The moment we are born we are placed in the arms of one who will hold us tightly, kiss us gently, and love us fiercely. Even the act of giving us life demands her sacrifice and she bares it with the strength and grace that only a mother could.

Loving, kind, hardworking, best friend, supportive, beautiful, timeless; just a few words we use to describe a mother. Whether our own mom, our step-mom, adoptive mom, or grandmother, she makes countless sacrifices, so our lives will be better. For many she is the greatest influence in who we are today, and who we will be in the future.  She is timeless and her impact spans across generations.

Through the years, she caters her loving care to best meet our needs. Whether she is accepting us just as we are or calling us to something higher her love inspires us and helps us know everything will be okay.

Mom is often the backbone of the family, drawing us close, teaching us what family and faith is all about. She believes in us and fuels our dreams – she’s our ride to practice & our #1 Fan at the game, she dances with us in the kitchen and sings us to sleep at night. She kisses our bruises when life causes us to stumble and she’s our most enthusiastic cheerleader when we overcome challenges.

Although every mother is unique and finds individual ways to show how much she cares, every mother wants to know she’s appreciated and valued. Mother’s Day is the perfect time to reflect on all the ways she has touched our lives and Nancy Jo Photography is the perfect photographer to capture what she means to you. There is no better way to begin to say thank you to one who gives so much than with classic portraits of those she loves so dearly!

We are now taking appointments for our Special Mother's Day sessions being held Friday May 22nd or Sat. May 23rd. 

We understand that you have quite a few choices when it comes to choosing a photographer.  That simple understanding shapes our service and creates the Nancy Jo Photography experience!  From inquiry all the way through receiving your portrait order, we strive to make your experience with us exceptional!

Our first contact with you, our potential client, is usually a phone call or drop in visit to our studio.  During that conversation, we focus on understanding your needs.  Are you an expecting Mom that is searching for a good fit for your maternity and subsequent newborn session?  If so, we take the time to find out if this is your first pregnancy, as one usually shows later during a first pregnancy than subsequent pregnancies.   If it is, we'll schedule your session a little later than we would if it's your second or subsequent pregnancy.  

Possibly, your seeking a family session.  We take the time to understand the make up of your family, the names and ages of all members, and any special needs or desires you may have.  For instance, we have photographed children with special needs, that have specific requirements.  Or possibly, you have a family member that is ill, and has limited mobility or endurance.  We will do our best to accomodate their needs.  During the session below, the father was battling brain cancer, and was unable to walk long distances or to get up and down from the ground.  We found a spot near our parking spaces, and brought a stool for him.  These are little things, but they matter a great deal in creating precious portrait memories.  

Once we have talked about your needs and desires, we will make specific recommendations for your session.  We start with location.  Newborns, maternity, and most pets usually prefer the studio enviorment as it is more private, contained and easier to control temperatures (important for the newborns!).  Families often prefer an outdoor setting that is reflective of their family's personality.  Is your family a county or outdoor type of family?  We have specific areas to offer that will reflect just that.  If not, we have lots of others to choose from.  Seniors often seek unique and individualized settings.  When we were discussing Robyn's session with her, she articulated a desire to incorporate her love of pointe and desire to do something different, that no-one else had done.  We came up with the setting below.  It was dark, edgy, beautiful and very unique.  

We are also happy to help with specific clothing suggestions.  In order to do so effectively, we will ask about your hair, eye and skin color, as well as those of all members to be photographed.  We will then make suggestions based upon this and your location selection.  In fact, often times clients will text photos to us while shopping, asking for our thoughts.  We are also happy to have you bring your clothing selections to us before your sessions, to help with any last minute choices and/or accessories.  For instance, nearly everyone with blue eyes should wear some blue in their clothing and/or accessories as it really makes their eyes 'pop'.  

Once we have you booked, and have helped you decide when, where and what to wear, we are set to go.  However, life gets busy and hectic, and people sometimes forget.  Thus, we call you a day or two before your sessions to remind you, answer any last minute questions you may have, and to confirm location and time of your session.  

Then comes session day!  Generally we meet at studio for all types of sessions.  That allows an opportunity to fill out a tiny bit of paperwork, and for us to review your outfit(s) and make a plan for our session.  Sometimes seniors will have multiple outfits, and we will plan what outfit should be worn at a specific area.  Othertimes, we have little ones, whose interest will wane quickly.  We will plan on getting the most important shots first, and then allowing them some flexibility in how and what to shoot.  We need to keep them happy!  Happy children make beautiful portraits!

During this session, we shot the traditional portrait shots first.

Then we broke out the tea set and encouraged the sisters to play.  This created a timeless and classic relationship portrait that was also treasured by Mom.

In addition to making your session customized to you and your family, all portrait sessions are shot by Nancy Jo with an assistant.  Having an assistant is vital to creating your portraits.  It ensures perfect lighting, assists with posing and attention getting, and is just one more set of eyes on every detail to ensure the best outcome.  Lastly, Nancy Jo's outgoing, vivacious and entertaining personality puts everyone at ease and allows for natural and relaxed expessions for your portraits.  

After we have completed your session, we will schedule a viewing and ordering appointment.  These are generally 7-10 days after your session.  This gives us time to go through and choose the very best images of each set and grouping, to eliminate overwhelming you with too many choices.  In addition, it  gives us time to select a few and complete full portrait retouching.  All portraits, no matter the format, are retouched prior to being released from the studio.  This is the last step in our artistic process.  Thus, you see what the final product will look like when you are placing your order.  No guess work!  

During our viewing and ordering appointment with you, you will be presented a slideshow of your session images beautifully set to music.  Then we review your images, one by one, and help you pick your favorites.  We also review our products, and make specific suggestions based upon your preferences, home decor and the portraits themselves.  Certain portraits lead to specific products and or sizes.  For instance, the client pictured below desired a tight crop of her and her family's faces.  In order to do so, we had to crop in an non-traditional size, and thus were able to make specific suggestions about sizing.  

Once you have placed your order, we get busy with finishing each and every portrait and then posting these finished portraits onto a private gallery for your proofing.  Once you are 100% satisfied with your portraits, we being processing your portraits.  When we receive the portraits, we carefully inspect them to ensure they meet with our rigid standards of excellence.  When they have been approved by us, we will carefully frame (if desired) and package your portraits with a unique and distinctive touch.  

You then receive the anticipated phone call, that your portrait order is ready!  When you arrive, we will review all your products with you to ensure they meet and exceed your expectations!  

But wait.... it's not over!  We now consider you family, and look forward to the next visit with you and your loved ones.

So, as you can see, we don't simply 'take your picture'.  At Nancy Jo Photography, you get a portrait creation experience!  

If we can answer any questions, help you plan for a portrait memory creation session, or you would just simply like to chat, please call us at 919-570-1009.

We look forward to working with you to create timeless and classic portraits that you will cherish for a lifetime!

 

Photography covers a wide array of subject matter, and then many subcategories of those.  I am a portrait photographer, that is I photograph people.  I admire and love landscapes, commerical and the many other arenas photographers choose to photograph.  However, I need human interactions to be inspired.  

Now to muddy the waters even more, there are many subcategories of portraiture.  Some photographers specialize in newborn photography, family photography, high school seniors, weddings, etc.  However, it appears in talking with other professional photographers, the least populated field of portrait photographers is children.  When I tell other photographers that I, like many of them, photograph all portraiture but specialize in children and families, I often get in return that look for pity.  Some of my closer photographer friends will even verbalize what I expect all those that give me that look of pity are thinking....which is....... ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!?!??!  They say, kid's are often difficult to control, to pose, to sit still long enough to capture a print worthy photograph.  They create messes in their britches, on their shirts, and if you get close enough, on the photographer!  They are noisy little creatures, emitting sounds that sometimes sound nearly unhuman.  They are quirky, often doing their own thing regardless of your needs or wants.  They have amazingly short attention spans.  And..... they remind me.... did I mention they make messes?!    My answer is yes, you are correct in all of your points.... but so what?!  I haven't had one child make a mess bigger than I can clean up.  I quite love that they are not posable creatures, but rather do their own thing.  It is more of a challenge artistically, but truly quite fun!  Their noises do not bother me, most of the time.  When they do, it's nothing a little Tylenol won't fix:)  Yes, they have short attention spans, but heck, I do too.  It makes us work well together, as neither of us will get bored.  I like their quirks, and ability to express themselves regardless of the camera in their face.  It allows me to capture their true, unique, and wonderful personality.  And, I add, one other bonus.  They don't seem to mind my singing.  Every other adult I know that has ever been subjected to my vocal ability (or lack there of) has not been so accepting.  They think that I sing the 'Wheels on the Bus' wonderfully!

So go ahead, call me crazy!  But let me show you the results of this craziness..... I think you will be jealous at all the fun I actually have:)

This beautiful princess is Danika!  She is spunky, lively, entertaining, and such a ball of fun to photograph.  I would say that she comes to life in front of the camera, but that wouldn't be true.  She is full of life all the time.  She just knew I wanted photographs of her being fabulous, and she was right.  Here are the results!

She said, "I know you want to take a picture of my beautiful eyes"!  And of course, I did!

Now Miss Danika has quite a range of dramatic emotions.  Here is her sweet and sensitive side.

Then we finished up with the beautiful self posed portrait!

But the dramatic expressions are not limited to just the girls.  Let me introduce you to Oz, just three months old during this session.  I will be honest, most babies are basically happy little creatures, as long as they are fed, dry and loved.  However, Oz is absolutely the happiest little guy I have ever met.  He smiles constantly, and even at three months old, captivates you with his variety of facial (which often ended up encompassing his entire body) expressions.

 

Just looking at these photos brings a smile to my face!

I had to shoot quick, because his face is in constant motion and the cuteness is never-ending!

Then finally, we finish us with the grand finale..... The serious (or as much as this happy little guy can get) portrait.  

We often do a combination of studio and outdoor photography sessions.  Little Miss Addison made the most of both of them!

Usually when we are photographing children, we will use a 'eye catcher'.  In this case, it was a piglet hand puppet.  As with most items we use, the interest is quickly lost.  So my lovely assistant set down Mr. Piggy and we continued on with the session.  It wasn't too long before Addison had to investigate Mr. Piggy firsthand!

I could go on, and on, and on about all the entertaining experiences I have had as a child and family photographer.  However, as a child photographer, I remember that attention spans are short, and interest wanes quickly.  That said, I will close with little Jackson, photographed just last week here in studio.  He was fast, curious, sweet and so very entertaining.  Our sessions with little ones are usually relatively short, as that is the way most require.  However, with little Jackson we went thirty minutes over before we even noticed the time.  Even then, he was still happy and giving me lots to capture.  

We were having so much fun, that Sandy (our studio poodle) had to join the fun!  Jackson loved it!

We had to be quick because, although he was not yet walking, he could crawl as fast Flash Gordon!

 

But of course, he was a mannerable young man, and remembered to say goodbye before leaving.

So, go ahead, call me crazy!  But photographing children, with all their smells, smiles, screams, and giggles is a constant source of joy and wonder for me.  I guess it's better to be the crazy kid lady, than the crazy cat lady, right?!

Thank you to all of the Mom's and Dad's who entrust me to capture these fleeting and precious moments in their child's life!  I am truly blessed to do what I love, and love what I do!

And.... if you really want a laugh, call me up and have me sing 'The Wheels on the Bus'.  

Nancy Jo Photography
Located in beautiful downtown Wake Forest
We specialize in children, family, wedding and high school senior portraiture
www.nancyjophotography.com
919-570-1009