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What if my kids won’t sit still for our portrait session? | Northern VA Family Photographer
What if my kids won’t sit still for our portrait session? | Northern VA Family Photographer
It is perfectly fine if your children won’t sit still for photographs – if we are the ones taking their pictures! Not only do we love photographing families and children throughout Northern Virginia, including Herndon, VA, as an experienced studio photographer we can work with any child!
Photographing Children
Acting up is perfectly normal for children even if it’s during a photo session. We’re family photographers and we have been for over a decade now, so trust us, we’re good with kids! Kids act up and sometimes they’re naughty. They’re kids; that’s what they do. And you know what? Sometimes those make the BEST images, the ones that will bring a chuckle when you look at them.
When it comes to photography, we have pretty much seen it all. So there’s no need to worry! We’re comfortable around children. Some of the images parents love the most end up being the ones we’ve taken when kids are acting like kids.
The key is to be a prepared photographer. Taking pictures of kids is a tiny bit like sports photography: You must be ready to shoot at all times, and you must take lots of images!
Once you arrive for your portrait session, we want the little ones to get comfortable with us and their environment. We want to connect with them as much as with you. We will play a bit with them when they first arrive. Then, when the time is right, we begin to settle them back down again. We start to draw their attention toward the camera at the right time.
Our Outdoor Portrait Park
One of the benefits of our 2.5-acre Outdoor Portrait Park is that children love it! They get a chance to stretch their legs and it isn’t formal and stiff. Parents love it for the same reason.
Leave it to us! We don’t want you as parents stressing out over your children’s restlessness or behavior. Let us do our thing. When you see your portraits, we can promise you that you’ll love them! If for some reason, however, you don’t absolutely love them, we will re-do your photo session at no cost to you or we will refund every penny of your portrait commission fee. We are committed to our clients, their experience with us and their satisfaction with their portraits!
If you are searching for a skilled and experienced studio photographer in the Herndon, VA or other Northern VA area, we can work with your family and your children – no matter how they behave. Don’t worry! We’ve got this! Contact us today.
Family Photographer, Studio Photographer
Ever After Portraits is Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near 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
The Nostalgia and Beauty of a Barn and Log Fence in Portraits | Northern VA Family Photographer
The Nostalgia and Beauty of a Barn and Log Fence in Portraits | Northern VA Family Photographer
What is it about old-fashioned barnwood and a log fence that we find so charming? Something about the nostalgia they evoke draws us to these iconic features – no matter where you’re from or where you were born. Any family photographer in the picturesque Great Falls, VA, and Northern Virginia area can tell you that clients frequently request these types of features or structures in their portraits.
Family Portrait Session
Unlike other photography studios in the area, we don’t have to search for these features; we own them in our private 2.5-acre Outdoor Portrait Park! We, too, are drawn, not just to nature’s beauty, but to these symbols of the countryside. As props in a family or child’s portrait, it doesn’t get much better than these. (We also have a lovely wooden bridge, pier, two ponds, and lots of trees.)
Outdoor Portrait Park
While authentic barnwood and a log fence lend themselves toward the rustic, believe it or not, you also can compose an elegant portrait with either of these in the background. We often use our antique couches placed smack in the middle of the woods or in front of the barn or fence for a dramatic and intriguing composition.
The contrast is striking. The portrait is beautiful. The possibilities are endless.
If you are interested in a Great Falls, VA area family photographer with their own photography studio and private outdoor portrait park and for your next portrait, contact us! We can discuss your many, many options for pictures!
Family Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Northern Virginia, near Great Falls, 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!
Professional Photographer
Can I display family portraits in a formal living room? | Northern VA Family Photographer
Can I display family portraits in a formal living room? | Northern VA Family Photographer
Decorating your formal living room with precious artwork of your family is not as complicated as you might think. It can be done! If you are like many of our clients who live in the Northern Virginia area, including Great Falls, VA, you have a single-family home. Most of these homes have a formal living room and/or dining room. As professional photographers, we use an interior design software program that has been transformative for our clients!
Using our custom software, we simplify decision-making for our clients. There is no guessing as to upon which wall you could display your finished portrait. The software program allows us to show you exactly what any of your portraits will look like in your home! It’s a simple process involving you snapping a smartphone picture of the wall and sending it to us. We can then demonstrate to you what various portraits would look like directly on that wall!
Interior Design
Interior design should reflect your personal tastes. Some designers have hard and fast rules about where to display professional pictures, or any pictures for that matter. Other designers are more casual about displaying personal pictures.
We believe that your home should reflect those who live within it. It should also reflect your personalities and relationships. That is what makes a house a home, after all!
You can display professional pictures in a formal living room. Not every picture might be appropriate to display, but most will be. We always talk with our clients about where they think they’d like to display their portraits before we even use our software. We tailor our portrait sessions toward any style of portrait you like. In other words, if your living room is very formal and elegant and that is the style you would like for your family portrait, then we would create a more formal photo session, perhaps in our studio, perhaps in black and white. It all really depends on what you like and what emotion you’re trying to convey with the portrait in the room.
Some clients prefer to add a more whimsically-styled portrait to a formal room. That’s a wonderful idea as well. The portrait becomes a statement piece or a focal point. Again, our special software will give you the chance to see exactly how the portrait will look on that wall.
We look forward to being your professional photographer and working with you on styling portraits for your formal living room. Our studios are in Sterling, VA but we draw clients from Greats Falls, VA and other Northern Virginia cities and towns.
Family Photographer, Professional Photographer
Ever After Portraits is Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Great Falls, 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
Why don’t you quote over the phone? | Northern VA Family Photographer
Why don’t you quote over the phone? | Northern VA Family Photographer
We love talking with our clients and potential clients! As a family photographer near the Great Falls, VA area, we believe in building relationships with our clients. In our years as a photographer, we’ve been asked many different things. We can usually give clients and potential clients most of what they want to know over the phone. One of the questions we often get is: How much will this cost? Although we can tell you our Experience Fee (the fee which includes your Design Session, your Portrait Session and your Ordering Session), because our photography and products are custom-designed for each client, exact pricing
can’t be given over the phone in our first conversation.
We encourage clients to schedule a consult with us so we can discuss your portrait needs. We are not trying to be rude or evasive. Photography products (the final portraits you fall in love with and purchase) are highly customized and personal to each client.
Here are three reasons why we as a family photographer, as well as other professional photographers, don’t give price quotes over the phone:
• We want to be thorough.
To quote you a price on a family portrait session which includes wall art, an album, or other products, we need to know exactly what you want: How many portraits; sizes, finishes, framing, etc. We want to make sure that we are thorough when taking into account what you’re looking for in your family portraiture. To know what you want, we need to have a consult with you and understand your needs.
• We want our cost quote to be accurate.
We can quote you the price on set things like finishes, frames, and sizes. But giving you a final price over the phone, without knowing exactly what you would like to order, would be misleading. To aid us in giving you pricing for wall art, we ask that you send us iPhone photos of the wall(s) in your home upon which you want to hang your family portraits. With those photos, we can design a wall collection or grouping in exactly the right size for the space, not too large or too small.
• Each client is unique.
The wonderful thing about fine art portraiture is that it is highly customizable. Each client looks for something different than the previous, and we are only too happy to oblige. Some clients want certain finishes, while others don’t. Some will want a certain frame, while another will only want frameless. See? It’s all custom to individual tastes.
We really do care about our clients and their vision for their portraits. We want each client to be happy with their final products. We also want full transparency with our clients and good, open communication. As the small business owner we are, we will always be fair and we always encourage dialogue with clients.
If you live in or near the Great Falls, VA area, we are always happy to discuss your vision for your portraits. We are one of the leading family photographers in Northern Virginia.
Family Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Great Falls, 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
“All of my pictures are on social media. Why would I need to print anything?” | Northern VA Family Photographer
“All of my pictures are on social media. Why would I need to print anything?” | Northern VA Family Photographer
“All of my pictures are on social media, so I don’t need to print anything!” Honestly, that comment makes us cringe as a professional photographer! Yes, we all have dozens if not hundreds of pictures on social media. Everyone is a photographer these days, and clients in the Great Falls, VA and Cascades, VA areas are no different. Heck, we’re no different. We aren’t past pulling out a cell phone and snapping a quick shot. However, those don’t and can’t compare to professional portraits.
Is that the photo legacy you want to leave behind?
Social media overexposure can make us forget that this could be the only legacy we leave to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren! Do you really want that to be the photo legacy you leave to grandchildren and great-grandchildren yet to be born? We know we don’t! We’d rather have beautifully composed portraits to leave our descendants. Candids are one thing, but snapshots of us in sweats aren’t legacy-worthy. Actually, the majority of us would rather very few people ever see those kind of snapshots!
Those images posted all over social media will have very little value years from now; they’re practically disposable. Do you remember what you posted last week, last month, last year? Do you look at the images you posted online even 5 years ago? You might look at them if you take the time to find that file or post online, but it’s not the same thing as professional fine art portraiture displayed in your home, artwork you can see and admire every day.
Wall art versus snapshots
A wall art family portrait that will hang on the wall of your home, one that you and your children walk by every day, will be of so much more value to you – and to them! Every single day, your children will see themselves in a family portrait and feel the love and happiness they felt when the portrait was taken. Every single day, they’ll see how very much they’re loved.
Fine art portraiture has an inherent value that simple, everyday snapshots don’t. It is a legacy you leave, a legacy embodying the love you have for your family. We hope you will take the time – at least once but preferably more – to have professional family photography taken. It’s not a decision we have ever seen anyone regret!
If you would like one of the leading professional photographers in the Great Falls, VA and Cascades, VA area to do your family portraits, please contact us. We’d love to discuss your session with you!
Family Photographer, Professional Photographer
Ever After Portraits is the mother-daughter portrait photography team of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a portrait studio located in Cascades, VA, near Great Falls, 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
Griselda & Christian, An Engagement | Northern VA Family Photographer
Griselda & Christian, An Engagement | Northern VA Family Photographer
Could these two be any more adorable?! Whenever a family photographer can photograph someone they know well, it’s very exciting! As we always tell our clients across Northern Virginia, including Great Falls, VA, the better we know you, the better your portraits. That’s why we believe in open communication with our clients!
Isabel Griselda Argueta was Joriana’s maid of honor not so long ago. We were so excited for her when she became engaged to Christian Andino! The adorable couple was introduced by mutual friends when Griselda was visiting New York City. How romantic is that?!
Outdoor Engagement Session
When it came time to select a portrait studio, there was no doubt who would take their engagement pictures and photograph their wedding – Ever After, of course! We’ve been friends for years, and we were thrilled to be able to do their engagement and wedding portraits.
Our Outdoor Portrait Park Studio
For their portrait session, this gorgeous couple knew that they wanted something candid, casual, and outdoors. They wanted portraits that reflected the love they have for each other. Well, that’s right up our alley! You can see for yourself how beautiful their portraits turned out.
The fiery glows of the autumn colors contrast as well as provide a dramatic backdrop for their black outfits. In the midst of the colors and contrasts, their beautiful faces peer out happily at the viewer. The linear composition of their bodies in the center of the portrait strike us as a column of strength created by their two bodies! We love this symbolism for an engagement portrait. Their love for each other is strong and will endure.
We wish these two many, many years of happiness and joy in their marriage and lives. We look forward to taking other portraits for them as they live their lives together!
A family photographer will take photos of the milestones in your life and family life. We love, love, love the opportunity to work with families throughout the years documenting their milestones, changes, and growth. It’s truly a privilege we value. If you are anywhere near the Great Falls, VA area and would like to discuss your family portraits, please contact us for further information.
Family Photographer
Ever After Portraits is Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait studio photography team located near Great Falls, 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
“We just had photos taken! We don’t need another session now.” | Northern VA Family Photographer
“We just had photos taken! We don’t need another session now.” | Northern VA Family Photographer
How long has it been since your last family portrait session with a professional photographer? We bet it’s longer than you think! As a professional family photographer in Northern Virginia, near Great Falls, VA, we’ll sometimes run into a former client who mentions they will schedule another portrait with us but not quite yet because it hasn’t been that long since their last portrait. Umm, but wait! How long has it really been?!
When we check dates, our clients are usually surprised at how long it has been since their portraits with us – sometimes as long as three or four years! Now their children are in middle school with no professional pictures since they were very small – except for those school photos we all love to hate! Where did the time go?!
If you have waited more than a year or two, and you have young children, you should consider doing another portrait now. It’s time! Children grow up so quickly and change so much. You won’t ever regret taking portraits – there is never such a thing as too many pictures!
How much time should pass between portraits?
As we’ve said, not much time should pass in between professional photo sessions. Waiting too long between professional portraits can leave you with regrets. A toddler’s face is not the face of a middle-schooler or of a teenager. What did they look like in between those two portraits? Do you have any fine art photography to show for it?
So really think hard about this and be honest with yourself: How long has it really been since you had a family portrait? Has your family changed since then? How much has your little one grown since the last portrait? Have new members been added to your family?
If you are a past client, and you’d like to know the exact date of your last portrait with us, contact us. We can look it up. You can schedule an appointment to update your portraits. Each session is customized, so that your portraits won’t look the same each time. A whole new portrait for a new time in your lives!
We like to chat with our clients, do a consult – yes, even with past clients because their lives change, and then we can plan your next portrait session with us.
If you’ve never taken portraits with us but are interested in working with a professional photographer like us, then welcome! We love meeting and speaking with potential clients! It’s like meeting a new friend. Our studios aren’t far from the Great Falls, VA area in Sterling, VA. Give us a call today at 571.434.0009 or contact us online here.
Family Photographer, Professional Photographer
Ever After Portraits is Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Great Falls, 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
“Our family is casual. I don’t want formal pictures!” | Northern VA Family Photographer
“Our family is casual. I don’t want formal pictures!” | Northern VA Family Photographer
As a family photographer with indoor and outdoor studios in the Cascades, VA area, near Great Falls, VA, we customize our portraits to our clients. If you tell us that you want your portraits to reflect a more casual side of your family, we’ll be happy to give you that!
Spacious Outdoor Portrait Studio Park
Family portraits have evolved into a far more candid and casual look than in the 1960’s or 1970’s. Generally, our style of family photography is not stiff and formal! It’s what our clients are asking for, and our beautiful 2.5-acre outdoor studio portrait park is perfect for candids and casual portraits. Many of our clients choose to have their family portraits shot there. It’s a relaxed, outdoor atmosphere where the children can run around a bit and you can enjoy being with them. You can choose from several interesting props and sections of the park from a wooden bridge, a pond and a pier, and with a variety of vintage sofas.
Cozy Indoor Studio
Some of our clients prefer a slightly more formal studio portrait shot indoors. That’s fine, too! Our studio portraits are what we call “Today’s Classics.” Although they are done in our indoor studio, we can keep things a bit more serious if you want — or just as casual as our outdoor portraits. It’s entirely up to you as the client!
As a custom photographer, we give our clients what they want. If you’ve looked through photography websites and have found something you like on ours, a style or a particular part of our portrait park, let us know! Or if you have another idea, please share it! We are happy to work with what you have in mind. This is your family and your family portrait session; we want you to be happy with it!
All of our portraits focus on who you are as a family, which means if you’re not a stiff, formal family, you’re family portraits won’t be either! We’d love to be your family photographer in the Great Falls, VA and Cascades, VA area. We work also with clients throughout Northern Virginia. Contact us today for an initial chat!
As a custom photographer, we give our clients what they want. If you’ve looked through photography websites and have found something you like on ours, a style or a particular part of our portrait park, let us know! Or if you have another idea, please share it! We are happy to work with what you have in mind. This is your family and your family portrait session; we want you to be happy with it!
All of our portraits focus on who you are as a family, which means if you’re not a stiff, formal family, you’re family portraits won’t be either! We’d love to be your family photographer in the Great Falls, VA and Cascades, VA area. We work also with clients throughout Northern Virginia. Contact us today for an initial chat!
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Family Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Cascades, VA, near Great Falls, 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!
“I don’t know what we should wear for our family portrait session!” | Northern VA Family Photographer
“I don’t know what we should wear for our family portrait session!” | Northern VA Family Photographer
“I don’t know what to wear! And I really don’t know what everyone else should wear!” We hear this so often from clients and even friends referring to the idea of doing professional portraits. As a professional photographer, we want to create something you’ll be happy with and that you feel is worthy of being displayed on the walls of your home. Prior to a portrait session at our studio near Great Falls, VA, we offer all of our clients a custom Design Session during which we discuss clothing and help ease that stressor for you!
The Design Session takes place after you book your session with us and before the actual portrait session happens. We will work with you to style your upcoming session. Typically we discuss who will be photographed, how many rooms in your home you want to create artwork for, as well as your decorating and personal clothing style.
Together, we will determine what colors and props we will use at your session. We also discuss coordinating the clothes of everyone in the session so the colors complement each other. After our discussion, we’ll even send you visual clothing suggestions incorporating the color palette we both decided on!
The Design Session is meant to eliminate the stress over what to wear during your professional photography session – and the feedback from clients is great! They appreciate the opportunity to talk and work with us in advance of their session. By the time their session comes around, they’re ready to go!
Our goal is to create the ultimate custom service experience for all our clients. (You can read more about our custom services on our website.) It’s by working and communicating closely with our clients that we can offer them a truly custom photography experience.
So don’t worry if you’d like to take professional portraits but don’t know what to wear. As professional photographers, we will collaborate with you through the entire experience. We don’t believe in just getting our clients in and out of the studio near Great Falls, VA. There is so much more to great and custom photography!
Family Photographer, Professional Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter professional photography team located in Northern Virginia, near Great Falls, 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!
Professional Photographer
Family Portraits, The Ruckers | Northern VA Family Photographer
Family Portraits, The Ruckers | Northern VA Family Photographer
“Your photography is beautiful and I can’t wait for our family portrait session! Looking forward to working with you both.” There are no more beautiful words for a family photographer to hear or read! And, we read them when Leslie contacted us as a Northern Virginia photographer, near Great Falls, VA, and not too far from her family’s home.
Leslie wanted to commission us for portraits in our Outdoor Portrait Park. As she was in her final month of pregnancy, the portraits would wait until after the new baby’s arrival.
Family Portrait Session
Little Jack joined his cute, older brother Carson in the family pictures taken in the fall, in October. Leslie had shared with us that Carson might want to hold one of his favorite car or trains during the photo session. Well, of course, he could!
Working with kids, we’re happy to accommodate children to ensure they’re comfortable and happy during the photo session. We have plenty of experience working with kids, so no need to worry! Just let us know if there’s anything you know would work best for your child.
Outdoor Portrait Park in Autumn
Newborn Jack was adorable in his tiny pair of jeans, and it was a pleasure to work with him and his sweet, older brother Carson wearing a “mini” version of his dad Brian’s red-checkered shirt.
As children and family photographers, we delight in each family and child we photograph! Each family is unique in their own way and it’s always nice to get to know a new client. It’s how we authentically capture a family’s personality in their portraits. We know how important the portraits are to them, and we want to get it right each and every time!
Ever After is a leading family photographer in the Great Falls, VA area. We draw clients from throughout Northern Virginia and the DMV. We have more than a decade of working with families and children, and we look forward to working with yours!
Family Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Great Falls, 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