Where are you located?

We have a residential studio location with beautiful studio gardens located in a quiet neighborhood south and west of the Kline Creek Golf Course, a couple of miles north of downtown Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Winfield, and West Chicago. Call 630-886-7289 for more specific location details. 

How should we prepare for our session?

The biggest thing to remember when preparing for your portrait session is to RELAX. Preparing for portraits can feel overwhelming and I highly encourage you to approach this as a fun experience where I’ll guide you through every step of to process to create a portrait that tells the story of your family. Ultimately that story is a story of love, not a story of perfection, so it’s ok if everything doesn’t seem to go perfectly during the preparation and session itself. I cannot tell you how many times parents have been amazed by the portraits that I am able to capture of their family, even when the children don’t seem to cooperate. I don’t say this to brag, I just say this to encourage you let go of a bit of the stress and trust that I will capture beautiful portraits of your family.

If you have any questions about preparing for your portrait session, please don’t hesitate to call us at 630-886-7289. We encourage you to walk around your house and dream a little bit about where you’d like to hang portrait artwork of your family. We specialize in helping families pick the best portrait or combination of portraits to compliment your home and showcase your family. I am more than happy to meet with you for a complimentary consultation to help you plan what art pieces you would like to display in your home and every portrait session that we book includes a complimentary planning session to make sure we've covered all the details for a successful and relaxed portrait session. Email me at info@kimjohnsonphotography.com or call me to schedule the consultation.

What should we wear?

When selecting your clothing there are many things to take into consideration: Where will your portrait be hanging? You may consider clothing that will accent the room that the portrait will hang in. What is the style of your family? Do you tend to be more casual or a little more formal? You’ll photograph best if you are in clothing that looks good on you and that you are comfortable wearing. If you tend to be a more formal family, you probably won’t be comfortable in jeans and polo shirts. If you are a more casual family, you probably won’t be comfortable in dresses and suits. We describe most of the portraits that we do at our studio as “dressy” casual. Please let us know if your style is more formal and we will be happy to make sure your portraits reflect that dressier style.

Longer sleeves and pants are generally more flattering on adults. For outdoor portraits please keep in mind that the surroundings are generally much larger than your family and the outdoor background is busy, so it is important to choose simple clothes in solid colors. Dark jeans with solid colored oxfords, polo shirts or sweaters work beautifully. Khaki pants with solid, light colored tops are also a nice, simple option, especially in the spring or early summer. Bare feet or solid, dark colored shoes (with dark socks) are best. Avoid white athletic shoes.

For studio portraits, we generally photograph the portraits on a neutral to dark background. Dark tan, grey and brown are the most popular background choices. These backgrounds help keep the focus on the subject of the portrait – you and your family members, and are easy to incorporate into a wide variety of home décor.

We recommend simple, classic clothing. Simple clothing choices for your children is the best option – dark jeans or khaki pants on boys with plain colored “dressier” type t-shirts, polos or oxfords/button down shirts are your best choice. For girls – simple dresses, jeans and a cute (solid colored) top (maybe with a bit of frill on it). Bare feet or solid, dark colored shoes (with dark socks – NO WHITE SOCKS) are best. We usually recommend limiting the number of colors in the grouping to one or two complimentary colors. Deciding on one color for the top and varying the style of the tops (button down, polo, dressy “tee”) is an easy way to make sure family members coordinate without looking like they are all wearing the same “uniform.” Choosing all browns, grays, blacks, or creams often makes the clothing selection a bit easier. If you’d like to do more than one color, here are some combinations that work beautifully together with dark jeans – burgundy/sage green, navy/brown, red/brown, charcoal grey/red, purple/green, pale yellow/light blue, lavender/sage. If wearing khakis, lighter colored tops are preferred – white or cream/light blue, light green/lavender, pink/cream. If you are looking for inspiration, Martha Stewart is often a good resource – She has a number of photos of different colored rooms here (or google Martha Stewart decorating by color). Just choose the color that you are interested in using as the main color for your tops and you can look through the room images in that color and get inspiration (and a concrete visual) on different colors that work really well together.

What about hair, makeup or glasses?

Hair -- Try to have your hair cut one or two weeks before your session. This gives it a chance to fill in and look more natural. Avoid trying any radically different styles too close to your session.

Makeup -- Stand 2 feet in front of the mirror and dab a small amount of cover-up makeup over any noticeable blemishes. If you can’t see them in the mirror, they’ll show less in your photographs. Guys, you can do this too. Our portraits include blemish retouching, so don’t get too stressed about this.

Glasses -- If you only occasionally wear glasses it is best to go without them for your portraits. If you wear glasses most of the time, you’ll want to wear them in your portraits. Non-glare lenses are best suited for portraits. To eliminate glare and reflection, call your optometrist and arrange to borrow a pair of empty frames similar to yours or have the lenses removed from your frames. Most opticians will help with no charge, but make sure you give them plenty of notice. Having the lenses out eliminates glare and distortions - it is the best way to improve your portraits if you wear glasses. If you choose to wear your glasses with glass, keep in mind reflections will be removed at your expense. If at all possible, do not wear transition glasses for outdoor portraits. It is almost impossible to keep them from darkening and blocking your eyes.

When will I be able to see and order my portraits?

We will make an appointment for you to come into the studio to view and order your portraits. We strive to have this appointment 10-14 days after your photography session. When you book your photography session it is a good idea to also book your ordering session.
At that time we will view your images through our state of the art projection system and sort out your favorites. You’ll see them in a variety of sizes and we’ll discuss your needs, wants and options. This allows us to note all pros and cons of each image and find the best possible combination of images.

We invite any of your family who want to be a part of the decision making process, either artistically or financially, to come with you. It is very important to have all decision makers at this appointment since this scheduled time is when you’ll be placing your order.
Our clients have found this viewing process very helpful and fun. The advantages of digital photography are remarkable and this ordering process speeds up your order and allows you to get much more creative.

Our goal is to deliver your portraits in the least amount of time and we have found that if the order is not finalized at that ordering session, the results are late, confused and delayed orders. For this reason, we do not post images to the web.

When I order, what will I need to pay and when will my finished portraits be done?

Once an order is placed, 50% of the total is required to start processing the order. You have 2 days to call with any changes to your order. After 2 days, the processing has started to meet our delivery goal and the order cannot be changed.

Typical orders take 8-12 weeks to complete. We know you want the best quality artwork. Because your portraits will be a memory for a lifetime, each image is retouched and enhanced in meticulous detail before being printed by a professional printing lab and framed by a custom framer. You will be notified by email or phone call that your order is complete and ready to be picked up.

Can you help me with a frame?

All artwork leaves our studio ready to hang on your wall. A complimentary standard frame comes with every wall portrait (14x20 inches or larger). There is a variety of frames available for you in all sizes, and framing upgrades are also available.

To determine the size and shape of your portrait in frame, consider the wall space where it will be displayed. There is a tremendous difference between a 14x20 and a 30x40 when displayed over the same sofa or fireplace. Interior designers recommend that a portrait occupy at least 50% of the wall space available. If not, the viewer’s attention will be drawn to the wall rather than to the portrait. Most 8x10s are appropriate for a desk or table display but do not display well on a wall because the image is too small, needing to be held close for comfortable viewing.

What can I expect to spend on my portraits?

What you spend is entirely up to you. We offer hand painted, mixed media, hand crafted custom framed canvas portraits, framed classic photographic finish wall portraits, gift portraits, and custom albums. You’ll find that I’m not a high pressure sales person. I want to help you choose the best portraits to showcase your family and provide you with artwork that you will treasure for years. It has been our experience that because of the creativity of different posing and expression, along with stunning locations and lighting, clients often select a wall portrait collection, as well as album and desk sized portraits, and invest 5000 or more. Those interested in a wall portrait and some desk portraits generally spend 1900-2500 or more. Those who are primarily interested in only a few desk portraits will spend 700-1500 or more. These are estimates. Some people spend more, some less. We make it easy to own a family masterpiece. Ask about our custom buy now, pay later plans.

What is the commissioning?

Because our schedule fills quickly, we ask that the commissioning be paid at the time of booking. Commissioning varies depending on the custom needs of your session, call Kim at (630) 886-7289 so that she can help determine exactly what you need for your unique situation. If you need to reschedule, this commissioning fee will follow your rescheduled portrait creation session. For rescheduling in non-emergency situations, please give us 7 days advance notice.