inherimagephoto

The Power of Now & Preserving Your Legacy

What does your family’s photographic legacy look like? Do you have stacks of photo albums, shoe boxes full of old snapshots, CDs containing digital files, scrapbooks using archival methods? Or are you young enough to have all your special moments stored on your phone or Facebook? Are your photos the first thing you’ll grab in a fire emergency?

At the end of our lives, we have memories and photographs, the evidence of our existence. Some of us have more ~ books we authored, monuments to our work, art that we created, memorials, honors … but all of us have stories and photos.

Depending on when you were born, the photos from your life will represent the times. Heidi and I were born in the same year a few months apart. Heidi’s Dad is a photographer and cameraman; mine was a tattoo artist, machinist, and Marine. I think my Mom did all the photo taking, as there aren’t many photos of her and I together. Heidi has quite a few photos of her Mum taken by her Dad, which she cherishes.

I inherited our family’s Vivitar point and shoot when I was 7 and sent off to summer camp. One of the most fun things I remember doing as a child was going through the drive thru Fox Photo kiosk and picking up the envelopes with our name on them and pouring through the prints. We would then take the time to place them in those {awful} albums with the sticky glue pages and plastic cling. I’ve since had to rescue some photos from those albums and the glue stays on the back and the photos get bent … Not the best preservation method, those things.

Heidi’s Dad has always been a professional. She remembers being told to stand next to landmarks and pose often. Road trips took a little longer as Dad would want to stop frequently and jump out to get the perfect shot. Home movies were cinematic, complete with artsy zooms and pans … Many of her photos she has now are printed on lab paper; they’re in rich black and white tones, they are creatively composed, and there are lots of them.

Compared to the few photos I have of me and my Dad when I was a kid, Heidi has less. If I could make any recommendation to help preserve your family’s legacy, it’s pass the camera around! We hear from so many of our Mom clients that they are thrilled for our specialty because they are the ones who take the photos and they aren’t in any of the images. A Goddess Session is not only a gift to you, but also to your family who will SO appreciate having beautiful, professional images of you that they will cherish forever.

When we first started out, we hesitated to sell prints because of the environmental impact of the chemicals, materials, shipping, etc. We also wanted to do something a little different than what our industry was doing by not having a session fee and then a separate print requirement. Since, we have found a Bay Area green-certified print lab that offers beautiful products at an affordable price. We still don’t require a print order and, in fact, include a set of 4x6 prints of your Deluxe session with us.

Don’t get us wrong. We don’t require you to order prints, but we highly recommend it. We provide digital files of your images, but do you remember Beta, VHS, Floppy Discs, or Cassette Tapes? Information Storage and File Formats become obsolete in our lifetime. We would hate for you to have your images ONLY on your computer, hard drive, phone, or CD on the cusp of a technology revolution. Document your life in a tangible way that your family can enjoy for generations to come.

I would give anything to have more photos from my childhood. And I can’t attach enough value to an heirloom video like the ones Wendi from Swoon Films creates for our clients. Heidi has several beautiful movies {sans sound, because we’re that old} that her Dad just transferred to DVD for her, but I only have little 8mm snippets of me and my family in moving pictures format …

I do have some really cool framed photos of my Grandparents and older ancestors because there was a tradition of more formal photography back then. It was a fairly new technology, and like most things that are older, they were built to last. The paper was thick, the ink rich, the subjects committed. I love photography from long ago. Our kids and grandchildren will likely walk around with holographic images on some kind of robot device, so let’s leave them with something they will honor, love & marvel at.

It’s up to you to build a photographic legacy. Start now. Leave behind evidence of your life that you can be proud of. Don’t regret later not documenting this time, now. I can say without hesitation, I cherish my family photographs more than any other items. For my fortieth birthday, my Mom gave to me a gift that she called her most prized possession: a gorgeous photo of her mother, hand tinted and signed. It will be an heirloom that gets passed down indefinitely.

xoxo ~ Tara

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See some of Heidi’s and my family photo collection below.

My “newborn photo” looks nothing like images today where photographers specialize in studio art, creative posing, trendy props, and gorgeous macro details.

This ridiculously cute photo of Heidi is creatively composed, rich in tones and detail … While the preservation is still not perfect, you can tell it was taken with loving intention.

My mom with a 70’s appropriate backdrop and Me in my fashionable stroller … And we were all Yellow.

Heidi & her sister, Kim and Heidi with her Mum on the right … similarly preserved & printed images as the ones above of Me and my Mom … My most favorite little Heidi that ever was on the far Left … Gah!

Me and My brother … Clearly, I haven’t changed a bit and my love of Star Wars endures. So wish this image wasn’t in shades of red.

Heidi hasn’t changed a bit either. Still silly and glammin’ it up!

Me with my Dad and then my brother and I sleepin’ with Dad …

Heidi & I both adore the nature of black & white photos. The richness is like nothing else and it endures through the years. Heidi’s Mum on the Left and Little Heidi on the Right.

A scanned B&W of My Mom {right} and My Auntie … I tried to scan my old family photos in just to preserve them a bit, but the old scanner technology I used back in the day is still sub-par for long-term preservation …

This is the first ever photo taken of Heidi and I not long after we met. It’s all grainy, my head looks freakishly giant, Heidi looks a little frightened, and it’s preserved forever digitally on the web site that is flickr.

Move ~ Pose ~ Pause ~ {IHI’s secret weapon}

Heidi growls at me a bit when I refer to her as a “poser” but that is precisely what she does, along with a million other things, for In Her Image Photography.

We know that the majority of our clients don’t have modeling or posing experience, and in fact, are extremely uncomfortable in front of the camera. We didn’t start this business to photograph models; we wanted to photograph real women who, ultimately, feel beautiful & empowered in their images.

Before our clients know that we take care of the whole “posing” thing, one of the first things they asks us is, “What do you want me to do?”. We reassure them that we have that covered and will guide them every step of the way.

You see, Heidi has a background in both acting and directing and has spent a good portion of her life either in front of an audience or on a stage. She also owned and ran her own theater company in Boston. Because of this, she knows exactly what she wants to see and capture in images. She will pose you down to your pinkies and toes in order to create a beautiful look for you.

If the sessions were left up to me to pose, the result would be a lot of cute, but boring head shots. I’m one of those dorks on the dance floor who doesn’t know what to do with their arms, so I keep a bottle of water in one hand and the other hand in my pocket … Thank goddess for Heidi’s posing skills. I only ever have a vague idea of what to ask clients to do. Frequently, she refers to me as the “shy” one and to herself as the “bossy Australian”. But it’s more about her director’s mind creating and choreographing, than bossiness. Unlike her, I don’t get told all the time by clients that I must be a dancer or a yogini because of my moves. Like, never.

We start our sessions with a little chat about how it’s all gonna go. We reassure our clients that they didn’t need to practice their poses before their session, that we will walk them through every step, and if anything feels completely unnatural to let us know … While we want you to feel like yourself in your images, we will bring you a little outside of your comfort zone knowing that it will look beautiful in an image.

I’m always impressed with what Heidi comes up with during sessions and often amused by some client responses. Most play along trusting the process, which isn’t to say we’ve had some rebels. Actual quote: “Who sits like this?! Freaks, that’s who!”. I still crack up when I think of that moment.

Ultimately, our clients remark how fun their session was and how easy we made it for them. We seriously love hearing this. It reaffirms our commitment to changing how women feel about being photographed. If we get at least one, “Wow, I’m gorgeous!” then we know we’ve done our job well.

I imagined In Her Image a few years before Heidi and I met. It took the two of us coming together, with all of our diverse experiences and skills for it to come to fruition. I know I’m working with someone special, but it is this specific talent of Heidi’s that makes the journey with IHI unlike any other.

I can gush all day, and tell you why working with us (and being guided through your session by Heidi) is so special, but instead, I’d like to end by sharing the lovely words of Sonya Keller, who was both directed by Heidi onstage and many years later, in front of the camera:

“Heidi has a particular talent, a unique quality that is all her own, which allows women to feel both cared for and challenged at the same time. I have had the distinct honor of being directed by her on the stage and in front of her and Tara’s lenses. In both cases, she has truly pushed me to find strength and beauty inside of myself. On the stage, Heidi’s direction allowed me to explore my potential and to do things I didn’t know I was capable of doing. In front of the camera, I discovered a bombshell inside of a sometimes awkward goofball. Heidi’s gift is that she creates a safe space and then pushes you to step outside your comfort zone, where you might think you will fall, but where you suddenly find yourself flying.”

With Gratitude ~Tara

Did you know we offer an entire Goddess Branding Package that includes a photo session, hair & makeup, AND a video to promote your business? Email us for more information and to get a quote for your project: goddess@inherimagephoto.com

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Go to Cordelia’s web site to learn more about her amazing work!

Branding video by Wendi of Swoon Films.