It is always a pleasure to help a family create memories they can hold on to for generations to come. This last holiday season I was especially blessed to create memories and a fantastic Christmas surprise for the Thomas family!
Liz came to True Image Studio wanting to surprise her husband Mike with a family portrait session since this is something Mike has really been wanting to have done. Liz and Mike have three grown daughters and two grandchildren who would join us for the photo session. Also joining us were Mike’s brother, and mother. This gave us the rare opportunity to have four generations represented in this family portrait!
Mission San Juan Capistrano was the sentimental location choice for the Orange County family portrait session because Mike and Liz often took their daughters there as they were growing up.
As you review the album, you can see a personal touch for the Thomas family in every page. The family has many memories in the Los Rios street area in particular, as well as Sarducci’s restaurant and the Mission itself.
- Mike’s mother lives a few miles south of the mission. The third spread of the book shows a number of wooden signs pointing to local attractions on Los Rios Street. The top sign points south to Grandma’s house, a custom addition by True Image Studio.
- I took extra photos outside of Grandma’s house, outside of the mission, up and down Los Rios St and around the train depot and restaurant about a month after our session. These were used as background images for the album to give an even more personalized and sentimental feel for the album.
- The fourth spread has Grandma’s house as a background and features an enlarged inlay of a sign that has been in front of the home for many years. I restored much of the missing lettering on the sign as part of the project.
After the portrait session, I spoke with Liz and as she viewed the photos her original idea of a family portrait evolved into so much more! We were really thinking outside the box since the sky is the limit on what I can create here at True Image Studio.
Liz decided she not only wanted a beautiful family album, but she wanted five copies so she could give the other four albums to grandma and each of her daughters as a very special Christmas gift.
The albums include a personal message to the family, and uses Mission San Juan Capistrano as a backdrop. It also includes pictures of Mike’s father, who passed away a few years ago. Liz and Mike felt that the album would not be complete without including some memories of him in the album.
This project was special to me because of how involved Mike and Liz were in the shaping of the final product. They wanted a product of my creativity and invested much of their own creativity as well. This was an absolute joy for me because I always knew that their feedback was genuine and that they were excited about what we were creating.
I enjoy families and getting to know more about the people I photograph. This project was very special to me because it was a combination of my love for families and the process of creating digital art for a family.
This experience is the perfect example of an alternative to a traditional framed family portrait. I imagine the pages of these albums will be precious to the Thomas Family for years and years to come; passing down to new generations.
“The albums are a big hit! You should have seen the smiles on their faces when they were looking at them. Everyone LOVES them!! Thanks for all your hard work, it was so easy to work with you”. – Liz Thomas
Are you ready to create new memories for your family? Contact True Image Studio today for your next Orange County Family Portrait session!
