Family portraits: a tangible legacy you leave for others
Why do family portraits matter?
This snapshot of my family is the first record of my existence. (I’m the cute one sucking my thumb.) It was taken by either my grandma or grandpa I’m guessing, because we have others from that same moment, in various groupings, but sadly we have no complete photo with all of us during their visit to see us.
Guess the size of this family photo—the only family portrait we ever got? It is 3.5x5 inches! That’s all. Throughout my life as I’ve looked through our albums, I would look at this image, study it, wishing to know who we all were at that point in time, but not able to see it well.
Moms are busy!
As a kid I didn’t understand why I was the only one who didn’t have a studio portrait on the wall, like my brothers. Now I know why (since I have my own kids). Mom had her hands full with my three pesky older brothers! Taking the baby to a photography studio while dragging along her entire entourage was a too much for her at the time. I get it now!
Not only is this family portrait, of the Galen and Lorna Dultmeier family, the first record of my existence, it is the only complete family portrait we will ever have, because my dad died a short time later when I was three.
As glad as I am to have it, the photo does not capture love and relationship and cuddling and closeness. Clearly the photo could use a lot of improvement, shirt tucked in, my one brother lifting his hand. How about some smiles!?!
I didn't realize it for a long time, but my portraits are full of cuddling, closeness, love and relationship. When I started as a family portrait photographer in my small town of Stuart, Florida, having families cuddle and celebrate their relationships came naturally to me. I’m not a pushy person, but I do push families to be close during their sessions, to capture the reality of their hearts. Probably because I have a deep inner longing for those things for my own family.
“On top of having one of the smallest family portraits ever, there are no baby portraits of me. ”
Portraits capture your relationships
At the time when I became a family portrait photographer, most portraits did not involve closeness; they were stiff and formally posed. When I saw portraits like that, it felt like a waste of a wonderful opportunity to show the relationships and feelings of the moment. It was only after a number of people pointed out to me that a "Dultmeier" is easy to spot on someone’s wall, that I became conscious of my way of posing. It comes from my heart, not from following any photography rules.
At this point, since I've been a portrait photographer for more than 20 years here in Stuart, Florida, I have provided too many portraits for clients who have lost family members. I KNOW the feeling of losing someone, all too well. (Sadly, in addition to losing my dad, my oldest brother passed away in a car accident when he was 17 and my mom passed away in 2015.) I am so glad to have created portraits for my clients that capture all the feelings and moments we wish we could hold on to.
Thank you Olan Mills
When we got older, mom took advantage of the free sessions offered by Olan Mills Portrait Studios, a nationwide chain that’s not around anymore. My brothers and I refer to this as the “Mom Hovering” portrait. As cheesy as it is, this image does capture our family at that point in time.
Portraits need to be printed
That is why I do this. To capture those things for the families I meet along the way. As we go through the process of creating portraits, I definitely feel a connection to my clients and their families and I very much enjoy getting to know their stories. I am not a “shoot and burn” photographer, who does the session, provides the digital files and wishes you luck. To me, my job as a professional portrait photographer, it to hold your hand from start to finish, from brainstorming and planning to the moment when your portrait artwork is ready to hang on the wall.
You or your kids won’t be searching through your computer or your phone, wondering what folder the family portraits are in. Or squinting at a small photo in an album or scrapbook, like I did all my life. Or knowing you have them, somewhere, but have no idea where they are. Or a computer hard drive crash because nobody backed up.
Portraits should be on the wall
The reason we do this isn’t just to send out a Christmas card, for everyone else to enjoy your family portrait or for posting on social media, so everyone will “like” them. I don’t believe your family portraits belong on a thumb drive or a hard drive or up in the cloud somewhere. (Watch this video that explains the dangers of leaving our photographs as intangible pixels.) They belong displayed large in your home, easy to see and enjoy. You and your family members should be able to look around, after a long day attending school, being a mom, working, whatever you’ve done, and easily remember WHY you do what you do. Because of the ones you love, who are looking back at you from your walls. (And who may be annoying you in this very moment.)
After all these years as a full-service photographer on the Treasure Coast, I can tell you, without feeling like I’m showing off—I am an expert at creating professional portrait artwork for your home! You will be so glad to have it and will cherish your portraits for years and years to come, even your kids or grandkids through the years will be able to look at your images, enjoy them and remember the times you had together, who you were at that stage of life. And to know that you took the time to have them made. That appreciation might not surface until years later, but I guarantee it will come.
“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”
Milestones slip by unnoticed
No matter what else happens, today can never be relived. We can never get back to our past and our history, no matter how much we would like to. This moment in time, this feeling when your kids are small or when they are tweens (right before those challenging middle school and teen years) or as they are heading out the door toward college or career. Or when they come home to visit with their own families. All those times are milestones that can slip by without notice. I love to look back on portraits of my boys and our family at different stages (though I have to admit to a tinge of sadness that those eras are gone).
I can't stop time, but I can remember by looking at the faces, clothes, locations, smiles. I have the privilege of watching my clients' children and grandchildren grow up and go through the milestones of life. I love to visit the homes of my clients here on the Treasure Coast and hear how much they still enjoy the portraits I did five, ten, twenty or more years ago. I am a visual historian of families. And I think it all stems from that small family portrait I’ve been squinting at all these years.
To talk to me about creating beautiful portraits of the people you love, fill out the contact form.
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For 20+ years as a family portrait specialist on Florida’s Treasure Coast, I have been known for relaxed portrait sessions at locations around Stuart, Palm City, Hutchinson Island, Hobe Sound, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach and all areas in between. I am not like most photographers these days because I believe your family deserves to be celebrated each day, as part of your home decor. When you work with me, we will collaborate in creating Fine Art Portraits of your family, which will live on your walls or in a custom-designed album or folio box and be remembered as one of the best investments you have ever made. In addition to creating portraits for families, I create headshots and personal branding images for business use. To learn more, go the the Dultmeier Photography homepage.