by Houston Family Photographer, Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
• VIEW OUR FAMILY PORTRAIT PORTFOLIO
Houston Family Portrait Photographer Aric C. Hoek is committed to giving his clients the finest artwork possible by educating his clients as to what they can do themselves to achieve the best results, and through continuing education and using nothing but the finest equipment and materials in the production of his art.
Your family is the focal point of our work, therefore it is of utmost importance that clothing choices compliment and not distract from the overall balance and focus.
Family portrait sessions taken outdoors require more thought as to clothing choices. It is at times best to pick your location and background first so the sitters clothing will complement the scene. If you are doing a Color Study, keep your choices subtle and solid with everyone in the portrait wearing the same shade and “color family”.
Avoid mixtures of light and dark tones together as this creates “visual confusion”. Work for balance, harmony and color coordination.
Because children are most comfortable in familiar environments, we prefer photographing them at home where they’re surrounded by the people and possessions they love.
We recommend that adults wear long or three-quarter length sleeves. Youthful subjects can wear strapless or sun dresses, but these are best avoided in group portraits. Select clothing that will be flattering when seated, such as a long flared skirt instead of a mini-skirt.
Patterns in clothing for the most part should be avoided.
Your hands will appear in your portrait. Nail polish and French manicures are best.
Please wear your usual make-up. Bring all of your make-up with you for touch-ups as needed. Remember to keep jewelry simple and avoid wearing a watch during the session. Styling your hair at home is the most convenient, but feel free to bring what’s needed for touch-ups.
While children love to wear sneakers and tennis shoes, our advice is to avoid them. They often have splashes of color which can be distracting. Chose footwear for your children other than sneakers and your finished portrait will have a higher perceived value.
White socks really need to be avoided. If you are sitting in your portrait, your pant legs will slightly rise to expose your socks. If your socks are white, they will stick out like a sore thumb in your finished portrait, causing the views gaze to be pulled from the subjects faces.
We know that great images take time and concentration. Our advice is to pick a style or a mood and focus on it. Too many clothing & background changes leave little time to focus on what truly matters.
Parents of a newborn, who want their baby photographed without a diaper, will want to be prepared for accidents and bring extra slacks or a skirt, wipes and diapers. Bring food for your children in order to keep everyone in good moods.
The “window of opportunity” with children is short. All children have different and unique personalities. We suggest dividing the children into their own portrait in order to capture each child’s personality. At certain stages, incorporating a parent into the sitting helps stabilize the child and allows each child to be most relaxed and looking his or her best. When doing individual portraits during a group session, we suggest an adult come along and watch the children outside of the studio in order to help capture great images of those being photographed at that time. Group portraits of young children without parents in it for stabilization are not recommended.
Please resist the urge to tell your child to smile or insist they be on their best behavior as this often backfires. Simply say “we are having our portrait taken and it will be fun.”
Remember, pre-planning is the best way to put your mind at ease that all will go well on the day of your sitting!
Review By: Dan Ison
Please contact us for a referral.
We would refer Solaris to a friend.We have four small children who’s attention span is all of five seconds. Aric has proven to be very flexable not trying to force specific poses, but somehow captures the perfect moment of our families interaction with one another.
What he does with the camera is nothing less than magical.
Review By: Joyce and Rob Spencer
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We would refer Solaris to a friend.We are parents of 3 year old boy/girl twins who are the most photographed children in the world. When the opportunity came our way to have someone other than ourselves photograph our family we jumped at the chance. I was a little nervous about my children’s attention span in a studio setting. It was unfounded. Aric had my children doing whatever he wanted, even being still!!!
The photos were amazing. They still give me goosebumps when I look at them. Our favorite ones turned out to be photos that we didn’t even know Aric was taking. We ordered photos for all the Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. The best one hangs on our mantle, admired by all who visit.
We would tell anyone to use Aric and his team. They were wonderful to us. We will treasure these pictures forever.
Thanks for the memories,
The Spencer Family
Rob, Joyce, Jacob and Jordan
Review By: Carl and Sarah Baum
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We would refer Solaris to a friend.As parents to 7 month old twins, we were quite unsure of how our portrait session in a professional studio would go, considering this was a first. After arriving, Aric made us feel very welcome, shoo-ing some of those nerves away. Talking with us a little and also coochie coo-ing both of my babies well, he knew how to do that, he is a daddy to twins also!
Aric positioned us together just so, gently guiding us into that portrait he so wanted to take. Awesome! After what seemed like afew minutes, we changed positions, with me holding each baby separately to portray the mother and child. Again, Aric’s precise direction led to some beautiful pictures, capturing a certain time in our lives, through his lens.
Aric’s perfectionism in creating superb, one of a kind photographs, is second to none. Yet he knew he had to be quick, but didn’t miss a heartbeat in making our family feel comfortable either.
After sending us one of the pictures to view, I emailed it to an aunt. She was SO moved by this picture she cried, at a loss for words, later saying “how beautiful!”. What a recommendation that is!
Thank you Aric.
The Baum Family.
Review By: Linda Collins
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We would refer Solaris to a friend.We had a family session with Aric with out twin daughters. He showed exceptional patience with them the entire time and was fun to work with. The pictures were amazing and very unique. I would highly recommend Aric if you’re looking for something very special and different from all the rest.
Review By: Melissa Morgan
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We would refer Solaris to a friend.We are in a twin group with Aric’s wife and he gave us a special opportunity to have a session with him. I as a mother and in general was very nervous having my family’s picture taken and really didn’t know what to expect.
We arrived at his studio and he immediately made us feel at home. At the time we had 10 month old boy/girl twins and he was very accomodating. He captured everything I could have dreamed of in less than 30 minutes and really without ‘knowing’ us. I am very proud to have his art hang in our home and I loved every minute of his session.
He is truly talented and very comfortable to work with. There is a question that asks would I refer him to a friend, the answer is yes! yes! yes! but I would want to go as far as referring him to the world.
Review By: Kelly Hearn
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We would refer Solaris to a friend.Our family worked with Aric almost a year ago. We took our 1 1/2 year old twins, and got the most beautiful family shots in 30 minutes. Our portrait hangs over our fireplace, and it is always the first thing people comment on when they enter the house.
I also ordered three additional portraits to give as gifts for grandparents, and they loved them!
When we have more kids, we definitely want to go to Aric for pregnancy and newborn portraits!
Thanks for the great experience!!
