Last Sunday was a welcomed break from wedding post-processing when we met with Liam, Meghan and Jeremy in Stanley Park for a family portrait. The shoot is a surprise for mum who will be presented with a framed print at her upcoming 50th birthday party… shhh! Hope she’s not subscribed to our blog ;)

Check out some of the shots!

Blü Studio would like to wish a very happy Mother’s Day to all the mums and mums to be in Vancouver and around the World! It’s a special day, so if you’re a mum, put your feet up and relax… My mum is in England so there won’t be anyone to fuss over her this year, unless my brother’s up from London of course. To be perfectly honest though, I probably wouldn’t have done much fussing if I was there! Bit useless around the house unfortunately :) Anyway, happy Mother’s Day to Sandra Hazon!

Also, happy Mother’s Day to Elora! Here’s a picture of her and Josh at Cleveland Dam when he was about 1 year old. How the time flies!

If you have the privilege of planning your family portrait before it’s taken, you can choose the portrait colors, frame and layout based on where you plan to hang it. For portraits that have already been taken, you can usually find a great hanging spot in at least one room of your home.

Hang Portraits to be Seen A family portrait is meant to be adored by your own family as well as guests. The first choice to hang a portrait is usually the living room or dining room, but there are other hanging places you might not realize. Two areas often overlooked are the entrance and hallway. These are where your guests will enter and exit, and they’ll often notice whatever is hanging on the walls. An entrance is where your guests are first greeted by your home decor. Why not greet them with a beautiful family portrait?

Hallways are usually dull or dark areas of the home. You can hang a family portrait on your hallway wall and place two decorative wall lamps on each side of the portrait to draw attention to it. This adds light to your hallway and attracts attention to your portrait.

Another excellent location for family portraits is the wall along a staircase. Staircases have a natural way of highlighting what’s hanging on the walls around them. They provide additional framing for a portrait that makes it even more attractive. If your stairs are in an open area of the home, guests can see the portraits even if they don’t walk the stairs.

Hang Portraits Securely No matter where you hang your family portrait, secure it well with sturdy picture hooks, and use molly bolts for very heavy portraits. A portrait should be secure enough to withstand any shaking in the room or wall that could cause it to fall. When hanging a portrait near stairs, be sure to hang it where it won’t get knocked down easily while people walk up and down the stairs.

Recreate Old Family Portraits If you have an old family portrait you’d like to hang on the wall, but it’s just too fragile or worn to hang, you might consider having an oil painting made of the portrait. A skilled artist can bring out the best in any photo. Your family portrait is too precious to waste. You can preserve it as an oil painting on canvas, and transform your family portrait into a treasured work of art.

- David De Groot

Portrait photography was the first popular picture in the history of camera, family pictures were discovered to date back even more than two hundred years ago. Over time technological advances gave photographs the possibility of catching images that occurred faster than you could see. Like a painting, a photo captures the mood and thoughts that show on the person’s face.

Portrait photography was popularized as a cheaper and faster alternative to portrait paintings, as a person could be represented almost perfectly. In the case of a painting everything was up to the artist’s talent but in the case of photography experience is more important than talent. Back in the 19th century when the exposure time was a problem people used all kinds of light amplification methods in an effort to provide best possible conditions. Thus it was common practice to use several mirrors to reflect the light on the participants.

As photographic methods evolved people started to move over battlefields or across oceans and into the wilderness in an effort to capture unique images. Those were the beginnings of our modern photography, when photographs needed an entire wagon for their equipment and developing tools. When compared to modern solutions those days may seem unimaginable but it is good to know where we started from to appreciate more the devices we have today.

When making a portrait photography in a studio the photographer has full control over the lighting of his / her subjects, and he / she can modify intensity and light direction as suitable. There are several lights in a studio than can be controlled directly: the main light gives the portrait primary focus and it is usually positioned to the left or right of the models under an angle of 45 degrees. A fill light appears in opposition with the main light, at a little distance, but it is of reduced intensity. This lighting item gives the photo depth and helps separate the models from the background. It is on such small details that the the difference between a great picture and a fine one is set.

- Muna wa Wanjiru