“Portraits say things that cannot be put into words. They capture certain stages in your family’s life you won’t want to forget, and let you have those moments forever.” -Don Schenk

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Whether it is a portrait in our main camera room, in our natural-light room or on location, the images we will make for you will be rich and timeless in style.

Light

A beautiful photographic portrait is 90% lighting. The word “photo” means light. A photographic artist applies light like paint, in layers. And digital photography has not changed this light layering process, which takes years to master (some never do).

Natural Light

Anyone can call themselves a natural-light photographer. All that means is they own a camera. We use natural light correctly, artistically (even indoors in our Natural-Light camera room) with a soft touch from reflectors, scrims and gobos to help us layer the light and create a soft look for your portrait. The kind of camera used is irrelevant for it is the artist's use of light that determines the look of your portait.

Studio Light

And the new “Sweet Light” in our main camera room produces studio light that is indistinguishable from natural light. Even other photographers can’t tell the difference! With it we can layer the light and produce an image that will command attention in any room you display it.

We keep our sessions fun

They last thirty minutes to an hour (depending on the number of people in the portrait), often with a clothing change and a few setup changes, because with spontaneity and a little extra time come fresh, original images.

Pricing for children and families

The portrait session fee (sitting fee) for children or families is $95 in our studio...it doesn’t matter how many people you have in your portrait...we can handle up to 60 in our largest camera room. Then there are 15 different portrait packages to choose from priced from $200 to $700. And a minimum portrait order is NOT required with sessions done in the studio.

So when it’s one child’s birthday you can have us photograph your other children too during the same sitting without additional charge. When we are photographing your baby, you can even be in some of the photos too. These make for loving portraits of baby with parents.

On location the pricing is different because we “bring the studio” ... lights, wires, stands, umbrellas, light cables, cameras and lenses...even posing benches if needed. The portrait session on-location may take only an hour or so, but it is a 4 hour process to do this... pack the equipment into its cases, drive it to you, reassemble it at your location and then reverse the process after the portrait session.

Therefore the portrait session fee on-location is $275, plus with an on-location session there is a $600 minimum order required in addition to the session fee due to the time it takes away from the studio. (There is no minimum order for sessions done in the studio.) It’s never been a problem for an extended family group to reach a portrait order of this size because there are so many people ordering, and yet no one person is spending a fortune.

Also...any of your portraits can be printed as sepia toned prints or printed as black & white for you at no additional charge.

Children

A truly fine portrait of a child warms a home more than any other object
you could collect. And it will reward the family for generations.

Little people are our favorite clients. They say and do what they really feel, and that’s what makes an honest picture. Wonder, anticipation, disbelief, amazement...these are the expressions we search for (Big smiles are over rated.)

Besides, here at the studio we joke about Don being a 5 year-old in an adult body...he’s right there on their level...he understands children and kids love him.

Couples and small family groups

Couples and family groups are really fun to photograph because we get to show relationships with hugs and smiles and even the relaxed serious look. What surprises most people is that the process is actually fun. We laugh a lot and try a lot of crazy ideas so someone seeing these portraits 100 years from now will really get a feeling for the way you lived and loved. Sound corny, OK just a little...we admit it.

A great family portrait can be a stirring piece of art, but it takes a little extra time
and care, something we insist on.

For extended family groups

15 people or more in a group portrait session...
It always seems that Uncle Joe wants one of this pose and another of that pose. However, Aunt Sue wants 3 prints of an image Uncle Joe doesn’t want. It just never seems to fit into any standard portrait packages.

The solution is quite simple. While no one person is spending a lot of money on the extended family group portrait order, the orders can become complicated and confusing if we try to fit them into our standard packages.

So, due to the number of people involved we have special “Extended Family” portraits prices that lets you get one of this image and two of that image and any number of images without having to be limited to packages.

Corporate and Publicity

For corporate and publicity a striking portrait is your most powerful tool. Smart people control their image. Still we see a lot of sloppy portraits out there because people just didn’t know there was a better way.

Our publicity studio session is $139 and includes everything you’ll need...the session, help choosing your favorite image, retouching and post processing, a set of 4x5 prints and your publicity portrait on disc in a format for use in newspapers, Web pages, letterhead and on business cards.

You’ll get to see us work our retouching magic. It’s fascinating to watch and we can make your portrait look exactly the way you want. Then we will print the images and put the file on a disc for you to take with you. All while you wait...ready within minutes.

Or we can come to your office for a story-telling image. The price structure is a bit different because we literally “bring the studio equipment” to you. Either way, trust us to make
you look terrific.

Model and Acting Shots