The story behind Porter Loves Photography is one of our favorite stories to tell. It’s probably because we both have such strong attachments to the candid photos of our childhood and wanted to share that with as many people as we could. We’ve told the story of what inspires Nathan and what it’s like to work with him; now it’s time to tell you why we’re Porter Loves Photography.
We wanted to offer something different to families than the mall portrait studio. The end.
Kidding…but also, not kidding.
Everyone has their own aesthetic. Some photographers take beautiful photos where everyone is a bit more posed and styled. While we appreciate the beauty in that style of photography, we wanted to do something different. I’m sure our parents had the best of intentions when they stuffed us into matching outfits and made us and our siblings sit still for a photo in a studio, but the end result doesn’t do much for us.
Part of why we’re into photography is to use it to record memories. We aren’t “live in the past” kind of people, but we appreciate getting together with our families, usually with a good meal and a good beer, and recalling certain life events.
A large percent of happiness from an experience comes from recalling it. What better way of recalling it than by having a visual aid! A photo of that time enhances the memories and the story.
We particularly love the photos that are candid captures where personalities shine through. As we’ve mentioned a few times, the photos that we value most from our own childhoods are the ones in which we’re being kids: we’re excitedly tearing off wrapping paper, enjoying a birthday cake, pouting because someone else is stealing the show…whatever it is, we love the “realness” of those moments.
So, we used that love to inform our photography business. We figured we couldn’t be the only ones who appreciate those “of the moment” shots.
While technology has made it so much easier for parents to create these kinds of images on their own, it’s nice to have a professional eye. Not to mention, mom or dad gets to come out from behind the camera! They can interact and be a part of the memories instead of just capturing them. When you look back on these photos years later, you have a record of everyone being in on the fun.
A big part of our values as Porter Loves Photography is what we know our friends value, too. We often hear them say, “I want to get family portraits done, but I just haven’t gotten around to it,” or, “I don’t how to plan it so that the kids will behave.”
While you’ll absolutely get high-quality photos, we’re more interested in making sure your family has a great experience first and foremost. It’s important to us to create an opportunity for professional photos that doesn’t feel like a stiff portrait experience. Go to the park, go to the zoo, bake cookies in your kitchen, and so on. Whatever you do as a family, we’re there to document the fun. The vignettes that Nathan finds and photographs will naturally flow from there.
We also realized that kids test boundaries with their parents more so than with a stranger. So, essentially, they’ll listen to us when we direct them instead of being stubborn threenagers and refusing to do what you ask of them.
It’s important to us to give families photos of special things they do together in an organized way (see: zoo comment above!). Nathan is great at reading kids and giving suggestions so the situation doesn’t turn to mass chaos. And if someone is being stubborn, we’ll use that to our advantage and get a few photos of that to capture the gamut of emotions you’d otherwise miss in posed studio photos.
This also reduces the chance of kiddo meltdowns. Since you’re doing what you’d already be doing, it feels natural to them. Do what you’d do as a family anyway, have us there to get it on film! We take care to make sure that kids are comfortable with us before we go clicking away.
We want families to look back and say, “Wow, what a great investment. I had an awesome time with my kids and I got beautiful images from that fun time!” as opposed to, “Well, these images are worth the money, but dang that was a stressful day.” Nobody has time for that. Plus, when you look at the photos, you’ll likely remember the mass chaos of the day first. Who wants that?
And the name, that’s all on our fur-babies. Coincidentally, it’s also the name behind McGinnis + Bean. They love to show of their hooman’s artwork and, well, they wanted something else named after themselves and Westinghouse was already taken.
So, you could say that the story behind Porter Loves Photography is knowing that you value real time with your family. Our mission is to enhance that experience through photography. It adds another layer to the memories and lets your family be a real family.