Being a photographer, everyone probably assumes my family has more professional photos lying around the house than the average person.  Wrong.  Example, my mother has wanted to have a portrait done with her siblings for the past five years but always has an excuse….’When I loose weight’ or ‘my hair is too short’, and an endless list of other excuses.  Now that my mother finally has her first grandchild and her mother recently celebrated her 80th birthday, she wanted to have a photo with the four generations.  Wanting to be sure we all looked our best, hair and makeup artisit Morgan Bolen came to the studio to do hair and makeup.  First I will let you see the completed portrait, then a few ‘before and after’ photos to show the difference that the correct hair and makeup can make.

A few words from my sweet grandmother about her experience : “Wow, is this what it feels like to be a model? I have never had someone come in just to do my hair and makeup.  It made me feel special and made me able to look my best.  I regret not having professional photos taken of our entire family.  My husband passed away nine years ago and that is no longer possible.”

And my mother’s comments: “I am so glad we finally had the photoshoot, these photographs will be something to treasure for an eternity.  It has been 18 years since my last family photo, at that time it had been 15 years since my last group shot.  So much has happened in our lives in the past 33 years, so sad that I have waited that long between photographing our family.

It was so much fun to have Angela tell me how to pose,  and all the special things only a seasoned professional would know to minimize my size.  Amazing how much the angle, pose and lighting in addition to professional hair and makeup can make.  I am almost embarrassed to show my before photo, it is such a huge difference.”

Here are my before and after photos: