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Ann, Headshot Portrait Session | Northern VA Family Photographer
Ann, Headshot Portrait Session | Northern VA Family Photographer
Just before leaving for her new job in Georgia, Ann contacted us for headshots she needed. Never underestimate the value of a great headshot photo! Like Ann, most professionals will need a good headshot at some point. The Northern VA area, including Purcellville, VA and Sterling, VA, is well-populated with professionals, and many turn to us (as their family photographer) for their professional pictures.
The growth of social media and its enormous influence on how business is conducted these days has impacted the need for professional branding headshots. Our professional and personal digital footprints are everywhere from LinkedIn to Pinterest to a company’s website. Even speaking before an audience today finds you needing a headshot! As a portrait studio in Northern Virginia, we know the value of headshot and can do a terrific portrait for you!
Unfortunately for us, Ann didn’t just need a headshot, she was also moving away. She had hoped to do a family portrait here in the area before their move, but they ended up not having enough time. The family moved this past July. We wish them well in their new state and their new lives there. However, we know that Ann’s infectious smile (just look at her gorgeous picture!) and terrifically upbeat personality will help her make the personal and professional transition very quickly. After working with Ann we have no doubt that Georgia’s gain is Virginia’s loss!
As a full-service and versatile family photographer near Purcellville, VA, we are happy to work with current or new clients to offer them a great headshot or photo portfolio. Sometimes having more than one headshot handy is a great idea; different looks for different needs.
Think about it: Do you have a recent professionally done headshot that represents you well? Call us if you’d like to do one or update your old one!
Family Photographer, Headshot Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Purcellville, 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
Great Places to Explore in Northern Virginia | Northern VA Family Photographer
Great Places to Explore in Northern Virginia | Northern VA Family Photographer
You don’t need to be a professional photographer to be struck by the beauty of the Virginia landscape between Sterling, VA where our studios are located and the general Purcellville, VA area. While we tend to see things through the eye of a photographer, anyone can enjoy the many beautiful sites Northern Virginia has to offer!
We wanted to share a few great spots with you in case you’re inspired to explore with your family and maybe even get that camera out. We’re pretty sure you’ll get some fabulous pictures in any of these places. Feel free to share some of yours!
Fun Family Places to Photograph
1. Sunflower fields: Just across the Potomac near the Seneca Schoolhouse, you’ll find the Sunflower fields. There are several opportunities there to browse and cut your own flowers (purchased), but you also can get some stunning pictures here throughout the day. Remember to ask before wandering around on private property!
2. Walney Pond and Park: This lovely park with a nature center, extensive trails, and a pond makes a great choice for those who love water pictures! It’s also a lovely place for fine art photography for the pros out there.
3. Algonkian Regional Park: You can get some nice sunset pictures here (if it’s not too busy). There are some open fields and meadows as well as picturesque wooded areas accessible by paved and natural trails. Check out the Potomac while you’re there!
4. Walker Nature Center in Reston also offers some beautiful sites to enjoy as well as photograph. There are more than 700 acres of forest, 50 meadows, and four wetlands in addition to four lakes, three ponds and 20 miles of streams!
5. Meadowlark Botanical Gardens with its stunning 95 acres of ornamental-display gardens in Vienna, Virginia are also perfect for exploring and photography. If you want to take pictures, you might want to consider a weekday. There are lake views, a Korean Bell Garden, and a restored 18th Century log cabin.
6. We’re stepping out of Virginia for this one, but Harper’s Ferry is both a town and national park. History abounds here from the charming streets of the town to the lush forests of the park and historical site.
As one of the leading professional photographers in the Purcellville, VA and Sterling, VA area, we’d love to hear from you on what your favorite places are across Northern Virginia. Maybe we’ll feature of few of them on our blog as well!
Family Photographer, Professional Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Purcellville, 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
Photography Tips & Tricks: Pets | Northern VA Family Photographer
Photography Tips & Tricks: Pets | Northern VA Family Photographer
Continuing our Photography Tips & Tricks for our clients and friends, we want to discuss our pets! Yes, we may be a family photographer near Purcellville, VA, but we know just how much humans love their pets. So, let’s talk pet photography!
When is the last time you took a great picture of Fido? (We are using a dog name but it isn’t to demean cats or their indentured servants a/k/a humans!) You don’t need to bring Fido into our studio, but it’s really worth taking a nice photo of your beloved four-legged friends!
Here are some tips on photographing your pet:
Natural light
It’s much easier for you, and less frightening for your pet, if you use natural light as much as possible. There won’t be a flash to startle the dog/cat/lizard/pot-bellied pig (you get the idea!) and it will be much easier if you don’t have to fiddle with a flash!
Focus on their eyes
With human subjects, we suggest you focus in on their face and, especially, their eyes. You should be able to see light reflected in their eyes. If you can’t see the reflection, there’s not enough light. Focus in on your pet’s eyes!
Get down to their level
Just as with human photos you’ll find on any photography websites, you want to get down to their eye level or below. Get down on the floor at Fido’s level.
Personality
Just as we work hard to capture your family’s personality in our portrait work, you should do the same for your four-legged friend. You know them better than anyone. Documenting what they typically do or like is a great way to capture their portrait. Do they have a favorite spot on the couch or armchair? Shoot them there.
Come in close
People often make the mistake of shooting their pet from a distance and not zooming in. Some of the best pet pictures involve their face – after all, the eyes are the window to the soul. Zoom in close!
Candid shots
Unless your pet is exceptionally well-trained, it will be difficult to get him to strike a pose for more than a few seconds, if at all. Make sure you’re ready to take the shot before you actually try to take it!
Patience
Use your patience, dear human; these are animals after all, descended from the wild!
Snap away
Just like with humans, you’ll likely need to take a lot of pictures in order to get a few great shots. Snap away and be prepared to do more than one “pet session”!
We’re always happy to have you include your beloved furry friend in your next family portrait whether or not yours have worked out. It can take years of experience (and a large dose of patience) to photograph children and pets. Luckily, as a family photographer near Purcellville, VA, we have both and we love both children and pets!
Other posts in this series:
Photography Tips & Tricks: Lighting tips for family snapshots
Photography Tips & Tricks: Get natural smiles from your kids!
Photography Tips & Tricks: Underwater Pictures
Family Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Purcellville, 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
Relax! You’ll enjoy your session with us! | Northern VA Family Photographer
Relax! You’ll enjoy your session with us! | Northern VA Family Photographer
Have you ever been nervous in a portrait session or when someone is taking your picture? Well, you’re not alone! Many of our clients show up for their session nervous and a little anxious about how it might all turn out. We understand. We’ve been in front of the camera, too, and understand it can be a bit daunting! As a professional photographer in Potomac Falls VA, near Purcellville, VA we know it is important for people to feel comfortable during their portrait session. We have a powerful “secret weapon” to ensure they do: Talking!
Yup, that’s right! Talking. We chat with you and help put you at ease. By the way, you can apply our secret weapon to other nervous moments in life – not just when you’re in front of a camera. Read on!
First, we get to know you before the portrait session takes place, before you’re even in front of our cameras. In our consult, you’ll get to know us and we’ll get to know you, so you’ll already be familiar with us before we even bring out the cameras!
No rushing! We take our time. We’re never rushed through a session. Remember the last time you had an appointment with a professional and they rushed you through the appointment? That’s not a great feeling!
We understand that people, especially children, can be a little nervous coming into a new place. We also realize that there are a lot of nerves that go along with being in front of a camera during a professional photography shoot. You won’t see us agitated or running around. We’ve preplanned this session. We’ve got it under control so that we can chat with you along the way!
We spend time talking with you before we get started. It’s amazing how some chatting and some laughs instantly put people at ease! We talk to you about your lives. We joke with you. We take a few moments to get to know you, chatting and putting you at ease. We act silly with your kids and make them laugh. We make our sessions fun for everyone!
We talk about the each step, so you know what we are going to do next. There are no surprises for our clients during their family portrait session! We might even give you a sneak peek and show you your pictures on the back of our camera and hear what you think about them. We also ask if there is anything else you want photographed.
We’ve photographed a thousand times in our outdoor studio and we have the confidence that the images we are taking will be amazing.
As a professional photographer we want to give our clients the portraits they want, so we go out of our way to ensure that all our photo sessions run smoothly. If you live in the Purcellville, VA, Potomac Falls, VA or surrounding area, we’d be happy to discuss your next session with us! Our studio and outdoor portrait park are easily accessible from across Northern Virginia.
Family Photographer, Professional Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Potomac Falls, VA, near Purcellville, 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
Brad & Elise | Northern VA Family Photographer
Brad & Elise | Northern VA Family Photographer
Ten years of marriage with no professional portraits together prompted active-duty servicewoman Elise to contact our portrait photography studio in the Potomac Falls, VA and Lowes Island, VA area. With nothing but military pictures of each other, she wanted couples’ portraits to display in their home.
Brad retired from the service in 2013, while Elise remains active spending much of her time stationed in New York. She wanted to schedule their portraits during one of her trips home to her husband in Virginia near our studios. As you can imagine, we were more than happy to accommodate this lovely couple.
Having browsed other photography websites, Elise told us that she loved the idea of a mother-daughter photography team. She also said our portraits looked as if taken by someone who cared about the people in the pictures. Astute observation, because we do care!
Candid Outdoor Portraits
So what does a military couple want in a portrait? The opposite of their formal military pictures, that’s for certain! This lovely, personable couple wanted something as candid as possible – nothing with posed, fake smiles. That’s great because we don’t do fake! We want to reflect each subject’s personality and spirit as naturally as possible.
The portraits were in great part to celebrate and honor their decade together. This fun-loving couple wanted something reflective of them and their personalities both individually and as a couple. However, as fun as this couple is, we knew that Brad didn’t particularly like being in photos. We had a small challenge, but we love challenges! We made it our goal to make him feel comfortable and completely oblivious to being in front of a camera. You can be the judge of whether we succeeded by looking at the final results of their portrait session!
If you are ready for your family portrait session with Ever After, contact our portrait photography studio. We are in Sterling, VA near Potomac Falls, VA & Lowes Island, VA.
Family Photographer, Portrait Photography Studio
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Potomac Falls, VA near Lowes Island, 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!
Fairytale Sessions in October! | Northern VA Family Photographer
Fairytale Sessions in October! | Northern VA Family Photographer
Dream a little dream! This fall, we can bring your child’s fairytale dreams and wishes to life with our Limited Edition Fairytale Sessions. Our goal as a professional photographer is to create portraits worthy of being defined as artwork while capturing the true spirit of your child! We elevate traditional photography to an ethereal and unique portrait taken in our beautiful and serene outdoor portrait park in Northern Virginia, not too far from Purcellville, VA.
Children between the ages of about three to nine years old have rich imaginations and love to play dress-up. Our Fairytale Sessions are a great opportunity to preserve this lovely phase in your child’s life! We love to capture their delight and imagination in our portraits. These darling fairy princess sessions are close to our hearts as photographers!
Parents and children will love the comfortable October weather and beautiful forest colors worthy of any fairytale storybook. Your fairy princess can bring her favorite fairytale outfit or borrow one of ours. Either way, time stands still for her fairy portrait!
Our next Fairytale Limited Sessions will be held on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1ST, 2016 ONLY.
We have limited time slots available so that we can take the time necessary with each little fairytale princess. Book your session early!
There is a $99 session fee to be paid prior to your session date so that your time is reserved. Each session is 30 minutes, and includes a $99 product credit. Print packages are available. Each session is limited to one outfit, which is provided for ages 3 through 9. You are more than welcome to schedule two back-to-back sessions if you prefer!
If you’d like to preserve your child’s fairytale dreams, contact us! As a professional photographer in the Purcellville, VA area, we look forward to each of our Limited Edition sessions and to working our own kind of magic!
Family Photographer, Professional Photographer
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy and Joriana, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located near Purcellville, 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
World Photography Day 2016 | Northern VA Family Photographer
World Photography Day 2016 | Northern VA Family Photographer
Today, August 19, 2016, is World Photography Day! The first patent related to photography was granted today in 1839. World Photography Day is a day to celebrate and recognize photographers and photography around the world. It’s an ancient day of celebration (actually, it’s been around since 2010). But, as a portrait studio located in Northern VA, we love the idea of an international day to honor all photographers and their work! We also think it’s a great day to consider scheduling your own fall family portraits!
You don’t have to be a professional to be recognized today. In honor of World Photography Day, we thought we’d share ten facts about photography. We are also posting a website honoring this special day where you can upload your photos on a gallery.
World Photo Day Website
A World Photo Day website collects photos each year throughout the month of August. Users may create an account and upload their photos to their galleries. We have not used this site ourselves so as always, we recommend you read carefully through their user and copyright information. Typically, we suggest watermarking your photos when posting them publicly. (There are several online websites and programs to help with this.)
We wish we could take the credit for compiling this list of facts, but we have to give credit to William Hartston of The Daily Express in London.
TEN FACTS ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY IN HONOR OF WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY DAY:
1. The date celebrates August 19, 1839, when the French government bought the patent for the daguerreotype and released it “free to the world”.
2. The daguerreotype, invented in 1837, was the first practical photographic process.
3. The earliest known permanent photographic image, however, was created by a more complex process called heliography in 1826.
4. The exposure time needed to create that photograph was eight hours.
5. Thanks to digital cameras on mobile phones, more than 350 billion photos are now taken worldwide every year.
6. Around 250 billion photographs have been uploaded to Facebook.
7. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a darkroom installed at Windsor Castle to indulge their passion for photography.
8. The first photo of the Moon was in 1851; the first photo of its dark side was in 1959.
9. The earliest known use of the word “photograph” was in 1839 by the astronomer Sir John Herschel.
10. The earliest known use of the abbreviation “photo” was by Queen Victoria in a letter in 1860.
If you’d like to honor World Photography Day by not only taking your own pictures but by scheduling a professional family portrait session with our professional portrait studio in Northern VA, not too far from the Round Hill, VA area, contact us today! We’re happy to help you out and explain our services.
Family Photographer, Family Photography
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located 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
Back-to-school tips for capturing the first day of school | Northern VA Family Photographer
Back-to-school tips for capturing the first day of school | Northern VA Family Photographer
We’d love to be there to do some fabulous (if we say so ourselves) portrait photography for all of our clients’ children on their first day of school in the Potomac Falls, VA area! Obviously, we’d have to clone ourselves dozens of times over and, while the idea sounds tempting, it’s not entirely possible, yet! However, here’s a great article on some back to school pictures you can take yourself on the big day!
You can snap some creative and candid shots on that first morning of school, but you can also schedule professional pictures with us to capture the idea and spirit of back to school. Check out the great mix of snapshots and professional pictures in the article for some great ideas. Together, we can create a great sequence of portraits for your little person as they head back this fall. However, you should schedule your professional session with us as soon as possible! We can get busy in the autumn.
Tips for Back to School Photos:
– Do not forget to charge your battery at least one day in advance! Ideally, you should charge it several days in advance to make sure everything is fully charged and ready to go on that hectic first day back to school. It’s not unusual to hear from a friend who thought the camera was charged only to turn it on that morning and find that it wasn’t!
– Plan out that morning ahead of time – and not just the night before! Start a few days ahead.
Clothing Selection
– Ask your young child to help you pre-select two outfits the night before. The next morning, they can select between those two outfits. Tip: You can be a bit sneaky by stacking the deck by allowing them access to clothes you know will work well together. No sense in wading through drawers of clothes only to have your jaw drop when your child pulls out mismatched pieces. Keep in mind: Their choices reflect their current tastes and, at least on camera, will create a memorable moment!
– If you’d like to have props, such as books or something denoting the grade or year, have it ready to go the night before. See a theme here? Everything should be ready the night before to save you time and frustration in the morning.
– Make sure your child is well-rested, not hungry, and excited about his first day back. All new clothes aren’t necessary each year, but one or two new pieces for that first day can sure be exciting to a child.
– Pictures of a teen? Good luck! Just kidding! It’s not that difficult; just make sure they know what’s coming. At the very least, be ready to get a great candid of your teen rolling their eyes at you or making that face you recognize so well when you’re asking them to do something they don’t want to do. On the first day back to high school, that’s likely going to be the pictures you so desperately want.
Call us if you live in or near the Sterling, VA or Potomac Falls, VA area! Back to school has always been a special day for making memories. Take advantage of this opportunity to shoot some memorable pictures and have us do your portrait photography to commemorate the occasion.
Family Photographer, Portrait Photography
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Potomac 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
Photography Tips & Tricks: Underwater Pictures | Northern VA Family Photographer
Photography Tips & Tricks: Underwater Pictures | Northern VA Family Photographer
We are continuing our Photography Tips and Tricks series! As a portrait photography studio here in Potomac Falls, VA we specialize in fine art photography, but we love to share tips with our clients for their personal pictures/snapshots. Summer might be drawing to a close, but you still have some weeks of great weather and warm (warmish?) water! Have you thought of using your phone for underwater pictures?
Unless you’re a professional underwater photographer with a photography studio and specialty equipment, you’re not going to have a camera you can simply dive with; however, don’t let that stop you!
Here are five tips for taking great underwater pics using your phone!
Waterproof your phone!!
1. There are two ways to do this: The cheap way is to encase it in a plastic baggy that is tightly sealed. It’s an old photographer’s trick for unexpected rainfall when shooting outdoors. It’s not easy to get great shots when you’ve covered your lens in plastic, but it is possible with practice! The somewhat more expensive way to shoot underwater is to purchase a waterproof case for your phone. If you plan on buying a waterproof case, make sure you do thorough research. Try reading reviews in trade journals!
Shooting underwater
2. We have to admit that this is going to take some practice so don’t wait until you need to shoot the picture to shoot it! Practice makes perfect, so try it ahead of time. While it can be difficult to see a camera’s screen, that’s not your biggest hurdle. You won’t be able to use the shutter button on your phone’s screen when you’re underwater. Fear not! You can use the volume buttons or on/off side buttons to shoot. Read through your camera’s manual for alternate ways to shoot pictures without using the on-screen button.
Get used to the light
3. Shooting underwater significantly affects how natural light will be reflected. Practice by shooting underwater at different times of day and in different lighting conditions such as sunny or cloudy days. You might have to play with the angle from which you are shooting depending on the angle of the light – although it’s obviously going to come from above you! For example, in the morning and evenings, the light tends to cast more of a spotlight effect underwater.
Be ready to shoot!
4. You can’t always stage an underwater photo session, now can you? Be ready! If you’re going snorkeling, then take a few practice shots to be sure your ready and then anticipate the sudden appearance of the giant turtle or swordfish (certainly not hoping for a shark in this one)! Underwater photography is like most photography. Be ready to shoot when the perfect shot presents itself, and don’t forget to take lots of pictures. It’s digital after all, and you can always delete them later.
The color of the seas
5. Underwater shots will not have the same colors as being outside the water. That’s a given. So work with what nature offers you. Keep in mind that it can be difficult to get the skin color as accurate as it would appear above water. If you’re the type who prefers colors to be as precise as possible, then consider printing your pictures in black and white or sepia. The effect can be more dramatic, and you’ve resolved the issue of bluish skin tones. There are also some apps available for phones to help you correct phone pictures.
Whether or not you are one of our regular portrait photography studio clients here in the Potomac Falls, VA area, if you have any questions about your photography, call us! We’re happy to help you. Meanwhile, be certain to practice water safety during your underwater photography shots!
Other posts in this series:
Photography Tips & Tricks: Lighting tips for family snapshots
Photography Tips & Tricks: Get natural smiles from your kids!
Family Photographer, Portrait Photography Studio
Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography studio team located in Potomac 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
What families are saying, The Gary Family | Northern VA Family Photographer
What families are saying, The Gary Family | Northern VA Family Photographer
Portrait photography in Northern Virginia can be such a thrill! We have worked with so many wonderful families through both baby photography and family photography. With our studio located in Potomac Falls, VA, near Lowes Island, VA we’re in a great location for families all across the area.
The Gary Family came to us in the fall for their family portrait session, and meeting this amazing family was a treat for us. The love Chad and Jennifer share with their beautiful sons was such a joy to capture! Our outdoor portrait park was the perfect backdrop for this energetic and loving family.
Making Families Happy Is Our Top Priority
“Chad and I can’t stop looking at these images! We are beyond excited and happy to have these family photos hanging on our wall. Who knew that there was such a thing as photo glass?! Amazing! I never get tired of looking at these pictures and looking through our album. We can’t say enough positive things about Ever After Portraits! We will cherish these photos forever. We look forward to another photo session in due time; hopefully, a generational photo session! Thank you, again, to you and Joriana for capturing such real, honest, and beautiful photos of our family!!” ~ Jennifer Gary
Family Photographer, Portrait Photography
Ever After Portraits is Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Potomac Falls, VA, near Lowes Island, 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