Sarah McTernen

Art

Portraiture

Project Photography

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Personal Portraits

Portraits Where You Want Them, How You Want Them
The world is saturated with portrait photographers. If you use your favorite search engine to look for a professional photographer, you are immediately confronted by hundreds of results from national companies, listing services, and individual photographers. The majority of the companies you will find will be able to capture a scene with technical proficiency. The question you need to ask yourself? Do you only want technical proficiency? Or are you looking for something special? Are you looking for an artistic touch?

Ardent Photography specializes in artistic portraiture. My goal is to allow the scenery of your life to be the backdrop of the portraits that will hang on your wall. Whether it is a park full of vibrant foliage or your cozy living room with you in your favorite recliner, your portraits will be more personal and meaningful than if they were taken in front of the plain backdrop of a studio. They will express your personality and lifestyle.

I love working with natural light and natural posing. Studios are stuffy and unknown territory. They lend themselves to fake smiles and tense muscles. I hate seeing photographs where I know the smile is forced, you can see it in the eyes, or people sit like mannequins, stiff and unremarkable. I want to see how a family interacts with each other and capture the moment. People are more relaxed in a familiar setting which leads to more relaxed photographs. With this relaxed nature, comes imperfection. Everyone is looking at the camera except Jane who is day dreaming about the blue bird in a tree to her left. The photograph is not perfect, but instead it is honest. Families are not perfect, but unique entities with quirky personality traits that are amazingly beautiful in photographs.

Personal portraiture includes individuals, couples, families, babies, children and animals in small groups or large groups, indoors or outdoors. The more people in a photo shoot, the longer it generally takes. Small children and animals also tend to take more time to photograph because they run on their own schedule. You want different outfits or locations? Not a problem. Your photography session is your time. I come equipped with a tripod and professional Digital SLR camera. Additional lighting is available upon request, but natural lighting is best.Sessions start at $75 for each half hour, travel is extra for distances over 20 miles, and payment is due at the end of the session. Prints are separate. Online proofs will be available a week after your sitting, unless you have been informed otherwise.

I look at portraits the same way I view project photography and my artit is meant to capture the unique characteristics of the subject, not just create a picture. Please visit the portrait gallery to see examples of my style of photography.

Have questions? Want something a little different? Feel free to E-mail or call 253-566-6175 with questions or for more information.


All Images are Copyrighted and cannot be used without permission.