Zoe and Mac with their fabulous grandparents.                                                           A family portrait is such a wonderful treasure! We had a fabulous time creating these images. Basically we played in the studio and just had FUN!

Three Generations Together

This family came to my studio over the Thanksgiving Holiday last year.  They had such a great time.  I’d photographed most of them at the wedding of the couple standing in this group photo.  The grandma was not able to be at the wedding due to illness, but came out over Thanksgiving. We had a great session in the studio and photographed the children alone, together, both couples alone and then several family photos.  We just fun.  We giggled.  We made silly faces.  We danced to music.  And along the way we got great images.

Grandma Donnie said that I “had made her look absolutely gorgeous!”  Well, that is such a wonderful response to hear from guests!  Of course, Donnie was gorgeous all by herself, with very little, if any, help from me.

It’s always a good time to have family portraits done that include grandparents!  The images will be cherished for a lifetime. What a great heirloom to create. When can we photograph your family?

In my photography studio here in Las Vegas, we use several things that help us get portraits of autistic and other special needs children that are heartfelt and show your children at their very best.

Start by having a camera quickly accessible.  “The” moment may come and go quickly and you won’t have time to go get the camera from another room and get it ready to take photos.  Have it nearby, be familiar with the settings and have it ready with a SD or CF card already in it.

Then take advantage of a time when your child is relaxed and in a comfortable setting.  That could be sitting on the floor, or walking around the backyard. Whatever helps to relax him or her is a good setting.  It helps if the area is a bit confined and with clear paths for movement. Lighting is really important because you want to see that beautiful face when it is offered in the correct light.

The best ingredient is allowing time and patience. Talking gently about fun things tends to get the look you want instead the fake smiles they may offer when you ask them to smile. Catch them being themselves.  Rewards sometimes help.

Often getting a beautiful portrait that you want to enlarge and display prominently in your home may need to be done by a friend.  Sometimes you may have to be in the photo to get the comfort level that allows the natural look to be photographed.

At Laughter in the Lens, we are specially trained to photograph children with special needs. We know how to work through the time it takes to get a beautiful portrait of your child.

There is still time to get beautiful portraits in time for Hanukkah or Christmas!  Call us today for all the details: 702 575 1150.

During my training I learned there are many photographers and “department store” photo centers who do not want to photograph special needs children.  There are several reasons for this.  Primarily they often haven’t the slightest idea how to photograph someone who won’t just sit down and smile at the camera.  Yes, that’s a challenge, but there are ways to work with that.  Also, it takes more time for a special needs child to get comfortable in a new setting and trust a person they’ve never seen before.  There are ways we work with that too.  And, what if they don’t look at the camera?  Yup, we know what to do about that too.

In our studio, we never rush a creative session with a special needs family.  You deserve to have beautiful portraits of your children the same as a typical family.  We take timeouts when necessary, we play and have fun — a reflection of our company name.

Taking portraits of a special needs child requires some accommodations that we do in our studio. We plan for it.  And since we schedule our sessions carefully, we don’t make you wait in line for your turn.  

It is a blessing to work with children. All children.  We know you’ll have these portraits for years to come and we take that very seriously.

When I have the privilege of photographing a family, one of the things I keep in mind while I’m creating images is “how will the family want to show these art pieces?”  Sometimes they’ll want them for a family room, sometimes a formal living room, sometimes the bedroom.  And the next question is, ” how will they look in their home?”

Our studio has a great software program that allows you to see the photos you choose on your home’s walls before you place the order.  The sample images listed above show the same dining room and the same images.  In one photo the photos are framed; in the other they are not framed and show the way a gallery wrap canvas grouping would look.  The sizes of each photo can be changed, the frames can be changed, the grouping can be changed.  It depends on your choices.  And we’ll show you those choices during your private presentation in our theater room.

The center image shows all four of the boys in this family, surrounded by individual photos of each boy in a different pose.  The dining room is generic, but it gives you a good reference point for how large the images should be to properly show the boys and carry the wallspace.

Our clients are encouraged to photograph the walls of their home in advance of their creative session.  During the pre-session consultation, we review the images together and get wonderful direction from the clients as to what they want for their home — or the home of someone close to them if the art pieces will be gifts.  The photos of their spaces do not need to be anything fancier than a camera phone shot.  Ok, if you want to photograph the walls with another camera, that’s ok too.

We’re excited to show you the possibilities for your home.  Call today for your private consultation.

Rufus is such a ham during his photo session

We really do have a blast during our photo sessions.  Look at that great smile on Rufus!

This will be the place we talk about sessions we’ve recently done or events that we’ll be photographing that you’ll be interested in.

For example, tonight, Friday evening, October 7th, I’ll be photographing the Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser for Spirit Therapies.  This terrific non-profit organization uses horses for therapy riding for special needs children and injured military veterans.  They do great work and it’s truly a labor of love.I’m honored to photograph their event.  The children they work with are just beautiful!  This event is being held at the South Point Hotel and Casino.  Tickets are still available in advance or at the door, starting at 6pm.

Here is more about the organization from their Facebook page:

I’ll be writing about the images you see on the website and some of the behind the scenes things that happen.  Sometimes I’ll add the images I’m talking about, sometimes I may add video!  In fact, I have something to tell you about.  I’ll be posting it in the morning.

Please come back and visit.  And, I’d love to hear from you too.