Blog
blog/bläɡ/noun – a regularly updated web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.

Laino Family Wall Art Collection | Northern VA Family Photographer
Laino Family Wall Art Collection | Northern VA Family Photographer
We love when our clients return to us! We love building those long-lasting relationships with clients. Michelle Laino is one of those clients. We think it’s safe to say she likes our photography including our childrens photography. She also appreciates our archival-quality products. We’re glad that she chose us because we enjoy working with her and her two beautiful daughters here in the Reston, VA, and Herndon, VA areas.
We have had the opportunity to do two family photography sessions with the three lovely Laino ladies! And each time has been better because the better we get to know our clients, the better the resulting portraits.
Following the Laino Family’s most recent session, Michelle opted to order multiple portraits to create a dramatic collection. Her black and white portraits in our Steel Wall Art finish are a work of art. Their collection is now hanging in the entryway of their home. It is the first thing she and visitors see when they first enter her home! There is no better welcome than family portraits and the love they represent in a home.
Steel Wall Art
Our Steel Wall Art is a contemporary finish and product produced using only archival-quality materials. The portraits are printed on a brushed-metal surface for a look that is stylish, sleek, and edgy. A picture collection displayed in the Steel finish is undeniably a show-stopper! It is unique and eye-catching.
Steel Wall Art comes with rounded corners for a clean look and no pointed metal edges. Portraits printed using this finish look crisp. It is also a great finish when you want large portraits – the bigger the picture, the more visually stunning. Michelle chose this finish for her portraits, and she chose well.
We offer a variety of archival-quality products for our clients. We love showing them off! If you’d like to see samples of our products and work, please contact us. We can schedule an appointment for you. If you are interested in a reputable and highly-skilled photographer known for childrens photography as well as family photography in the Reston, VA, and Herndon, VA areas, contact us today.


Family Photographer, Childrens Photography
Ever After Portraits is the mother-daughter portrait photography team of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, located near Herndon, VA and Reston, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

OPEN FOR BOOKING! Fall Family Portraits Calendar | Northern VA Family Photographer
OPEN FOR BOOKING! Fall Family Portraits Calendar | Northern VA Family Photographer
Reston, Virginia and its area residents are enjoying these lazy days of summer. Most of us are either busy enjoying summer activities or simply enjoying the time to do nothing much! However, summer provides an excellent opportunity to start thinking about booking your autumn family pictures. We have begun booking appointments for September, October, and November, and we recommend you book as far ahead as you can. Together, we can create your dream family portraits!
When the weather begins to transition in a few months, and the bright colors of summer slowly give way to the richness of fall, our outdoor portrait park practically beckons. Just as nature offers an authentic background, our portrait park offers the perfect location for precious family pictures.
Our portrait studio offers our clients far more than just an outdoor space. We offer you the opportunity to enhance upon nature’s offerings with our park’s features and/or props. You can add depth and interest to your portraits with a rustic wooden bridge and pier; a wooden-post fence; an old barn; one of our two ponds; or one of our elegant antique sofas!
We encourage our clients to let their personalities shine through in their portraits. We ask them to work with us to create a stunning portrait honestly reflective of their family. We know when we have achieved that because our clients are thrilled with the results. They see their family’s love captured ever so perfectly in a portrait, and we can see the pride in their faces when we reveal their finished product.
If you would like to schedule fall family pictures for your family, please contact our portrait studio to schedule an appointment. There are only a limited number of days available this fall for portraits, and our fall calendar has a way of booking up fast!
Autumn Family Portraiture
WHEN: September, October, November 2016
WHERE: Our Outdoor Portrait Park in Sterling, VA
WHY: Because time moves so fast — photography stops it!





If you live in the Northern Virginia or surrounding areas, including Reston, Virginia, and would like to schedule or speak to us about your fall family pictures, please contact us. We are always happy to speak to past, current, and new clients!
Family Photographer; Family Pictures
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy and Joriana, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Reston, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

At what ages should your children be photographed? | Northern VA Family Photographer
At what ages should your children be photographed? | Northern VA Family Photographer
Professional photography is an investment and as photographers for more than a decade in the Reston, VA area, we obviously understand this. So, here’s an insider’s secret for you: You don’t have to invest in childrens photography each year! This is why we offer our clients a recommended schedule of ideal times to take professional portraits of your children.
We have written in previous blog posts that by investing regularly in professional portraits of your children, you can create a visual timeline of their childhood. Pictures allow you to document their endearing changes and stages beginning as early as days after birth. You may chart their growth in inches on a wall or door frame in your home. You also may chart their growth through pictures!
The question most parents ask us is: “How often should our child be professionally photographed?” Here’s our answer:
There are five stages of a child’s life. Within those stages, there are ideal ages to capture with fine art photography. Capture those sequentially and you have that timeline we just referred to above.
The five stages and approximate ages to photograph:
* Baby: newborn, three months, six months, nine months, twelve months
* Toddler: eighteen months, two years, three years
* Childhood: four years, five years, seven years
* Youth: ten years and twelve years
* Young Adult: sixteen years and eighteen years


It’s entirely up to you how many times you do professional portraits of your children! You can do all of these, a few of these, or even add more portraits. Questions? Call us! We are happy to answer your questions.
We can also talk about portrait styles for the ages and what is the best style or composition. Given the spread in ages, what works well for a toddler will most likely not be appropriate for a sixteen-year-old! If you would like to take one portrait per stage, we can suggest what might be the best age within each stage for your child’s professional portrait. It could vary from child to child depending on their development.
Childrens photography is exciting and personally rewarding for us. Contact us if you live in the Reston, VA, Northern VA or surrounding area to discuss your children’s professional portraits. You have our commitment to provide you with a stellar customer experience along with beautifully composed pictures to last a lifetime!


Family Photographer, Childrens Photography
Ever After Portraits is Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Reston, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

Wall Art Collection, Davis Family | Northern VA Family Photographer
Wall Art Collection, Davis Family | Northern VA Family Photographer
It wasn’t that long ago that we profiled our client Detra Davis and her two adorable children. We thought you would enjoy a follow-up to that post. A Northern Virginia mother of two children, Detra understands the value of investing in professional family photography, including childrens photography, and quality, fine art products. Once her session was completed, she opted for a wall collection of portraits and selected one of our favorite products: Our Fine Art Giclee Ice Finish! The results were just stunning.
Our Ice frameless finish is one of the preferred products for clients’ portraits, and it’s the one we used for our own family portraits. It’s a stunning frameless option and a more modern take on portraits. It’s an unusual, but visually striking way to display your professional photography. We love how well it captures details and colors! It’s only one of an array of excellent products we offer our clients to help them display memories and enjoy them for many years to come.
Detra’s family portraits with their colorful, warm images were perfect for an Ice presentation. She chose wisely and beautifully. The portraits appear to be floating, captured on what appears like ice or glass. The effect is almost ethereal. The colors remain vibrant and crisp even though the technique is opaque. Like all the products we offer, it is museum quality and elegantly finished. You can’t go wrong with this wall art product. It blends seamlessly into any decor, even traditional. In modern or transitional decor, it shines!
If you are interested in children’s photography with a Reston, VA area photographer specializing in fine art portraiture, contact us today. We would enjoy speaking to you about our work and introducing you to our other fine-quality products! We are committed to working closely with you throughout your entire process and addressing your questions.


Family Photographer, Childrens Photography
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Reston, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

Creating Treasured Art as a Legacy | Northern VA Family Photographer
Creating Treasured Art as a Legacy | Northern VA Family Photographer
There are so many gifts we make during our lifetimes to our children – some more valuable than others. Family pictures are the priceless ones, though. As a Reston, VA area family photographer, we know how much our clients, and later their adult children, cherish their family portraits. This is why you deserve beautiful family art like the ones we produce for you at Ever After to be handed down through generations.
An exquisite portrait comes through the communication and relationships we build with our clients. We don’t just take a picture and usher you on your way. We will talk with you before you ever arrive for your portrait session. We want to capture everything you are and represent, within your family or relationship that we are photographing.
It is important to us that our portraits convey your family story in some way. We want to capture the love within your family and the happiness it shares. Those are the portraits which will be handed down through generations.
When you compare our work to other photography websites, you will hopefully see that we believe in emotion, creativity, and high quality products. We believe in photography as a skilled art created by perfectionist experts.
We also believe in building relationships with you to produce the best possible representation of your beloved family and its story. The greatest compliment a photographer can claim is the client they photograph throughout the years, those who return to us to capture their lives and families as they change and grow, including their significant milestones.
Our photography also is about the exceptional client experience, and we achieve that through open communication with you at all times. We put a lot of work into planning your session and into discussing your vision for its outcome. Our portraits are works of art of your family to be displayed proudly in your home. We will discuss with you possible placement in your home, and we offer an exclusive software design program to help you decide just where your finished portrait should go in your home!
If you would like this level of photographic art in your home, please call us today to discuss your ideas. We’d love to get to know you and your family and work with you to create a beautiful portrait that celebrates your family’s story and love!
At Ever After Portraits:
• We will have a consultation with you before your session. We do this with each and every client.
• Our unique interior design software can show you exactly what your finished family portraits will look on any wall in your home.
• The day of your session you only need to arrive rested and ready to go. If there are children in the portrait, please bring clean snacks and toys. You will receive specific instructions, though, from us before your session. We make it as easy as possible for you!
• Not long after your session, you will return to preview the amazing results of your portrait session. It’s that simple!
Our fine art portraits are a legacy for the future generations of your family. Your family will have a beloved and treasured portrait by which to either remember you or “know” you through your beautiful images.
If you are in the Reston, VA area and searching for truly meaningful family pictures from a skilled and reputable professional photographer, please contact us. We know you will enjoy the experience and be thrilled with your finished portraits.


Family Photographer, Family Pictures
Ever After Portraits is Mindy and Joriana, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Reston, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

Outdoor Portrait Park, Pond Reflections| Northern VA Family Photographer
Outdoor Portrait Park, Pond Reflections| Northern VA Family Photographer
Images reflected on water have long fascinated photographers and artists alike. Reflections can result in some powerful imagery — which is why we often like to do family pictures with a water reflection in the portrait! The effect can be eye-catching and lovely. Our 2.5-acre outdoor portrait park near Reston, VA, and Herndon, VA offers the perfect opportunity to employ this effect with its scenic pond!
Reflections – whether in water, glass, or mirrors – offer a multi-dimensional, provocative look. It’s a technique best left for the most skilled photographers or artists; otherwise, you risk losing some of its potential. Not done correctly, the image loses its power and artistry. At Ever After, it’s a technique we often employ and with which we have a lot of experience. It’s important to have a keen eye for composition if you want to use a reflection in any photo.
We use water reflections in two ways: artistically for effect or an indirect lighting effect. Either way, as we have said, the results can be breathtaking.
Our 2.5-acre outdoor portrait park offers a rich array of photographic opportunities many of our clients opt to use. From its lush forests, two ponds, wooden bridge and wooden-post fence, to our antique couches, family pictures taken in the park tend to be creative and sometimes a study in contrasts. You can’t go wrong in the park!
For those families seeking a more artistic portrait, the ponds are perfect. We often stand across the pond to perfectly capture the reflection of our subjects. There are no limits to creativity – and we love to get creative if it’s what our clients are asking! Water reflections can be used for a fun, spontaneous portrait or a more pensive mood. You can stand at the water’s edge, on the bridge looking over into the water, or on the dock. You could even remove your shoes and tiptoe into the water’s edge itself for a fun and more natural picture!
If you’re interested in doing family pictures in a more creative way, let’s talk! We love portraits that employ water reflection as an artistic method. We will be happy to show you some examples of what we have done for other families in the Reston, VA, and Herndon, VA areas!


Family Photographer, Family Pictures
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Reston, VA and Herndon, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

10 Ways to Show Your Children You Love Them | Northern VA Family Photographer
10 Ways to Show Your Children You Love Them | Northern VA Family Photographer
Show them the love! It doesn’t have to be a holiday to show your children how much you love them. As family photographers in the Reston, VA area, we help parents demonstrate their love for their children through fine art portraits. Professional photography, including children photography, can perfectly capture the innocence and sweetness of a new life.
Ten simple ways to show how much you love your family throughout the year:
1. Tell them you love them, of course! Showing them as well as telling your children you love them is important.
2. Create an optimistic and happy home for your children! Happy homes raise happy children. Displaying family and children’s portraits in your home shows your kids how much love there is in the family!
3. Praise your child for effort more than outcomes, and don’t over-praise them. That can have an adverse effect.
4. Make an effort to eat as many meals together as possible and TALK! Many studies have shown the tremendous benefits of sharing meals with your children while also engaging in conversation: from increased vocabulary to higher achievement scores.
5. Love and support your child for who they are, not who you want them to be.
6. Kiss and hug your children daily – yes, even the teenagers. The benefits of physical touch are numerous and extremely beneficial.
8. Be and stay involved in your children’s lives even when they enter middle and high school. If you’re a working parent, speak with your child’s school about ways to stay involved. You’re not alone, and most schools will be all too happy to provide suggestions.
9. In addition to regularly eating meals with your children and engaging in conversation, create family traditions and encourage family activities!
10. Always, always support their dreams!
We love doing family photography, including children photography. Our youngest clients are always a joy to photograph. One of the neat things about our job is seeing how much the children have grown since their last portrait with us! If you’re in the Reston, VA area, and you are ready to do family portraits, give us a call!
Our Outdoor Portrait Park


Family Photographer, Children Photography
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Reston, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

Published on The Loudoun Homeowner, “5 MORE Secrets to Make Your Family Portraits Amazing” | Northern VA Family Photographer
Published on The Loudoun Homeowner, “5 MORE Secrets to Make Your Family Portraits Amazing” | Northern VA Family Photographer
As a family photographer in Loudoun County, we’re thrilled to be a contributor to The Loudoun Homeowner!
The LHO published another one of our article on their blog, part two of our “Secrets to Make Your Family Portraits Amazing.” You can read it on The LHO blog here: 5 More Secrets to Looking Amazing in Your Family Portraits!
Be sure to explore The LHO website. It’s wonderfully helpful for local homeowners and assists you in for a contractor for a home project, or to give you expert advice on a DIY project.


Family Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Sterling, VA, Loudoun County, Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer

Why Quality Framing Matters | Northern VA Family Photographer
Why Quality Framing Matters | Northern VA Family Photographer
People invest in family photography for many reasons, but it’s usually driven by how much they love their families. Portraits and what they represent are very important to them so it’s also important to ensure they’re properly framed. With clients in the Herndon, VA area and throughout Northern VA, we are fortunate to have developed relationships with some of the best framers in the industry. The correct framing will not only protect your gorgeous portraits; it “finishes” the portrait and enhances its beauty.
The “Right” Framer
When it comes to frames, you have options. With our assistance in the studio at your ordering session, you will have the opportunity to select from high-quality frames from skilled framers. When you work with Ever After and choose a framed Wall Art finish, your family portraits will be fully framed and finished for you, ready to be displayed on the walls of your home.
Skilled framers not only offer more framing options; they also know to use the right materials to protect your precious portraits. Frames with filler boards use only special paperboards to ensure they don’t cause your images to fade or yellow. It’s these kinds of details that can make a difference in how your family photos looks in 50 years.
Our framers have all been carefully selected for their expertise, experience, and knowledge of high-quality products.
The Best Frame for Your Portraits
Frames have two purposes: To display and protect your portrait. They come in a variety of materials including wood and metal. The frame itself can be considered a decorative item and enhancement for the imnage. Whatever frame you select for your family photos, it is important that the materials are appropriate for the portrait, sturdy enough to carry the weight of the canvas, and made of high-quality materials. A good frame is sturdy and well built and should reliably hold the canvas and all of the frame pieces.
As most frames are made of wood or metal, it’s good to keep in mind that certain metals might corrode, causing damage to the portrait, while wood frames could potentially give off harmful chemicals. That is why it is so very important to select only the highest quality frames for your professionally photographed family portraits. Although we print all of our portraits on archival-quality materials, framing does make a difference over the years. Ready-made mass produced frames are rarely meant for long term protection and display. Our frames are of the highest quality and are custom made to order for each portrait.
We understand how important and cherished your family photography is to you. As an Ever After client, we will walk you through the frame selection process. We use special design software to show you how your portraits will look on your walls, including the frame, and discuss the available options with you.
We have two high quality lines of framing: Masterpiece and Standard. We invite you to follow the link and find out more about them.
As family photographers, we work across Northern Virginia including Herndon, VA.


Family Photography
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter photography team located in Northern Virginia, near Herndon, VA. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

A Family Affair, David & Tara | Northern VA Family Photographer
A Family Affair, David & Tara | Northern VA Family Photographer
One of the greatest privileges as a human being is to live a long, healthy and happy life. Through the years, however, we slowly begin to outgrow our recollections. It’s a natural progression of aging. As a studio photographer in the Herndon, VA and Great Falls, VA area, we know how valuable portraits can be in the future. Professional pictures provide tangible, visual evidence of our lives, love, and happiness; they can frame the timelines of life. In many ways, this is what we have done with David and Tara. To say they are regular clients would be an understatement – and, we are so happy that it is!
We first met this beautiful couple when they asked us to do professional portraits for their engagement and wedding. That was the beginning of a years-long relationship with them. From their engagement portraits, we went on to do their wedding, maternity, and newborn/baby portraits for their two beautiful children.


In all, we did Bebe Coterie baby plans for each of their children, and a beautifully dramatic maternity session for Tara’s first pregnancy.
Maternity and Baby Portraits
We first photographed son JD while he was still in his mother’s tummy, then again at 3-months, 6-months, 10-months, and as a one-year-old.





Once his sister Sebbie came along, we did her first portrait as a newborn, 3-months, 8-months, and one year old. It’s a lot of fun for us watching these babies grow!






Our Outdoor Portrait Park
We have had the privilege of watching this young couple marry, blossom, and then grow into a loving and beautiful family! What a special time we have had with them, and we look forward to many more portraits in the future! As we have said in the past, there is no greater compliment for a portrait photographer than clients returning through the years.
We truly delight in working closely with clients to capture their milestones through fine art photography, creating portraits they will cherish for decades. We believe in getting to know our clients and in working closely with them. Call us today if you are looking for a skilled and dedicated photography team!
Family Photographer, Studio Photographer
Ever After Portraits is Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Herndon, VA and Great Falls, VA. As a studio photographer, we specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.
Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.
Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!
Professional Photographer