This past February – my very good friend Sarah of BerryTree Photography was in Dallas for a commercial job, and enlisted me to assist her. While she was here, I talked her into a quick family shoot, since we never have photographs together (I’m always behind the camera!). The images are stunningly gorgeous – but something kept me from putting them on the blog… Well – as I gear up for the fall season, which will be full with so many of my current and new clients alike for those family portraits – I decided it was time. And while getting the images ready for the blog – as I was doing my usual digital plastic surgery on myself – it occurred to me… I wonder if there are other Moms out there who have been putting off getting family portraits done – waiting to lose those 10 pesky pounds, or waiting for her skin to clear… Maybe she doesn’t know that I always do unto others as I would want done for myself! During this shoot – I was certainly not comfortable with my weight, and of COURSE I had a huge blemish on my chin – but Sarah was only here for the day – so I had no choice but to proceed! And thanks to the magic of retouching – I don’t look at these images and see the blemish, or my middle… Instead I see my beautiful family, and the love we have for each other. And that’s what it’s really all about, isn’t it?
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Here is the bottom left image – I wanted to improve my look, while still looking like me… Notice that I added a little extra space between my body and my arm, and tucked in the hips and legs a bit? Still me – but better!
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And for this image, being close-up – my blemish was VERY noticeable – but I didn’t want that to ruin what is otherwise a fantastic image! So – I removed the blemish, lightened the dark circles under my eyes, and did a little overall skin softening.
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Thanks for sticking with me on a bit of a lengthy blog post. I hope you’ve seen that for family portraits – it’s not about your imperfections – it’s about your perfect family relationships… I’m letting it all hang out (so to speak) so you can get an idea of what happens behind the scenes here – remember – I am one of those imperfect moms myself – I always want every mom to feel and look beautiful, and most importantly – have beautiful images of their children that include THEM – after all, your kids don’t care about all those minor imperfections – they will LOVE having those together images as they grow up!
Sarah Duckworth | Rockwall Portrait Artist | Secrets in retouching
Conni - Your family is so beautiful – thank you for putting yourself out there and sharing as you did! I hope someday you can take a trip up north and shoot my family!
Laura Judd - You are beautiful Sarah! The pictures are great! The girls are getting so big.