Name: Ever After Portraits
Price range: $$$

You too can be photogenic EVERY TIME! | Northern VA Portrait Photographer

Very few of us are born naturally photogenic, but we all know someone who can’t seem to take a bad picture! Whether it’s fine art portrait photography or a snapshot, that person always looks great – maybe even a tad better than in person! How do they manage it? Being photogenic is a skill, and it’s one you can learn.

As Sterling, VA photographers, we can offer you some useful tips on how to look good in pictures. After all, who doesn’t want to look great in print?!

Practice makes perfect!

• You should practice these tips in a mirror.
• Try these tips every time you’re posing for pictures.
• Everyone is already beautiful in some way, and we all looked bad in photos at some point in our lives!

Hair & Makeup

None of us are camera ready when we get out of bed in the morning – despite what Hollywood would have us believe! If you know you’re going to be doing professional portraits or even a snapshot, start with your hair and makeup.

Ideally, you should have professional hair and makeup done if you’re having a portrait session and you know it. If that’s not possible or you’re just caught in a “let’s take a snapshot!” moment with your girlfriends, then follow these tips:
• Be certain your teeth are clean and that your face isn’t shiny (that shine will appear in print).
• Add lipstick or lip gloss and add some volume to your hair (hair looks flatter in pictures).
• Don’t have time for all of that? Then quickly fluff your hair and add lipstick (or at least lick your lips for a little shine).

Light Matters

If you’re doing professional portraits, then the photographer will ensure the lighting is nothing but flattering. If you’re doing pictures yourself, then keep in mind that light matters.
• A good rule of thumb for knowing where to stand in relation to lighting is always to point your nose toward the source of light.
• An excellent source is natural light from a large window if your indoors.
• If you’re outside, the photographer should stand between you and the light source.

Camera Distortion

As you probably know, the camera distorts things more than anyone would like. If you’ve ever taken a selfie by holding the camera at arm’s length, you’ve probably seen some distortion.
• To resolve that, take the picture in the mirror or, even better, have your friend take the picture!

Camera distortion also means that the closer you stand to the camera, the larger you will look.
• To make (at least) your bottom half not look bigger, step back, and lean your head in slightly toward the camera.

Posing

Posing has a great impact on how flattering your pictures turn out!
• Turn one hip slightly toward the camera and the other away without turning entirely sideways to the camera.
• Shift your weight to that back foot and cross the knee in after raising front foot on tip-toe.
• Then pull the rear arm toward the outside of your body while resting it on your hip. The other arm should pull slightly away from your body or rest that hand on your hip.
• Remember to stand tall and push your head just slightly forward (like a turtle). Feels awkward but if done right, it looks wonderful in a portrait!

Laugh, Don’t Smile

Fake smiles are pretty darn apparent on camera – and in print. We prefer to see a laugh – even if it’s fake. Fake laughs lead to natural-looking smiles, so we’d rather have you force a laugh than a fake smile! A fake laugh can turn into a real smile once you relax!

After so many years of doing portrait photography in Sterling, VA, and meeting a countless number of clients, we know that being photogenic is a learned skill. Practice these tips before your next pictures and tell us if you see a difference!

Family Photographer, Portrait Photography

Ever After Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter portrait photography team located in Sterling, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits.

Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,

Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

Professional Photographer

What is a Beauty Portrait? | Northern VA Portrait Photographer

Every woman is beautiful, no matter her shape or size. We love that we get to show every client how beautiful she is inside and out through our Beauty portrait photography work in Sterling, VA.

While we do Beauty portraits (we like to think of them as a beauty experience), we don’t shoot them as often as we wish. It’s not that we can’t take more of them; it’s that more women don’t ask to do them!

Many women’s daily routines often involve taking care of others, and we forget to take care of ourselves. We forget that we are beautiful. Beauty portraits, as we’ve seen through our work, bring out a woman’s natural beauty.

Gaining Confidence in a Portrait Session

One of our favorite moments during a portrait session is when a woman’s confidence shifts. It’s when the session evolves from just portraits to an experience. No matter how a woman felt when she walked into the session, there is a noticeable change in her at a certain point. Suddenly, she seems to embrace a side of herself she’d forgotten, pushed aside, or never really knew. She feels good about herself and comfortable.

Being the focus of a camera might have initially made her a bit uncomfortable, but, at some point, she regains her confidence – and everything changes. She begins to feel what we and others see in her: Her natural beauty. And her Beauty portraits reflect it.

When she walks out of our studio, she takes that sense of confidence and beauty with her. She has focused on herself and regained something she once had or found something she never realized was there, that all women are beautiful.

Beauty Portraits

Our Beauty portraits make women feel gorgeous, show them they have worth, and that they are loved. For once, it’s about them – not their children or husband or work.

Each Beauty session includes a wardrobe consultation with clothing suggestions, as well as hair and makeup application by our team of professional artists. Sure, you can do your own makeup – but why not let yourself be a little pampered for this portrait session?!

Shortly after, you can see the results of your Beauty portrait session in a live reveal of your portraits at your Ordering Session.

Every woman deserves this experience! If you’d like to schedule a Beauty portrait photography session at our studios in Sterling, VA, please contact us. We would love to show you how beautiful you are through our extraordinary beauty portraits!

Family Photographer, Portrait Photography

Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,

Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

Professional Photographer

Why should I have a Beauty Portrait Session? | Northern VA Beauty Photographer

In our decades of work as a portrait photographer in the Sterling, VA area, we’ve seen a consistent pattern of female behavior: a lack of portraits of her! We bet most ladies out there have plenty of family and children’s pictures already. But how many do you have just of yourself?! Do you have any portraits of yourself? Many women don’t!

We feel that every woman should have at least one Beauty Portrait taken at some point in her adult life.

Most women, whether single, married, with or without children, are often busy taking care of everything and everyone else. Women arrange family pictures of their families because they love their families and want beautiful portraits of them. Yet, women don’t stop to think that perhaps they should do professional portraits of themselves. After all, women are the glue which binds their families together, whether it’s their extended family, a nuclear family of children and husband, or both.

Why Beauty Portraits?

Women should have professional Beauty Portraits done for the following three (very good) reasons:

For the Joy and Fun of it!

We make each session fun, and it’s personalized around you. We’re happy to answer any and all of your questions or concerns before, during, or after your session. We also provide professional hair and makeup application with our Signature Beauty Session, as well as wardrobe advice and suggestions. We’ve no doubt that you will marvel at the results!

It’s Time to do Something for Yourself!

You will be glad you took the time to do the portraits, but, probably more importantly, your children will be so grateful that you did. Your Beauty Portraits will one day serve to remind them of their mother and the deep love you had for them, and they for you.

It Renews and Rebuilds Your Self Esteem!

Lastly, you will feel beautiful during and after your portrait session. You will walk out feeling confident and good about yourself – probably more than you have in years.

As women, most of us are not used to being the focus of attention, especially in a session which is all about us! But, feeling beautiful is important for all women, no matter our age, size, or style. As portrait photographers, and as women, we believe that every woman is beautiful – both inside and out.

Give us the opportunity of working with you to show you just how beautiful you are. Watching a woman’s reaction when she first sees the finished results of her session brings us tremendous satisfaction. It’s a gratifying part of what we do as a portrait photographer in Sterling, VA!

Family Portrait Photographer

Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,

Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

Professional Photographer