27 Images of “Moving Day” – Dallas Portrait Photographer
Have you ever heard the saying, “Never trust a skinny baker?”
Today, I’m going to take you behind the 27 images I used to create my Family Portrait called “Moving Day”.
I have spent nearly a year teaching myself how to do Composite Photography, building a business as a Dallas Portrait Photographer, and producing Amazing Family Portraits for families around Dallas.
And not once did I stop long enough to create an Amazing Family Portrait of my own Awesome family.
That is… Until now…
Moving Day
To be honest, several months ago, I did create a Photillustrator Family Portrait of my family, which is called “Arizona Vacation”, but it never made it as far as a print to display in our home.
As fun as it turned out, my wife, Taren, never really liked it enough to want on our wall.
I really love the Family Portraits I create, and really wanted one to put in our home, so this had to be done.
Regardless of what Taren had to say about it.
So, days before we were to start our big move from a rental house to our first house together, we were joking about how the move would look if all the kids were involved.
We were both laughing at the ideas, and I suggested to my wife we create a Photillustrator Family Portrait of our “Moving Day”.
After sketching out the concept with my fabulous artistic sketching ability, I had a good idea of the pieces I needed to bring this story, and my family’s personalities, to life.
27 images later, I had captured the perfect story of our move while capturing each of our fun personalities.
Breaking Down Moving Day
Unlike most of the Photillustrator Family Portraits I create, using only 27 images, and not including my signature Hidden Touches, was really nice.
It gave me some creative breathing room.
I will say there is an art to limitation, and limitations gave me the opportunity to really appreciate composition.
#1 Emily: My wife’s daughter I swear takes more selfies than any teenager alive.
#2 Selfie Shot: This was a last minute photo I snapped, mostly because I forgot to do it during the main Photo Session.
#3 Niko: My son Niko is my go to guy for funny faces, and my wife teases him all the time about how scrawny his is.
#4 Taren: My wife did awesome even though she hates being on this side of the camera.
#5 ME: Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of being on this side of the camera either, and would much rather be creating the pictures rather than being in them.
#6 Luka: My son Luka is such a great kid, but isn’t near as photogenic as his brother.
#7 Dingo: This is our rescue puppy Dingo, which now I realize is really small in this Portrait.
Guess that’s the awesome thing about a Photillustrator Portrait, it gives you a chance to remember.
#8 Titto: This is our awesome cat. Don’t ask about the name. Ha!
#9 House: A small piece of the front of our new house I Photographed during the evening so I could get a nice flat light on it.
#10 Bushes: The bushes in the original Photo just weren’t big enough, so I used a Photo specifically of our bushes.
#11 Neighborhood: I had a lot of problems getting the right lighting in our neighborhood, which I finally settled on a shot from early morning.
#12 Sidewalk: I used a specific shot of the sidewalk so I could get a better angle.
#13 Penske Truck: The Photo’s of the truck were done early in the morning before we had to return the truck to Penske. As you can imagine, I was super tired after moving the day before.
#14 Garden Hose: This was an after thought when I needed something to fill that space to keep the eye from just falling out of the frame.
#15 Sold Sign: I called our real estate agent up and asked if I could come by and Photograph one of his SOLD signs.
#16 Bike: Another after thought I added to hold the eye in the Portrait.
#17, #18, #19 Boxes: I Photographed two boxes in several different angles, so this is probably more than 3 separate Photos.
#20 Flag: This is my Grandfather’s Military Flag my Grandmother received at his funeral.
#21 Coffee Mugs: The green coffee mug was given to my from my son Niko for Father’s Day, and the other mug is one of my favorite daily use mugs.
#22 Fan: This is an old fan I got from my Great Grandmother, and one I remember as a small boy.
#23 Sky: One of many stock images I’ve gathered as a Composite Photographer.
#24 Birds: I just like birds in my Portraits. Gives it some realism.
#25 Plane: I also like planes for the realism factor they bring.
#26 & #27 Buzzards: These buzzards are circling because they see a nice meal in Niko after he tires himself out from moving pillows.
Behind the Scenes Photos
To give you a better idea of where “Moving Day” came from, here are a few of the RAW images I used straight out of my camera.
That’s a Wrap
The reason you don’t trust an skinny baker is because clearly they aren’t partaking in their own product.
Same thing holds true for a Portrait Photographer I suppose.
I always thought my Photillustrator Family Portraits were awesome, but now that I have a 60” displayed in my house, I find myself frequently looking at it and smiling.
It’s beyond AWESOME!
