TIME
I take the time before your session to find out what will make your portraits special to you.
I take the time to get acquainted with your baby before the session and find out what makes him or her happy.
When your baby is no longer an infant, I also take the time before his session to play with him so that he will be comfortable with me. This allows him not to be scared and to smile naturally during the session.
I spend the time with you and your baby during the session that is necessary to obtain natural expressions and body positions. If your baby is unhappy, I give you time to cuddle, feed, change him, etc. until he is happy. So the true personality and uniqueness of your baby will be expressed.
You never have to wait in line. You always have an appointment so you can be individually helped. This eliminates frustration, keeps your baby from getting unhappy, and doesn't waste your time.
Your appointment can be made for a time when your baby is the happiest.
If your baby is having a bad day, we can reschedule another time for you. Even if we have already started the session and we just can't get him happy. There is no extra charge for rescheduling.
GUARANTEE
If before the day of your portrait session you have a Planning Session with us, I GUARANTEE your portraits will meet or exceed your expectations. If, for any reason you are unhappy with your original images, just tell us when we are projecting your images for you (before you place your order.) Lots of times there are things we can retouch, crop, or do in printing that will make the portraits EXACTLY what you want. If not, we will schedule a time to take additional portraits to your liking at no extra cost to you, or refund your entire Session Fee, or Minimum Purchase, or Footsteps Fee, PLUS FIVE DOLLARS! Plus, if your finished portraits don't turn out exactly as you thought they would, let us know and we will make them over to your liking, or your money will be refunded, PLUS FIVE DOLLARS!
And, our photographs are also covered by the Kodak Promise of Excellence Guarantee which in part states: If at any time during your lifetime you are unhappy with your portraits due to Kodak's product performance, new prints will be made at Kodak's expense.
AND, if you have us frame your portrait(s) before you take them home, we Unconditionally Guarantee both the photograph(s) and the frame(s) for Life!
If you usually DON'T LIKE YOUR PORTRAITS, be sure to let me know what you don't like BEFORE the portrait session. There are countless techniques and special methods which I can use to minimize many problems. This will save you the time and aggravation of having to have retakes or portraits you don't really like. The secret here to success is communication. I want to help you, and my objective is to create an outstanding portrait, which you will treasure forever!
LOCATION
I can come to you. You don't have to haul your baby and half his belongings to me. If you are within 15 miles of the studio (211 Rye St, The Woodlands, TX 77380,) there is no extra charge for coming to you.
I will create your baby's portraits somewhere special to you, so that the setting will be some place that expresses your baby's uniqueness: your home, yard, favorite park, in the wild flowers, etc., somewhere your baby will feel comfortable, not scared or overwhelmed. You won't have the same background as everyone else, instead your background will show YOUR BABY'S personality.
Studio portraits in The Woodlands are also available, if you desire, for soft, emotional portraits and for traditional, formal portraits, and for some special event Portraits for which we set up "sets". The studio is especially good for portraits in all white or pastels of very young babies.
FAMILY
You can include anyone in your baby's portrait that you wish: parents, just mom, just dad, siblings, one parent and all the children, the whole family, grandparents, extended family, etc. And, of course, you may have your baby photographed alone. You may even include the family pets.
PROPS
I encourage you to have things in your portraits that portray your baby's personality, so they show who he is, not just what he looks like. If it is something that will tell a story about him, it should be considered and probably used for his portrait.
Portraits of young children and babies could include a special blanket, small favorite toy, book, piece of furniture, or riding toy that will match their clothes. This will make the portraits more personal and also help your little one feel more comfortable.
Whatever your baby is into at this time in his or her life, will help you determine what will make good props. Think about what your baby does that is cute, or shows personality, and we can capture that in a portrait.
Having YOUR baby's props in his portraits will help show his personality and his heritage, give the portraits emotional impact, and keep his portraits from looking like everyone else's.
YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER
There is only one "Lisa." I am the photographer, so you will always know who actually will be creating you baby's portraits. I took all of the portraits shown on this web site, so your portraits will be of the same quality as the samples you see.
I love people of all ages, especially babies. I am a warm fuzzy; which helps your baby feel loved and comfortable, so he will look happy and natural in his portraits.
I love what I do, and I have a desire to create something original, that will be very special to you, so you get better photographs that have more sparkle and show more of your baby's personality and life.
I am very patient. If your your baby falls asleep when you want a bright-eyed portrait, or your child runs away from the family grouping, or your dog lays upside down when you tell him to sit; I have the patience to wait until your baby wakes up, your child comes back to see you, or your dog gets the hang of what you want, before I fill up my memory card. You can just relax and enjoy the time you have with your children and pets, and I will make sure you get portraits that show how much you love them.
My desire is to make everyone in your portraits look terrific!
With our Footsteps Watch-Me-Grow Program you pay an entry fee and receive a RENAISSANCE Life-Time Guaranteed Durapelle Leather Album that will hold 8x10s, 5x7s and 4x5 inch portraits. You may have your baby or child's portrait taken at any interval you want. You may start your baby or child in the footsteps program at any age.
At each session you may have anyone in the portraits you want. Your baby may be photographed alone and you may also have him photographed with someone else. Like, one session can be baby & mom, another might be baby and dad, another baby and sibling(s), another baby and family, and another baby and grandparents. You can usually have two or three combinations in a session without wearing out your baby or child.
Each Footsteps session has a minimum purchase of 1-8x10 and 2 different 5x7s or any 2 pages of portraits for the album at a special discounted rate. One free album page for the RENAISSANCE album is given to you for each session. As you go through the program your album will preserve the memories of your baby growing up.
If you wish, the Footsteps Album can be for portraits of all your kids or for your family.
PETS
Pets make wonderful additions to portraits. If your baby is fond of your pet, you may want to consider your pet for some of your portraits.
When pets are included, I suggest taking the photographs in a location that they are familiar with so they, too, will be relaxed.
FREE NO-OBLIGATION, PLANNING & PRICING CONSULTATION
I like to always have a planning consultation with you before I begin any photographic work. During this, I go over ALL the pricing information. And we will discuss what is unique to your session, what you want your portraits to express.
I will explain, in detail, your choices for individual sessions or programs where you can take portraits repeatedly over time. I will explain your options so you can decide what is best for you. I will cover the costs of EVERYTHING.
I will give you tips on clothing; hair & make-up; the best time to create your portrait; how to prepare your baby, children and pets for the session; how the grown ups can look thinner or tanner; and many other things.
Having a planning consultation will allow us to discuss what you want for your portraits. You will be completely informed about everything. And I will answer all your questions. We will talk about what will make your portraits have emotional impact for you.
Planning your portraits with you will GUARANTEE you get exactly everything you want.
BRING YOUR CHILDREN TO YOUR PLANNING CONSULTATION
That is a good time for me to meet your children. I like to meet your baby and have a chance to play with him some. I like to find out what makes your baby happy and feel good. Most babies love attention. If I know ahead of time what your baby responds to, I can do a better job of making him comfortable and happy during the portrait session.
I also like to meet and play with any other children who will be in the portrait, which will help them feel familiar with me during the session. So, instead of having cheesy smiles or being scared, they can relax and have fun during the session. That way they will smile naturally without being told to smile, and their true personalities will show.
If you are worried about having your baby or children along while I am answering your questions, don't be. I love babies and children, and in the studio I have toys they can play with. I can even have an employee come in and play with your child if they are distracting you.
YOU DECIDE HOW MANY & WHICH PORTRAITS YOU BUY
You get to see your portraits BEFORE they are printed. That way you get the ones YOU like.
You may purchase your portraits individually, in packages, or in both. You may buy as many or as few as you want.
You never have to order extra photographs or poses you don't want.
OUTSTANDING OPTIONS
Included in all portrait finishes at Lisa's Portraits are the important things that might not even be available at other studios: mounting of the portraits to art board, Masonite, foam core, or canvas for increased durability; the application of a tough acrylic finish for protection against fingerprints, moisture and Ultra Violet light damage which causes fading. These portraits look better and last longer than ordinary portraits.
You may have your portraits made in a flat finish, or mounted on canvas to give them texture, or created in our Old Master's portrait finish to look like an oil painting. You may have portraits in black & white, sepia tone, or spot-colored black & white so they will look really old-fashioned. Our most popular finish is when the portrait is turned into a pastel and becomes a piece of art that is even recognized by interior designers. We also have a finish called Metallic that shows off the portrait's depth so it looks almost holographic.
I use many techniques to help people look slimmer, younger, and have nicer complexions. We include for no additional cost the removal of baby finger nail scratches, little kid bruises, glass glare, blemishes, wrinkles, dark circles under eyes, double chins, and even trimming tummies, hips or thighs. We only ask that you REQUEST the retouching that you want because some people don't want retouching.
As add-on options I can remove braces, trim arms that aren't hidden by sleeves, and combine more than one image to have the best expressions from both.
FLEXIBILITY
I accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, cash, checks, DEBIT and Personalized Lay Away. With a Lay Away, you pay on your portraits at whatever rate fits your budget and when the balance is paid we order your portraits from the lab.
If you want unique, personalized portraits, I want to help you get them.
You know the story you take your baby to the discount store, stand in line with tons of impatient parents while your baby goes from smiling and cooing to crying and screaming.
About the time your little one is falling to sleep, it's his turn before the camera! Then a frazzled photographer props your baby up in front of the same pull down background that's been used a thousand times before and tells your infant to smile! Your baby screams at being put down and has no intentions of opening his eyes.
Soon afterward a clever salesperson will try to show you a picture package of the worst pose. You want to choose the one that you kind of like, but that's going to cost you more.
Eventually you leave the store having spent a good deal of money on pictures that you really didn't love. Memories of a lifetime? Sounds more like a nightmare.
No doubt you have seen advertising from other studios and department-store photographers advertising "low prices." Portraits are often advertised on price alone, because prices are easy to compare. What isn't as easy to compare is what you get for your money. When you shop for Pampers or Johnson's baby shampoo you always go for the lowest price because you know that those products are the same wherever you get them. But portraits are not at all the same between any two studios. It's like comparing the price of a Mercedes at one dealership to a Hyundai at another dealership.
The "quality" in a portrait is determined by many factors: your baby's expression and how his personality is portrayed; the naturalness of the poses; the clothing; the props used; the portrait location; even the little things, like: how were you treated by the staff, was your baby kept happy, did they start on time, and did they deliver everything as promised.
Because your baby is growing up so fast that he may double in size in just a few weeks, you can't afford to choose a photographer who is going to make you wait in line until your baby is crying or who scares your child into tears. By the time you have a chance to see your portraits and have them retaken, your baby may look and act completely different. You commit to hiring a studio before you see the results of your portraits (you can't "test-drive" your portraits like you can a car), so your decision of where to go is even more important.
Realizing that each portrait session is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, makes it's easy to see how you could actually end up paying too much for a "cheap" portrait, especially if you don't like it. Don't fall into that trap. Go with the best schedule with Lisa's Portraits for your appointment today!
Contact us NOW to Schedule Your FREE, NO-OBLIGATION Planning Session and/or to Schedule your Portrait Session: email: lisa@lisasportraits.com or call 281-419-7444 or toll free in Texas 1-800-558-LISA(5472).