Reaching and Growing

One of the biggest blessings that has come along the never ended road to being the best photographer that I can be is that I have developed the skill of being able to look at people and see their beauty first. What does that mean? It means that I look at people through the eyes of compassion, care, and love. I LOVE people, and because I love people, it’s really easy for me to notice the beauty that is in everyone. Whether it’s their eyes, hair, how they dress, their skin, their joy, their enthusiasm, their compassion, their talents—I notice, and I want to capture that in a photograph to show others the beauty that I see. Many people come to me with a somewhat distorted idea of how they look based on a lifetime of looking in the mirror, examining every perceived flaw, and viewing themselves through their insecurities. So many not only deal with the regular stuff that we all go through that impede the realization of our self worth, but too often they also have had inconceivable hurts inflicted on them mentally and physically by those who should have loved them and supported them best. I can look at them with fresh eyes, recognize the journey they have taken to get where they are, and am humbled by their wisdom and strength through adversities that are unique to them. They are so inspiring and courageous, and being able to help them see how amazing they are is humbling. It is pretty special to be able to capture them, help them see their beauty, and empower them to continue to see it moving forward. Being able to see your beauty and have something tangible to remind you of it in trying times can be life-changing.

My journey to becoming an acclaimed portrait photographer is a work in progress, and started, not with buying a “big-girl” camera and taking a photo or two, but rather when I learned how to appreciate and love others in a profound and personal way. Personal growth doesn’t just walk in the door uninvited. It comes from setting goals and stretching yourself—getting outside your comfort zone. That’s where the best things happen! The ability to really see people is not something that I was naturally gifted with. On the contrary, I came wired as a very shy person, head down, too nervous to really talk to anyone, and I certainly wouldn’t think that I loved people! They were pretty scary! Of course I improved as I matured, but speaking to people was pretty terrifying, and the thought of rejection was paralyzing. In 2012 I decided I needed to get over it, so I set a goal to photograph 30 complete strangers, one every day, for a month. Holy Hannah! It was so scary! The first day I must have driven around for an hour before getting the courage to ask someone for a photo, and it took a long time to get over the shakes, but by the end of the month it was actually kind of fun! Not only that, but it forced me to get out of the house and go somewhere new every day, and I met some interesting people, each one with unique stories. I learned to enjoy people, to be interested in people, and I LOVED seeing their beauty! Men, women, kids—people are beautiful!

The journey continued as I soaked in everything I could about photography and discovered a love for classic, painterly portraits. My technique got better with work and practice and taking step by step, sometimes outside what I was comfortable with. Several years ago I entered a couple of photos into The Portrait Masters Awards and Accreditation. I wasn’t really anticipating getting accredited, I just wanted to see where my work stood, as judged by 7 world renowned judges. Was it at professional standard? My hands were shaking when I clicked submit, and my stomach was rolling around in knots the day the results were released. Yes! High professional standard! So then I thought, well, I guess I’ll work towards accreditation. Doing so required that I submit a large body of work, which was then judged, and points accumulated towards accreditation. It took about two years to become accredited as an Associate Portrait Masters photographer, which I received in 2020. A few months ago, I received my Master’s. I’m super pleased that all but 3 of the submissions towards this award were strictly client work from the 50 Over 50 Portrait Project from last year. To receive Master’s, the judges look over all of the work submitted from the start, not just the ones submitted between levels, to see if your work is consistently at the standard required. I certainly breathed a big sigh of relief to see my name on the list! I’m so grateful for each of the women who have been in front of my lens. Without them I wouldn’t grow as a photographer and artist. And they’re pretty amazing, funny, warm, incredible humans to get to know and add to my tribe of friends.

Through hard work and luck I’ve been taught by some of the best photographers and mentors in the world. Sue Bryce, Felix Kuntz, Pratik Naik, Joel Grimes, Kara Marie, Richard Woods, and so many more. They are so talented and gracious and giving. I’ve heard it said that the photography industry is full of selfish egos, but seriously I’ve found myself surrounded by artists and educators who understand that a rising tide helps all boats, and it’s remarkable to be able to learn from them and call so many of them friends. They make photography exciting and the prospects for this career bright and inspire me every day.

There is so much I want to learn, so many ways that I can grow, and I’m excited to take more steps along the road and see where it goes! Come with me! Let me capture a part of your journey and show you that you are beautiful right at this point. Right now. This moment.

Step outside your comfort zone. The best things happen there, and you will be amazed at what you will find!

Christmas Photo Tips

It’s getting super busy around here. How about in your household? As women, we’re the ones who generally take on the responsibility to make sure everything goes smoothly so everyone can enjoy it, and sometimes that means that we stress ourselves out and don’t enjoy Christmas Day ourselves. And I refuse to not enjoy Christmas! So this year I set the schedule. I guess I do every year and everyone just goes with it. But today it came up while my husband and I were at lunch.

Let me preface this story by saying that Roger is the kindest, gentlest, most considerate man in the world. We have been married 6 years, after his late wife passed away after over 30 years of marriage. He knows how to do the marriage thing well. One of his talents is seeing what people need and hopping to it to help. So this story in NO way is meant to portray him in a bad light. He’s pretty awesome.

He got a phone call from one of his kids who we don’t see very often and who will be here on Christmas Day, we hope. You know how it is with adult kids—their schedules and plans don’t always align with one group of parents or another! Anyway, during the convo they mentioned that it would be more convenient for them if we had dinner at noon. Ladies, I had a mini panic attack! We’re talking palms sweating, heart pounding, the shakes, stomach lurching. And my first thoughts were “OK! I’ll have to make it work. How can I make it work? I can be cooking instead of being with the family while they open their gifts. I can wait and clean up the sticky bun mess while I’m cooking dinner. I can cancel Christmas Eve plans and do everything except the roast ahead of time…” etc etc. All of this flashing in my head in the space of a few seconds.

And then came the clarity, a moment of insight.

Why should I set aside my enjoyment of Christmas Day, spending all day in the kitchen panicking trying to get everything done and then kicking myself later when it didn’t happen because it COULDN’T? So I told him that there wasn’t any way I could have dinner prepared by noon unless I didn’t do anything else. No traditional sticky buns. No spending Christmas morning with the family. Frantic all morning trying desperately to make it happen. No way. And I knew that if the guests knew that eating early would cause all of this they wouldn’t want me to do it anyway. So I explained how it would effect my day.

“We always ate early in our family, I guess,” says he. To which I said, “Probably while you and the others were all enjoying relaxing, opening presents, and enjoying being together your mom and later Marcia (his late wife) were stuck back in the kitchen, right?”

He looked at me. Blinked. Light dawned. It was a beautiful thing.

So. We’re having dinner when I can prepare it without running around like a madwoman, and guests are welcome to come earlier and leave earlier if they need to, and we’d love to see them BUT…I want to be able to spend time with them, too, and it’s not gonna happen if I’m stuck in the kitchen!

Sometimes people just don't know. And they’re not going to know if we twist ourselves in knots trying to please everyone and in the process put what we need or how we feel at the bottom of the heap. We’re kind of conditioned to do that, aren’t we? Ladies, we really need to be better communicators so we don’t become resentful, bitter, biddies! How can we expect people to just know what we need if we don’t speak up?

But I digress.

Like I was saying. Christmas is busy. And it’s also a time when cameras come out in full force. And we all know how much we LOVE having the camera turned on is—especially since we’re probably a little bit frantic trying to get everything all done, so we might not think that we’re particularly put together. At least that’s how I feel, and I’m assuming I’m not alone.

But like it or not, people are going to want to take photos of us. And we should let them without a fuss, because someday they’re going to look at those photos and remember the memory of being with us. So without further ado, here are a few tips on what to do when the lens turns our direction. I would put some photos with this showing before and after so you can see what these things do. And might some day, but right now I have wrapping to do so…it’s just gonna be some tips. And a photo of lovely Pam, who followed posing direction perfectly. Done is better than perfect, right?

So without further ado, 5 quick posing tips:

1. Turn your body about 45 degrees away from the camera and put the weight on the foot that is furthest away from the photographer. That way your hip won’t pop toward the camera, which makes behinds look bigger than they are. Instead, your hip will be further away from the camera, giving a nice curve to your back and minimizing the size of the keister. It works great. Try it in front of the mirror!

2. Bend the forward knee a bit to give some shape to your legs.

3. Turn your chin to the lens and keep your chin and top of the head level. Don’t try to reduce any double chins (more on that coming up!) by putting your chin up. The picture will be a wonderful shot of the inside of your nose. Don’t put it down or it’ll look like you’re glaring at the world. Level is best.

4. And now this is the super slick magical tip. Keeping your chin level and your back straight and shoulders where they are. move your forehead and chin towards the camera. Kind of like a chicken does when it walks. ha! Be sure to keep your chin level, though, or it’ll be nose hair time again. Take a minute while you’re brushing your teeth tonight and practice. It’s like a miracle way to get rid of jowls and double chins.

5. Arms and hands. The thing to think about is keep them from being straight in front of your body. An easy way to do this is touch fingertips together in front of you at about waist level so your elbows are bent, or put the forward hand on your thigh and then slide your hand up a bit so your elbow bends, leaving a bit of a triangular gap between your arm and your body.

BONUS TIP: If you are slender, angle your front shoulder forward a bit, kind like a model does, and move your chin towards your shoulder, imagining that there is a line pulling your chin towards it. It looks kinda cool. If you’re on the more curvy side, you’ll want to lengthen the look of your neck, so try to drop your shoulder a bit towards the camera. It kind of fakes the camera out a bit and lengthens the line of your neck and arm. Don’t overdo either of these shoulder tweaks or it’ll look weird, but done just a bit they’re a powerful thing!

And that’s it! Now smile with your eyes!

Merry Christmas!

Terri, 63

Terri is a participant in the 2021 50 Over 50 Portrait Project. To be included in next year’s event, please click here. The biography for this post was written by Robin Weidner.

“It has taken me 62 years, but now I am able to stand up for myself, even in small situations.”



A former officer in the Air Force, Terri and her husband of 33 years were both “military brats.”  Currently, she works part-time at a consignment store. She enjoys traveling, boating and fishing with her husband, and pickleball with the whole family, including two sons and one daughter.

Terri says that taking care of her “soul mate,” her mother through her last days was one of her greatest accomplishments. The love of family and others guides her, as she says, “I believe God gives me the right words.” She also enjoys a new recipe, a beautiful sky and her “husband’s handsome face.”

Print Magic

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a biiiiig believer in the power of print. Since the invention of the cell phone, prints seem to have gone the way of the dinosaur, somewhat. I read an article several years ago that lamented the lack of printed photographs and stated the worry that we are in a digital dark age, where there are a gazillion photographs of everyone but in 100 years there will be very little record that we existed, as technology changes and passwords to wherever digitals are stored are lost.

I have to admit that for all of my preaching about getting photos printed, I’m not great at it myself. Yes, I print the professional stuff, but what about the everyday shots? The ones of my kids and life that I share on social media? I’m the worst. And it was brought to my attention several weeks ago when I came across a box of old prints of my kids when they were little in our garden in Pennsylvania. I was going through a fairly short lived “I’m going to organize my photos into scrapbooks” phase years ago, and I printed some photos. After realizing that it took me days to do one page, since I’m so indecisive about design elements, the phase didn’t last long—leaving me with a box of prints. So I took them out and stuck them on the counter for a bit. My kids, now teenagers, spent ages going through them! They don’t do that with my phone photos, but they leafed through the prints, spread them out, talked about them, and enjoyed them in an entirely different way than digitals. So I went out and printed a bunch of my phone photos. They’re just in a box for now—but at least they’re tangible. Each year I’ve tried to print a little album of the “Best Of.” I get behind, but at least there’s something there for my family to hold on to in years to come.

There’s something magical about holding prints in your hands.

I recently came across this photo of my grandmother, looking through family photos. She HATED having her own photos taken (as evidenced by someone taking this one from their lap so she wouldn’t notice!)but she loved leafing through family photos, organizing them, figuring out who everyone was, and reminiscing over them. But she didn’t leave much in the way of photos of her for us to do the same! The nerve! I have only one photos of her from her 20s—not as the woman who I knew. What I wouldn’t give to be able to bring her into the studio and help empower her to see that it’s OK to see herself as beautiful.

Yet another story. Some of you might not know that Roger and I have only been married for 5-1/2 years. His late wife, Marcia, passed away about 6 months before we met after a 2-year battle with cancer. The first time I went to his house, the sympathy cards were still taped to the cabinets along with her obituary from the paper—and photos covered the walls. Photos of Marcia and her kids, photos of she and Roger, photos documenting the most important and fun times of their life together. They were married over 30 years. Getting to know Marcia through those images really helped me get to know Roger. I’m not a “wallpaper the walls with photos” type of decorator, though, and as the years have gone by a few photos have been replaced with shots of my kids, Roger and I, and our new family unit together, and some have come down entirely to make room for other decorative items—but there will always be photos of Marcia up. Putting the photos always in his view helped Roger to cope and grieve, but they also helped me get to know Marcia better and navigate my way easier as a new family member. If he didn’t have access to his digitals due to storage failure or any number of other ways, he wouldn’t have had that comfort.

As a way to keep family photos displayed while still leaving room for my own decorating choices, I created this photo wall in our family room. Please excuse the dust! ha! This is Idaho in the fall after all, and I can’t dust every second to keep up! The winds around here are something ELSE this time of year, and dust blows in through the tiniest space. Anyway…that’s my excuse!

These stories are to encourage you to do two things: First of all, print your photos! Whether they’re professional photos that are worthy of walls or just cell phone photos of everyday memories, there is power in print. And secondly, exist in print yourself. Someday people will look for photos of you. They will want to show their children photos of you. Don’t deprive them of that legacy. And yes, I know we worry about our weight and our wrinkles and our other perceived imperfections. If that bothers you, find a professional photographer that you trust that knows how to pose and light to your advantage. I’m here for you! But in the end, your posterity isn’t going to be looking at the things that you worry about anyway. They’ll just be looking at YOU, and being grateful that you stepped outside your comfort zone, took a deep breath, and loved them enough to leave your image behind.

Featured: Robin W, 64

Participant in the 2021 50 Over 50 Portrait Project. To be included in next year’s event, please click here. Biographies for this project were written by Robin Weidner.

“My gift is to use my story to bring hope and healing to other women’s pain.”

The author of 4 books, Robin won an international book award for Grace Calls: Spiritual recovery after abandonment, addiction or abuse. As a life coach and Certified Trauma Professional, she has found “soul sisters” around the world by speaking about childhood abuse, love addiction and her husband’s past sexual addiction. Although she says this often causes “vulnerability hangovers,” it is worth it to help others heal. 

Robin resets through creating intuitive, mixed media art and Bible art journaling. A self-professed highly sensitive empath, she says camping, hiking, riding her bike or on her stand-up paddleboard “keep her young.” Her greatest joys include a recovered marriage of 40 years, her three adult children and two grandkids. 

Featured: Cindy H, 60

50 Over 50 Project participant, 2021. For more information on being included in the next round of the project, click here. This biography was written by Robin Weidner.

“I am moved by new and beautiful scenery, a good meal or an inspired talk.”

A music composer (30 songs), poet, painter, author and publisher, Cindy’s extended family includes 13 living children and 36 grandchildren. Five of these are biologically hers but the rest are hers too and have become some of her greatest friends.

Marrying a man 24 years older (a second marriage for them both), has been a gift but also has brought issues as his ability to take care of himself and her has declined. Cindy has found strength in taking better care of herself and prioritizing what she needs that he can no longer do for her. As a “shiny white blonde,” she enjoys having a “wicked sense of humor,” and looking for silver linings.

Gratitude

What a whirlwind the last few months have been! Finishing up the 50 Over 50 Portrait Project was so rewarding and fun. I’ve learned a lot this year, which means next year will run smoother and be even better than this year! I’m still tying up some loose ends, but for the most part everyone has their photos and has been so patient as I’ve dealt with supply issues and time crunches.

And then the piece de resistance—the gala! Oh my goodness! Thank you so much to everyone who came out and supported each other. Tears, laughter, yummy food (thanks, Naomi and Tracy Morey for catering!), beautiful music by Annette Hansen…and new friendships made and relationships strengthened.

My goal for the project was not only to celebrate women over 50 through portraiture, but also to surround the participants with a tribe of like-minded women to support, encourage, and cheer on each other. To see these friendships start at the gala was simply the crowning moment to the whole project. Seeing people that I thought would connect with each other as I did their individual pictures magically gravitate to each other, discovering others were continuing their new found friendships at breakfast the next day, and knowing that the project became more than beautiful pictures gave me goosebumps.

And the generosity! For those who wanted to purchase their enlargements, I offered them at a seriously reduced price and all proceeds went to the Magic Valley Humanitarian Center, whose mission is to help the most vulnerable in our valley. They are thrilled that over $2000 was raised. It is going to help so many people. Thank you so much to everyone who purchased their enlargements! If you would still like to purchase yours, you may do so before Jan 1, 2022.

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who participated this year!

If you’d like to participate in next year’s event, you can do so here or give me a call at (208)420-0502

Worth

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about worth, and what self-worth means. Almost every women that I speak with about portraits struggles with feeling that everyone else in the family deserves having photos more than they do, and when they do finally decide that they’re going to go for it, they’re worried. Do you find yourself saying the following?

“My arms are too flabby.”

“I need to lose weight.”

“Can you make my nose not so prominent?”

“Please remove my muffin top.”

“I’m just not photogenic.”

“My kids should have pictures taken instead.”

“I hate my….(insert body part here).

If you find yourself saying these things, please stop! I don’t care whether your arms have the loose bits, or whether they’re toned, or whether you aren’t a willowy size 2—or whether you are! I don’t care whether you have a rounded tummy or whether you sport 6-pack abs! I don’t care whether you have a big nose or thin lips or “man” hands or a small butt or a large one.

More importantly, those who LOVE YOU don’t care.

Whether you are large or small, fat or thin, tall or short, have soft features or angular features, age spots, veins, droopy eyelids or not, thinning hair, thick unruly hair, big feet, small feet—or any other descriptive feature:

YOU ARE WORTHY OF BEING PHOTOGRAPHED.

I read a beautiful article by Teri Hofford recently that talks, among other things, about not wanting to be photographed because you want to lose weight. Let me quote her because she says it way better than I:

“Unlike rides at the fair, photography will not reject you for existing in a body over a certain size. There is no magical number for you to be worthy of gracing the camera.There is no “before” and “after” weightloss - there is only now and now is worthy of being documented because YOU are the same person regardless of what your body does or does not look like…Photography itself is a great equalizer - its only job is to capture moments in time. If you experience a moment - you are eligible to be photographed. If you exist in any way shape or form and are capable of reflecting photons (if you are reading this, you can) - you are eligible to be photographed.”

So there you have it.

Now look, I can understand wanting to have a different body, or not being happy or feeling yourself after gaining a few pounds or looking in the mirror day after day and focusing on your so-called “flaws”. I hate that word, because they’re not flaws, but for want of another that’s the one I’ll use here. I get it. I’ve gained weight and lost weight and then gained again. I have hooded eyes that I’ve been self-conscious about. My hair has a mind of its own, my neck has wrinkles that I wish weren’t there, and I wish my teeth were whiter even after using whiteners! But that doesn’t have anything at all to do with my worth. And these kinds of things have nothing whatsoever to do with yours.

Again, from Teri:

“But what if I look FAT in my photos?”

What if you do?
What does it mean?
What does that represent?
Does the fatness take away from the fact that you did an amazing thing?

The reality is, you MIGHT look fat in your photos.
As a FAT person, I ALWAYS look FAT in my photos.
AND I look powerful.
AND I look sexy.
AND I look strong.
AND I look confident.
AND I had fun.
AND I felt empowered.
AND I did something scary.
AND I found things out about myself I never knew before.
Your photos are valuable
Whether or not you appear FAT in your photos
- you’ve just been taught otherwise.
The real question is:

“Would I rather look fat or not have existed at all?”

So get in front of the camera! Exist in photographs! YOU matter, not your body shape, size, or features. Those things are irrelevant to the incredible woman that YOU ARE.

And that woman is more than worthy to be captured in time. Right now.

You and your family will love you for it.

The article by Teri Hofford can be found here.

Teri Hofford, photographed by me, 09/21

Seeing Beauty

My super power is seeing beauty in everyone, even when they might not see it in themselves. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of a woman as homely or ugly or plain. My passion for photographing women was born out of realizing that they are so lovely yet dang hard on themselves, and I want them to see the beauty that I see. It’s not just outer beauty, either. That’s part of it, but I think women are incredible, looks aside. I photographed a grandmother a few weeks ago whose daughter is going through a hard time, so my client took in her baby grandson to care for while her daughter gets her life back on track. Despite health challenges, abuse, and trying to run a business, this woman expanded her already full life to include a wee one. That is AMAZING. Women do this kind of thing all the time, and it’s a love and a beauty that is quiet and not often seen. It’s time to celebrate it. Women are remarkable because of their ability to be resourceful and because of their adaptibility and resilience. They bend but don’t often break. There’s something about coming into your power as a woman, embracing it all, recognizing it, celebrating it, and having your beauty immortalized on paper.

Elle Macpherson said, “It’s not vanity to feel you have a right to be beautiful. Women are taught to feel we’re not good enough, that we must live up to someone else’s standards. But my aim is to cherish myself as I am.” That’s my goal for every woman that I photograph. I want you to realize that you have the right to feel beautiful. You have the right to shine. It’s OK to confidently step into your beauty—not in a vain way, but a quiet, confident, matter of fact way. There is something very powerful about knowing your own strengths and choosing when to use them effectively—to recognize how amazing you are and be graceful and classy about it, and to cherish yourself, despite your flaws. A great deception is that in order to love others more we need to think of ourselves less. Yes, there are selfish, narcissistic people on one extreme. The other extreme is just as unhealthy, though, and in my experience that’s where many women sit. I’m not saying you don’t have areas you wish you were doing better at, or qualities you’re not fond of. Anyone with any self-awareness has those! If you’re like me, you get discouraged because despite your best efforts there are some things that sit with you for years that you don’t feel that you have improved, and it makes you feel bad about yourself as a person. I assure you that EVERYONE feels that way. You’re not alone. Those qualities don’t mean you’re less than anyone else. It means you, like everyone else, are human. I also know that you give everyone else more grace than you give yourself. It’s what we do. As I’m writing this I had quick thought about the first great commandment to love others as ourselves. I think as women we need to learn to love ourselves as we love others, and as we learn to love ourselves, our already incredible capacity to love others will increase even more.

A good place to start seeing your own beauty and having a transformational, life changing experience and a memory to last a lifetime? A legacy portrait session. And if you’re still not quite in the head space of doing it for yourself, do it for your family so they’ll have beautiful images of you. The benefits to you will still be the same, and maybe it’ll be the catalyst for stepping into that confidence that will not only make your life better but spread like the warmth of the sun to those around you.

Win win!

Do these pants make my butt look big?

Sometimes we feel like we don't have the right wardrobe to be photographed, so let me help you! I’m all about taking the stress out of wardrobe choices. First, let’s decide what look you identify with. Casual jeans? Calvin Klein style? Epic glam? Traditional elegance? You choose one or all, and we’ll plan the looks and poses that will best suit you. As soon as you’ve booked your session, you’ll receive a welcome guide with everything you need to know. Here are some basic guidelines:

• Be sure to wear outfits that fit your body’s form. Whether slender or curvy, we’re going to shape your body through posing to show you at your best. Caftan tops and raglan sleeves just aren’t going to cut it here. We’ll just end up clipping the back to fit against your body anyway, so leave ‘em at home!

• Flatter your arms. If you hate your arms, be sure to wear sleeves that are at elbow length or below. Short sleeves cut off our arms right at their least attractive point. Sleeveless, cap, 3/4, princess, or full are the way to go.

• Stay away from bright patterns. We want the emphasis to be on your beautiful eyes. Bright patterns and prints tend to make portraits look like an ad for a clothing catalog! That said, clothing with great texture—embroidery, beads, sequins, lace—are all super yummy to photograph.

• Monochrome is great! Not necessarily all the same shade, but think about the top and the bottom blending into each other.

And that’s about it! If you’re still not sure about something, send me texts. I’ve seen lots of women in change rooms and closets over the years, and am happy to help.

We’re Moving!

I’m so excited to announce that the studio will be in a new location beginning January, 2021. Although I’ve loved my little space, and it has been so convenient being right next door to our home, I’ve been outgrowing it this year, and it was time for a move. For the longest time I thought the benefits of being so close to home outweighed any pros of moving in to town, but about a month ago the thought of a central studio in town, where I can be involved more with the community, wouldn’t leave my mind. It nagged me and nagged me, and whenever I did a session I kept thinking about it. I’ve learned over the years that when something won’t leave my mind, it means it’s time to do something about it, and it got to the point where I couldn’t ignore it anymore. So I put a feeler out on my personal Facebook page, saying I wasn’t thinking about moving any time soon, but if anyone knew of anywhere that might be suitable, I’d consider looking. Immediately my friend Joy (who owns Harmonious Healing in Burley), told me of a spot, so the next day we went and looked at it and…well…the next thing my husband and I know, we’re the owners of a new building.

You guys, I couldn’t ask for anything more perfect for what I need and want in a studio space. From its tall ceilings to its kitchen area so I can still have luncheons with my clients mid-session, to the light, to the beautiful walls and the spacious area to shoot in and have galas and community events, I am beyond thrilled to be moving there! It’s a dream come true.

I’ll be spending between Christmas and New Years moving things over, and although I will be able to start shooting there immediately, I’m going to have so much fun molding the space into the luxurious, welcoming space that each and every one of my incredible clients deserves. Oh, the portraits we’re going to create together here!

New studio space in Burley, Idaho.

A Little Piece of Europe

I truly believe that portraits are priceless. As such, they deserve to be stored and presented in a luxurious and archival manner. Enter…the folio box. Sourced from the finest vendors in Europe, it is an elegant answer to the album. The folio box contains all of your images, fortified with beautiful mats. A deconstructed album of sorts, the folio box can be used as a frame in and of itself, with its window opening, and it keeps your digitals safe in a crystal thumb drive stored in the lid. You can swap your favorites in the window of the box itself or in a frame on the wall. Either way, on days when you’re feeling a little bit “blah,” pulling out your folio box and surrounding yourself with your images is sure to make you feel better!

Here we are!

After several years working on a website that was increasingly old and clunky, I’m pleased to introduce you to this brand new home! I’m so excited to share clients’ stories and portraits, thoughts about photography, the pampering photo experience I offer, and of course, a picture or two!

In 2008 when I signed in to Creative Live to try to spot a colleague and friend in the studio audience, I never dreamed I’d have found my passion. But I decided to poke around the platform since I was there, and saw a promo for an upcoming class by Sue Bryce, who was bringing magazine-style portraiture to every day women. I decided to watch the class, and from the first few minutes it was like a window opened blowing clean, fresh air in, and I knew instantly that’s what I wanted to do. It has been on my mind and in my heart ever since.

From practicing the posing with my high school seniors out in a field, to setting up foam core all over my dining room and inviting my women friends to come and help me practice, to starting Lynn Crane Portrait and working out of my teeny but so sweet basement studio and meeting my incredible mentor Sue at a conference, to becoming an accredited portrait master photographer, to purchasing a beautiful building in town to house my studio which will open next month, the journey has been incredible. I’ve loved my clients, I’ve loved watching them blossom and cry and laugh and connect again with their incredible beauty.

I am looking forward to where the next leg of the journey leads.

Come along with me!