. When you see faces, you create a relationship with specific people.

 

 

 

 

 

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The other thing to consider is what type of images will you want to display in your home? Your portraits are a representation of your family that allows you to enjoy them every day. You don’t need to photograph every possible combination of the group, but it is nice to have meaningful groupings that help tell your family’s story.

#2 You Need to Be Able to Regularly Enjoy Your Portraits

So, step one is complete, you have the images you like. Now, the problem is if you don’t display them well, you’ll never look at them. Looking at your family portrait is never on your to-do list for the day. If you are going to enjoy the images they need to be displayed in the right places and at the right size that will allow you to enjoy them as you go throughout your normal day.

Display Them in the Correct Place

There are certain areas of the home that you look at more often than other areas. Most people don’t realize this and haven’t paid attention to where those areas are, but they are there. Some people choose the place to display their family portrait but don’t realize that they never face that wall on a normal day. Any time they are in the room their back is to it.

Display Them at the Right Size

Once you have the right wall you then need to choose the correct size. Remember, our faces are what endear us to each other. As a general rule, the edges of the “enjoyment zone” of a family portrait are at the point where it is difficult to see the details of the people’s expression. For example, if you begin to see the expression details at 10 feet away, that is the “enjoyment zone” of that portrait. When you are further away you only see the shape of the family but can’t enjoy the individual people.

#3 You Need to Be Able to Preserve Your Portraits for Future Generations

The last element is to preserve your images. Look at it this way, as you have family portraits you are creating potential documentation of your family’s history. It is important for that documentation to be created, but it also needs to be curated and taken care of to last for multiple generations.

Insist on high-quality prints

In order to do this, you need to start with an archival print. The average digital file will last 5 to 10 years. Most publicly available printers use dye-sublimation printing which is scheduled to last only 8 to 12 years. A high-quality Giclee print can last over 100 years. The process you use for your portraits makes a big difference.

Store your prints well

Once you have an archival quality print it is relatively easy to store them so they stay nice.

1. They need to be protected from excess light – UV radiation can attack the image as well as the materials.
2. Protect them from extremes of temperature and humidity – Generally, if you keep them in your house this will do the trick.
3. Protect them from particulate damage – dust can latch on to your prints and permanently damage them. Wrap them in craft paper to prevent this.
4. Protect them from physical damage – bumps and scrapes will damage your prints. Place a piece of cardboard on either side of your print. Make sure the cardboard is at least an inch larger than your print on all sides. This will protect your image from most threats.

Fulfilling Its Full Potential

Take any one of these 3 elements away from your family portrait and it will not be fulfilling its full potential. Many people don’t complete these elements either because they don’t know about them or they get overwhelmed trying to do them on their own.

Remember, we are here to help and to make life as easy as possible.

Family portraits are stressful, hard to plan and even harder to figure out what to do after they are taken. The saddest part is even after all that work and heartache 80% of all family portraits will not be looked at or enjoyed on a regular basis. And even worse is they may not even exist 12 years down the road. The value of family portraits depends on a few key things.

Family Portraits have Two Lives

The first life of a family portrait is how you will enjoy it now, in the present. Most people already share their portraits through social media. But people will enjoy their portrait the most when they have a well-designed display in their home.

Ideas for Displaying Pictures on Walls

The second life of a family portrait is years later when the portrait is enjoyed by the descendants of the family. After we have passed away we will only be remembered by the things that we write and the photographs we leave behind. When a family has family portraits taken they are creating elements of their family history collection that could be enjoyed for many generations.

Our ancestors made the effort to preserve their history for us. We have the same responsibility.

Both of these “lives” can be a disaster if done wrong. Many people get ideas for their portrait displays from the internet. The internet hasn’t seen your portrait nor your house. When portraits are displayed wrong, they don’t get looked at and your money was wasted. The other disaster is digital products are making our portraits disposable. The average life of a digital file is only 5 to 10 years. The average life of consumer-grade prints is only 8 to 12 years. So any money you spend for portraits that are not preserved through an archival process may not make it to the next generation.

Two Essential Things Your Photographer Must Be Able To Do (and 2 other really helpful things)

We live in a time that anyone who has a camera is willing to moonlight as a photographer. I talked to a “photographer” that said she had been doing pictures for people for over 5 years but one of these days she needs to take some classes to learn how to use her camera.

The 2 Essential Things

1. Your photographer needs to have the technical skills to work in all lighting conditions, people skills to work with a variety of personalities, and posing skills to make your family look natural. These are essential skills to create a great image.
2. Your photographer needs to know how to create quality archival prints. Archival prints, for the most part, are not available to the general public. Ask about the printing process and about how long the print is expected to stay nice. Be aware, many photographers don’t offer prints and many who do just take your images to the same place you could have taken them.

The 2 Helpful Things

1. It is very helpful if your photographer knows how to plan the time of the session. For example, small children have limited attention span and it is very helpful to be able to gauge how they are doing and use the time wisely to get the maximum benefit.
2. It is also very helpful if your photographer knows about interior design. There are walls in your home that you look at more than others. The ability to identify those walls is helpful. A good photographer will know the rules for sizing an image to look good on the wall. The size of the image, the size of each person’s head, and the size of the room will determine how much you will enjoy the portrait.

The True Value of Family Portraits

Strengthens Relationships

I have a lot of families comment that when they create a display that they look at every day, the feeling of love among their family members increases. The portrait becomes a visual representation of their relationship with each other. That representation reinforces the idea that you are a family that has a special relationship. Families that don’t get along rarely have family portraits taken.

Promotes Strong Family Values

Family portraits become an immortalized definition of your family. It marks a point in time and preserves your family as it was at that time. Family portraits help to invoke nostalgia and helps you remember the good times. As a family creates a tradition of family portraits they immortalize good memories that strengthens the relationships of that family. It would be impossible to underestimate the psychological benefits family portraits have on the family.

Ensures Your Family Will Be Remembered

Your family is special. You are creating a legacy that should be remembered. There will be people who want to remember your family – even hundreds of years from now. Now is the time to create the documentation of who you are so future generations can know about you. Don’t let the time go by.

It Is Worth Doing Family Portraits Right

There is not a lot of difference in price. There is not a lot of difference in the amount of work you put in. But, if you choose the right photographer that can provide the right products and services if you make it a priority to get lasting prints and if you chose the right displays you will be surprised at how much more enjoyment your family portraits can provide to you.

It is worth doing it right!