Beach Portraits/October 24th & 25th / Sooner if you like or need!!!!

Let's Go to the Beach!!

This is a family favorite every year!  Full extended families, couples, children and Grandparents with Grandchildren. The possibilities are endless, you name it and we can or have done it.

Lighting and the correct use of it is what gives a portrait magic, I love the early morning with the rising sun  or the late day sun. Either will work — but the morning light is the best.

There are other reasons for the morning, fewer people on the beach, the best tide and you never run out of light as you can on the end of the day.

I've selected three families to show you, their images reflect the way we approach every family session we create.  That is relationships, parents and children, children alone, cousins or sisters and brothers. Parents alone and individuals. It goes on and on - What is important to you?

First we will look at a session we did for Nell and Tommy, their son's and daughter's families and the grand's.

Running hand in hand on the edge of the surf

is always a must for a fun portrait. 

We work to have an interaction among the

family members, keeping eyes off of

the camera and myself.

Clothing is very important, yes I know Khakis and 

White shirts or jeans seems to be the norm. The 

idea is that the colors flow. If you throw in a bright

red, yellow or blue it destroys the flow of the image.

Just like putting up a big red stop sign and your eye goes not further. 

There are no real rules to this as much as what you want to look at hanging on your wall or sitting on your table.

Relationships-it is the glue that holds us all together.

These are memories that will last the rest of their and your lives'.

My 40 years of experience allows me to see things

in a unique way. We have "Fun"-the session

flows, children are laughing and sometimes there

are even a few tears (happy ones) as the process

Unfolds.

What are these two thinking-other than the water

is cold.

I'm thrilled when a child reacts with an open

Heart and we connect. The images are wonderful and

Memories...................

This is evening lighting, soft and directional. That opens faces. You get skull looking heads when you work with high

sun. 

I think these next two need no words

Family is what it is all about.

I try so hard not to make this stiff, this was not posed.

Just a little bit of direction and the love of the family members 

took over. You can see that.

Nell commented " The portraits are gorgeous! Wilber and Margaret were very helpful with clothing and makeup suggestions in the planning session. The session was a wonderful experience. The planning helped so much."

Amy commented " I really liked the way the pictures were presented-slide show / projected. Given two choices to pick from was sometimes difficult but made our final choice much easier. Both Nell and Amy rated the experience from session to finished work as

"Excellent"!

Now we will move on to family, Chris and Lisa.

This hangs in they're living room over their fire place.

The blue matting was selected for the web display, the finish portrait without the matting is 38x52 and framed in a silver-leaf frame-the finished presentation is excellent. I have a smaller size here at the studio-come by and take a look. This is morning light, see the soft glow-low light — very directional. The reflections in the sand are real-we don't do computer effects-they destroy the magic and everyone ends up with the same thing. 

Next we will be visiting with Clay and Gina and their three. This was one of the most fun

sessions we have done, they are all fun but this was something extra, you had to be there.

Oh before I forget, Color, Black and White, Sepia, Spot Color, Oil Paintings and Water Colors are all available for the sessions we do. I can explain more about that and put samples of my work that we've done for others in your hands when you come in for a planning session.

Gina is a runner so this image is very special to her.

Sisters, what a special relationship. Margaret (my wife of 42 years) and her sister Veronica have show me just how special this bond is. I won't tell you how long or I may be sleeping on the porch tonight.   

"Relationships"

Smiles from the Heart!

The smiles say it all!

Relationships that are so special,

Memories that will last a life time.

Clay and Gina both said "This is our Family"

That is always our goal to create a unique portrait — one that you never tire of.

Thank you for taking time to visit with us. More in the next few days, so stay tuned.

Wilber and Margaret / Jeffcoat Photography

803-469-2440 or 469-2441

Please remember we will be doing beach portraits on the 24th and 25th of October

Give us a call and lets sit down and see what we can create for you.

Greeting Cards ~ Christmas ~ Hanukkah or Anytime Cards

 I really don't feel there is a bad time to send greeting cards and what could be better than Christmas or Hanukkah. As you can see from the photographs we do many cards every year and now would be an excellent time to start planning for your needs. We like to have a planning session so we can help you with

all the details. Most of the cards we do use three or more photographs, a front image with greeting and then a larger image inside with a message that is in keeping with your desires. We then finish your card with an image on the reverse along with artist information. Yes we believe in what we do so what else would we send except our own lovely selves and of course our grands! We did this over a weekend at Margaret's sisters home and were very pleased with the results ( big surprise, right?).

Now that is a good looking group of folks if I do say so myself. Cards start with a minimum of 25 (69.95) and then you can add in quantities of 12. Additional pricing is based on total quantity. This is where a planning session is a to get all the details correct. Cards can be made from any session that we have done with you during the year in-fact with children it would be fun to use different images from different sessions, adds a little watch me grow to this story. The following images are from several sessions we've done this past season. Enjoy and give us a call - let's get together and see how we can help you. Cards always cause such excitement for all of our clients. We always hear of how their phone never stopped ringing when friends and family got their special gift of a card. One family mentioned they got calls from Italy, Alaska and Japan. What a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends and family. You will find friends framing, scrap booking and asking for extra cards. We custom design every card to every clients needs and wishes. BTW that line down the middle is the fold in the card-but you knew that right?!?

      Nikki, Emily & Chase 

Nikki, her son Chase and daughter Emily decided on a beach session (Huntington State Park). Nikki is thrilled with the images "I look at my portraits every day-they are just wonderful-exactly what I wanted!” 

“Thomas”; the little engine that made this little man very happy.                                                  

What is more exciting for a little man than "Trains" especially if your name is Thomas and Mommy & Daddy know where there is a little Blue Train Engine that would be an absolutely wonderful setting for portraits and greeting cards. Tina was thrilled with the results, only regret was that she did not order enough cards - but we took care of that too. 

   I think I should mention something about the copyright notice that you see on all the images posted on our blog. I do sign all of my work, that is the mark of the artist and clients fuss when I don't. The copyright is for the protection of our clients and our selves and is used only with images that we post on line to our web site, blog or face book. You will not find this on images you purchase.

Now all that is left is for you to call 469-2440 or 469-2441 and make an appointment for your planning session. We will find out who we are photographing and if you like we can help you with clothing suggestions. Best time of day to do your portraits, if you want to do the photography in our studio or a special location and of course we will be as sensitive to your appointment time needs as we can. Scheduling after hours or weekend appointment is always something we are happy to do. 

                                               

Did I mention that our custom cards make a great gift - that friends and family frame these (5x7 is the finished size) - what a great way to make your gift giving dollars stretch this year. 

                                    

                                          Oh one last card, you saw this young lady in the top card with Margaret and I, I guess I'll be hearing it as to why I didn't  place the card of the other two grand's in here. Well we will be using their family portrait we did on the beach. More about that when I post tomorrow.

                                       Thanks Wilber and Margaret - More tomorrow and the final dates for the beach this year.

My Favorite Face Contest / 9-7-09

Good Morning / Afternoon. This is all new to me so - let's have some fun and let's by all means do some photography (images). 

If you know anything about us (Margaret and I) then you know that Margaret is the smiling happy face you see at the front door and smiling voice you hear on the phone.
I on the other hand am the tall balding one that make all the magic with the camera. I too have a smile (most of the time) and a smile in my voice. I work a lot with the little angels (your daughters and sons) and have done so for the past 40 yrs. So enough about that.

Right now we are starting our 

"My Favorite Face" contest and it will work just like the "Cutie Contest”. This will run from the 1st of September through the 1st of November. 

Session Charge is $30.00 and that includes a 5x7 Casual portrait. One session and portrait per subject / you can do more than one session for a family. Portraits are of individuals for the contest but families are welcome in front of the camera too. Sessions can be indoors or outdoors and there is no added fee to go to a local location (3-5 miles). Judging will be by the public and my web host has promised so upgrades to make the voting easier.

Packages start with two 5x7's for $59.00 and for more details than this you need to call or come in for a planning session. Studio hours are 9am till 5pm Tuesday through Friday ~ Saturdays and Evenings are by appointment and yes if it is the "Only" day that will work for you we will create your portraits on Sunday (after 1:30 ~ Lord's Rules).

Contest prizes

1st Place a 20x24 Colonial Wall Portrait / Plus a $200 savings bond

2nd Place a 16x20 Colonial Wall Portrait / Plus a $100 savings bond

3rd Place a 11x14 Colonial Wall Portrait / Plus a $75 savings bond 

4th Place an 8x10 Signature Portrait / Plus a $50 savings bond

Who is eligilible, anyone 1 week old to 100 yrs, this can be a family member or a pet (I guess they are family members too). So if they can get into the camera room or to the location we can work with you. BTW Margaret said no "Snakes".

We are located at 1224 Alice Dr Suite E,

in the Winn-Dixie shopping center, next door to The Werx and a few doors down from Core

We have some other specials working right now for Canvas Wrap portraits that include a nice selection of custom framing. Please call 469-2440 or 469-2441 or you can reach me at 795-9212 (this is my personal cell number - PLEASE no calls after 6pm or before 9am on this cell line. That's when the smile leaves the voice. : > ).

All for today- more tomorrow and some images from our latest beach sessions.

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