The Jarvie Clan is pretty good looking people!
Here are my brother and his kids. The two oldest are college age.
The rest of the pictures are located here
Archive for the ‘(A) Family Photography’ Category
Here’s just a sampling of the family pictures I did for the Makarov family – To see all of them check the smugmug gallery here
I did try to focus on a few more of the dad because he’s also a photographer and I figure he’s the one with the least amount of family pictures.
Eating birthday cake
It was the beginning of my road trip to DC and I stopped first at my friends house for some late dinner and hanging out. The kids had to get to bed pretty soon after I arrived and I left in the morning before many were awake, but I did have a short opportunity to get my camera out and take a couple of pictures just for fun.
Check out the rest of the photo we have up on the SmugMug Gallery.
Most of the time I just got them doing whatever they were doing. However I did make them stand in front of the piano so I could play a bit with lights and show my friend (their dad) how I use the speedlights.
![](http://photos.jarviedigital.com/Jobs/Family/McCoy-Family-DC/i-3cSqhZb/0/L/0057B07597-L.jpg "Portrait of a little boy\")
When you are more relaxed and let people feel like they are a part of the creative (pose selection) process they come up with fun interesting poses that work for them. (Right)
They know the typical poses and put their own flare on exactly how to execute the old classics (left)
Then usually I’ll come up with fun ideas based on them and all what’s going on. I see the baby just standing there looking up so it’s a perfect opportunity to involve the parents holding hands and walking past their daughter. (middle)
Changing up the groups is pretty typical. It’s just a matter of angle… these two pictures were taken in the same location.
It’s a staple of my photography and anyone who’s been in front of my camera for a photoshoot will know I have two main commands… “Look here” and “pay attention to each other” I try not to get too specific and let whatever happens happen.
Here’s a link to the full gallery online.
(Woops no one in the family picture was looking… I failed… or did I? haha)
Art for my models vs models for my art
I think it was a couple posts ago that I was discussing how a photoshoot is a collaborative effort… or at least should be.
There are many things that impact the way people view your pictures… when you go to a beautiful spot, or have beautiful subjects people will be more attracted to your pictures … or if you put it to a theme everyone will go crazy for.
But that’s not my whole job in fact a lot of my job is… GASP… taking good pictures.
Dealing with whatever lighting I have been given that day, whatever subjects, whatever spots… and always bringing out the best possible for those situations.
So what about mid day lighting… where the group was so large I couldn’t just put a big diffuser over their heads and add in my own beautiful lighting by flash or reflector.
I went au natural and found spots that worked well.
And the day and the people and their personalities and the lighting and my lenses and my brain all worked together to come up with something that worked for them.
Bright shiny day… but we found a somewhat shady area and got a spot with the least amount of shine through and had people facing directions so it wouldn’t hit them quite as much.
I relish that I took what might have been a cheesy idea… and turned it into perfectly normal and good.
I threw in whatever they were doing… or pushed them to do stuff I could see them doing that would make the shoot a bit more funny and memorable.
I took several opportunities to run through the whole family doing individual portraits during the time… extra attention to Mom as well.
And for one of the run-throughs at the end I broke out the lights, to kind of play around.
Giving
I’m in this mode of giving so far this year.
I’ve been giving away that which I have lots of … Pictures. So I’ve been turning it into a game on my facebook fan page. Mainly a lot of guessing games.
Here’s a big one and it’s a prize that doesn’t go to just one person. But to the first 15-20 ppl that make it happen.
Blogger Mom
I know sometimes you people laugh when they’re applying the title of soccer mom or now days blogger mom. I’m not a mom, I’ve never even been married and my own mom doesn’t even have a blog (she does have facebook)
I believe strongly in:
- family
- memories
- art
- photography
- developing relationships
Mommy-Photographer
You’ll have to excuse the many people in my profession that sometimes give you a bad rap or just don’t understand.
You want the best pictures that portray the best memories that which you can put on your wall and be proud of and stir up the best emotions.
There’s many reasons you get your cameras out yourselves, and I support them.
There’s many reasons you buy a nice camera like mine, and I support them.
Because you do, you find yourselves taking pictures for other people, and I understand how and why.
Now I know what my work with photography, specially in the area of Family Lifestyle and portraits is able to do.
But I know that I can’t be there all the time with every amazing thing that happens in the family.
But you will be there!
So document it… and then try to get always better at that documenting.
I WILL HELP
I’ve taught lots of photographers wanting to get better at photography and probably a majority of them wanting to turn it into a career.
This next class I want to be for you guys… the ones documenting the lives of your own families.
Photography is very very expensive and so can good classes be pretty expensive.
But this should be free.
The Class
I am going to be gone much of the last part of the month and again in February. So I should do this soon.
Jan 13th – 7:00 (because your spouse should be home by then and we can do a 90 minute class and get you home so you are in bed early enough to get up when they get up)
SUBJECT: All the basics you need to know about taking a good picture, for instance what a good picture should look like.
What to bring: Something to take notes on. Whatever camera big or small.
Posts should be written by lets say Monday Night (Think FHE, heck have your kid write it, if they’re old enough, or youtube them)
This is your first lesson in photography: BE CREATIVE – Think outside the norm
If you follow the options below you are invited. Bring some treats or even real food. It’s gonna be relaxed.
Lehi Utah – Hit me up on FB for the address.
To qualify?
Be a parent who loves taking pictures of your children
Step One:
Write a blog post talking about why photography is important to your family. (If you don’t have a blog I can post a write up for you on mine or you can do it as a FB note)
Subjects to consider for writing.
An important moment in your own life related to photography.
Why photography is an important aspect in the raising of your own children.
Philosophize about the connections of memories and pictures.
What you think these pictures will mean to your kids when they’re older.
Why do you take pictures?
Why do you have pictures taken of your families?
Why do you have family pictures on your wall?
STEP TWO:
Link back to this post so that others can read about it and have the chance. If it becomes popular I might do it again.
STEP THREE:
Post a link to your write up in the comment section of this post so I can give you credit for the free class
Of the Many Thoughts
Though I have many many more reasons why I think photography is important, but I’ll hold off on most of them and allow you to be creative and write your own ideas.
However I will say my memory is such that I don’t remember 99% of my childhood. I don’t remember any of the early years until almost 8. And what few memories I have are usually because there is a picture associated with it… so you can understand how it fits me.
What you’re doing in raising your children is so very important, I love seeing great pictures that document the personalities and the memories.
I love taking those pictures though I understand for many families taking their own pictures is the only economic route they know.
If there were 5 of me (without 5 of me to support) I’d be over there in a jiff to take pictures for everyone 
OK so I did a post on this photogenic couple back the day after I took their pictures. I finished up about 35 pictures real quick and released them… but… I had another 100-200 in mind to edit up and give the happy couple.
So I edited them and then I was saying to myself I should post some more. Then I uploaded them wrong and had to change the order of the gallery to chronological (which I usually do as a secondary gallery viewing) and so I thought why not post theese pictures in chronological.
The point of these posts are for future clients to know what I’m about and what to expect for their photoshoots… AND for photographers to see how another photographer operates.
So you’ll see the progression of places and how I use the places and how light changes and how we interact. I might have put in a couple dozen pics into this post but there are still over 100 I didn’t put in. So check them out if you really want to see it all.
K I tried to put more of the newer pics into the mix this time for those who still remember the last post. (Which I doubt people will remember them all)
I really love the one on the bottom right… but it matches the other one so we put it more into a sequence for this post.
Above and below should show you how big a difference the choice of lens can have on a location.
I think these two (below and above) really tell a lot about these two whom I know very well… they are fashionable minded and they met eachother dancing.
You’ll be in the area… we should stop by.
Well I guess that’s relative to some people… but London to Paris is just a short Train Ride. They gotta go while they’re in Europe at least a couple of times, so why not while they have their ol buddy in town (me) and I speak the language and I have a camera and they could do for a photoshoot.
We’re just having fun, relaxing, playing the tourists but in the end it’s about the same cost for them as a typical family shoot anyway.
Not really that it was a typical family shoot. Mainly I just captured moments (which I love) but it was a tad chilly for them to unbundle the young one.
But as we bounded from one metro stop to the other we got some great pictures.
I think they’re real telling of their trip and what went down and what it was really like, and heck what these two are really like. Kinda raw and real.
With the territory of walking from place to place, I packed light and we didn’t do any fancy lighting for almost all the shots… course it woulda been fun. But as I (and I’m sure others) always say: Pick your Battles.
This kid LOVED holding onto that metro ticket (Both pictures… though more evident on the right)
This Kid pretty much just napped. (I’m pretty sure his name is not Bjorn)
another variation of the post I published last night.
I told them if Jeff would help drive during my Wedding shoot that i’d be more than happy to do family pictures.
Things just happen all the time in life and it’s up to us sometimes to just be there… and to see it for what it is and capture it beautifully.
I knew it would be awesome when I took it. I was just sitting there finishing up my crepe not feeling like moving… but I had the right lens and a compulsive desire to ALWAYS be shooting when I SEE what deserves attention.
To him it was probably just another in a never ending series of events and interactions with his child. But I thought of it a bit singularly and differently.
PARIS – Crepes – Fun stories of mistaken meal ordering – Cold – Fussy children – The task of calming the child – Restaurant
I mean it brings back a lot of memories to me… I’m sure it does the same for him.
Not to mention the kid who years down the line gets to look back and see the adventure he went on he doesn’t remember and how his dad loved him.
Stay tuned tomorrow a post on the rest of the images from my meanderings around Paris with this family.
This has got to be one of my favorite writeups ever by a client! Heck it’s probably one of the best posts on my blog now.
It captures totally what I want to always accomplish with my photography.
I feel very validated right now and encouraged that what I’m doing is really being caught by those that are getting pictures.
Perhaps that I’m just taking pictures of the right people that love photography and love their families and the personalities and embrace the crazy and even the imperfections and want to remember even that from year to year.
In The Words of the Mother
Been There?:
Runny nosed kids, mom’s nausea kicking in due to her first trimester of pregnancy, Dad’s in school studying for the day, mom has to set up and clean up a large woman’s function, kids need naps and a bath, not to mention all the hair that has to be fixed…and mom scheduled a photo shoot?
What was she thinking?! I’ll tell you what she was thinking. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get phenomenal, out.of.this.world photos of her dysfunctional family that she loves so much, by her friend (she considers him that) Scott Jarvie. Somehow, she was going to make it happen!
I love this photo, because it sums up our family. Dad’s intense personality, big sister lost in another thought, brother giving it all he’s got, lil’ sis showing off, and mom is shocked that things are going so well! And all Scott said was “everyone open your mouth!” See what happens?
Lets talk about Scott:
To get a pretty good picture of what you’ll be dealing with, I’ll start with our arrival at the Aspen Grove.
I was sweating, Dad was driving like a mad man, we were slightly late, the kids hair was staticky, and I was trying to figure out how to smile again, when out of nowhere Scott’s great big grinning face jumped at me from my passenger window. I nearly hit my head on the sealing. Suddenly we were all laughing.
When I told him that he scared me to death, he smiled and said something like, “That was the point! Come on up and we’ll take a few pictures!”
That’s Scott for you. No shame whatsoever and totally happy to be himself…and himself can be a crack up. He’ll ask you to do things you think are completely ridiculous (He knows they are. But, they help you relax and feel okay with acting out of your comfort zone…especially after you watch him mimic your actions. You couldn’t possibly look as bad. So, why not give it a go? HaHa)
Then there are the tender moments. He can bring out your sweetness too, believe it or not. Scott has a romantic/sensitive side to him, and he’s even better than most at showing it. So, you’re in good hands when it comes to getting those moments you’ve always wanted captured on camera. In fact, he’ll get more of the “real” you than you expect, because he’s snapping away even when you don’t think he is.
Family photos don’t have to be a stress:
Scott Jarvie taught me that. We had 30-40 minutes with Scott, I didn’t have a plan…somehow between all that had to be done that day, I forgot to re-think the poses I wanted taken.
We saw a log, suggested it, Scott jumped at the idea, and we gave it a go! He had us laughing and goofing off in no time.
I completely threw out the whole “lets look really nice idea” when moments before our photo shoot began, one of our girls tore her tights in the stickers, our boy fell in the dirt, and our other little girl ate some dirt.
We were having fun as a family, Scott was getting it all on camera, and we were going to look superb regardless, thanks to Scott’s genius. It’s amazing how many memorable moments occur in a family, in a matter of minutes.
Our girls. They couldn’t be more different. Scott suggested we get out of the way and set the girls apart on the log, then gave them the go to “smile!”. They did whatever came naturally, and I wasn’t stressing over getting them to smile just so, or placing them in the right pose. What a relief! And look at how perfectly “them” it turned out.
What we did not want & what we got:
We didn’t want the studio family perfect photos. Sure, we needed at least one to send to all the Grandmas, but that isn’t hard to do when everyone’s laughing. In fact, I found that I was the one looking the wrong direction, making a goofy face, or not paying attention, when all three kids and dad were grinning at Scott.
We definitely didn’t get the studio photo. We got a real, personality filled photo of our family, and we love that!
See what I mean? I look like I swallowed a bug, while everyone else looks fabulous. But, this is still one of my favorite photos, because it’s easy to see the love that’s felt between us.
These two are my favorite of our little man. The close friendship he shares with his dad shines through this photo.
I’m glad Scott took the time to listen to what dad likes to do with the kids, and then suggest we try it! And the second picture has got to be the BEST picture taken of him in a loooong time. He usually looks angry, preoccupied, or like he’s cringing over something. Scott actually captured his genuine, happy smile!
These girls are 18 months apart and pretty much inseparable. How could someone actually give you a glimpse into their world as sisters without seeing it daily for yourself? In just a few moments, Scott captured it all just by encouraging a hug. Enough said.
I don’t know what Scott said to her, but she seems quite taken with him…wouldn’t you say? She lives in a world of make-believe, usually caught daydreaming. This picture looks like it was taken from The Secret Garden or something. In her world, it probably was!
The security that she feels with her daddy screams through this picture. She knows he’ll always keep her safe, even from Scott. 
Scott will tell you that I’m one of those moms that’s always saying, “Girls, put your dress down. Sit like a lady!” And look what he does…suggests she shows off her dress and takes a picture!
Now it’s one of my favorites. I love, love, LOVE how her baby legs and sweet, chipper personality are portrayed. This ones going up on the wall.
Good Golly! I married up. What a stud.
This is my screen saver. I like it because I was actually caught smiling at the right time! And because I love seeing the individual. I understand why Scott spends so much time on the ground. The color, the detail, and the character just sucks me right in. If that takes getting down and dirty, I’m glad he’s willing!
Time friendly:
I actually like the 20-40 minute shoots. It’s just enough time to get what you’re looking for and get out. For a mom with kids, that’s all I want. Why do you think Wal-Mart and Target do so well?
Yes, of course there are those times when the baby just won’t cooperate, someone gets hurt, or you have a stubborn child with attitude (I’ve had all three), and it’s nice to have another go at it maybe later on in the day. But, if that’s just not an option, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that Scott will somehow find a way to coax out a smile, or just make everyone look good anyway.
These pictures have become some of my most treasured.
This picture was taken last year at the (2009) Charity shoot, on a day when our baby girl was more interested in playing with the grass then smiling for the camera. Scott captured the grin we couldn’t get enough of. Now that she’s going on two years, I can’t bring myself to take it off our wall. This picture brings a smile to my face even on the worst days.
In my book, that’s what family photography is all about.
Try Something New:
Our oldest is five, and I’m just now getting the photos of our family that I’ve always wanted.
Photos that portray who we really are.
I think pictures like these on our walls and in our memory albums give our homes and family character.
Scott introduced us to a new kind of photography experience. Plan some poses in advance if you like, but most importantly, just be yourself, try something new, let your kids pick up rocks and play in the dirt, don’t be afraid to act crazy, or portray raw emotion (easier said then done). It’s okay.
He will somehow make you look awesome.
Scott’s easy to like, and although I’ve only met him twice, I feel like he’s a close friend. Once I learned about his Charity shoots, I haven’t been able to pass up the opportunity, and couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of them. Just when I think I’ve got Scott figured out, he does something else, either through his art, words, or actions, to AMAZE me.
When it comes to photography, He has a style all his own, but that style will always include yours too. So, between the two of you, you’ll be blown away with the outcome.
