When you look at Dan and Kim Garrett’s Creative Family Portrait, what stands out to you the most? The amazing house, the football flying through the air, the funny donkey, the jumping dog, or maybe the cow lurking in the water? For me, it’s the donkey because how cool is he?
What makes portraits like the Garrett’s so Different is regardless of what stands out to you the most, it’s definitely memorable.
Ok, clearly the Garrett family portrait is unlike any regular portrait you’ve likely seen or considered ever getting, but what makes it so darn memorable?
Here are the 5 things that make Dan and Kim Garrett’s Family Portrait so much more Memorable than the everyday average portrait you’re used to seeing or getting.
Story Design
The family portraits you’ve had done in the past and the one’s all your friends are getting now, are created to tell one story, which is usually the story of a nice little family that all dresses alike, smiles a lot, and has good posture.
Yeah! That story is super boring, right?
So then, how can we create a family portrait that tells your unique story, is a lot of fun, and most importantly captures your memories in a different way?
For Dan and Kim Garrett, their family portrait story began at their Discovery Session where we sat with them and helped them design the story they wanted to tell. In fact, I tell all my clients when starting out that anything’s possible and the only limitation we have is their own imagination.
Now, rather than the boring story I mentioned above, imagine telling many small stories of an Awesome family like the Garrett’s who are all individuals, who enjoy life, and who could careless about having good posture.
Isn’t that a much more fun and entertaining story?
Customized for You
Have you ever seen those portraits where the family is all lined up beside the pool with dad jumping in, or out in a park next to some old barn, and my personal favorite where everyone is lined up in the form of a pyramid?
Yeah! Those portraits make me cringe too.
Other than the bushes you want in the background and whether you’re wearing all white shirts with blue jeans or all blue shirts with white jeans, you don’t have a lot of choices when it comes to regular family portraits.
For the Kim, we helped guide her through the portrait creating process, offering may suggestions on how she could customize her portrait to make it perfect.
Oh, she also didn’t stress at all about what everyone was going to wear.
To make sure you’re 100% happy, at your Approval Session you will be able to make any changes to your portrait you’d like to see, and we won’t start until you give us the OK.
Unique Personalities
Google the term “family portraits” and you will find pages and pages of portraits where everyone is lined up, stiffly posed, and awkwardly smiling for the camera, because you know there’s a photographer back there telling everyone to say “CHEESE”.
Heck, your last family portrait may be one of those in the search.
Hopefully, it isn’t, but unless you actually have an awkwardly stiff personality, there isn’t a photographer in the world who can really capture who you really are in a portrait.
Dan and Kim’s family portrait, however, was created with each of their family members personalities in mind and it was brought to life through the story they told, the expressions they made, and the details that were added to their Amazing portrait.
I live by the advice that an illustration instructor once gave Norman Rockwell when he was in college, “Step over the frame and live in the picture.”
Action Packed
Let’s face it, posed is boring, stiffly posed is boring, and smiling is boring. Sure, it may look nice, but it’s boring.
And boring isn’t Different, and it certainly isn’t Memorable.
I started making creative family portraits because I had the same problem you’re having, which is, I wanted something Different and I a portrait that would actually show how crazy my twin boys, Luka and Niko, were.
One of the best compliments I’ve ever received was from the guy who does all my custom printing. He said, “Your portraits are better than watching T.V.”
Unique Details
Imagine the story of the family I told earlier where the family is all lined up next to the pool and dad is jumping in. Odds are that was at the end of the photoshoot and the photographer thought, “Let’s do something a little crazy!”
Anyway, it’s a simple story with few details, and one that is quite frankly, you guessed it, BORING!
Family Portraits that are simple and without details are not fun, and aside from it being funny that you got dad to jump into the pool, they’re also not memorable.
The many, many details that were added to Dan and Kim Garrett’s portrait is what brought their super fun and entertaining story to life, and it’s the details that make such a family portrait so memorable.
CLICK HERE to see more about our Hidden Touches.
Aside from the many small details such as the butterfly, the hawks flying in the background, and the fire on the grill, Dan and Kim also chose our popular Hidden Touches feature, which allows them to hide several personal items throughout their portrait.
Now, that’s a portrait that’s fun, entertaining, and memorable!
That’s a Wrap
Up until now, the only option you’ve ever was to do a boringly lifeless family portrait like everyone else you know. How many of your friend’s portraits can you recall right now? And the one you can recall because you just saw it the other day, does it make you smile?
BTW, when you see a portrait photographer say, “We capture your most important memories”, ask yourself how memorable their portraits are.
Now, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine what your creative family portrait would look like. What story would you love to share and remember? What kind of reaction would your portrait get from your friends and family?
