Children's Portraiture: Where to Get Great Photos of Your Kids in Delaware

One of the great rites of parenting is the professional photo portrait of your child. Parents both love and loathe photo time. That beautiful photo on your desktop of a darling with the gap-toothed grin is most likely the product of hours of tears, tantrums, threats, and a great deal of your hard earned money. The easiest route to take, of course, is to drag your child to one of the many nearby mall or department store studios. You will get the job done, but your results will be so typical and formulaic that they could have come out of any studio, anywhere. Baby and a teddy bear....yawn. Brother and sister, seated and chummily leaning against each other...snore. Farm backdrops that look like they came from a grade school play. "Contemporary" backgrounds of blue and grey and neon pink. You dutifully cut up the wallet sized photos and hand them out to family and friends, who dutifully take them and exclaim over the cuteness. I hate to break this to you, but the odds that half of those photos wind up in the trash are pretty good.

At the other end of the spectrum is the professional photographer. I love a good photo as much as any other parent, but I bristle at the implication that how much you pay is a measure of how much you treasure your family. Some photographers do not have a "price list" but only refer to payment as the "investment." The implication is that your interest in money is crass, and that it is their goal to capture your special moments. And while writing that article, I saw that phrase (and variations of it) over and over. Capturing your special moments! Nobody cares about you more than we do! Really?

The truth is that yes, photography is an art and it takes a special person to work with children and bring out the best of them in photographs. It's the difference between a good photo and an outstanding photo that will take your breath away. But a person with that kind of talent doesn't need to rely on shady sales tactics to justify their fees, and is less likely to have an outrageous pricing structure for their services and products. They know that their business depends on satisfied customers. They can produce portfolios, testimonials, news articles, and awards that attest to their skill.

Following are reviews of five photographers in Delaware that specialize in children's portraiture. I've included one chain studio because I feel that their work is a cut above the usual photos, and because it provides a lower priced option for families with a smaller budget.

Name: Platypus Dreams Photography by Denise Chas
Contact: admin.@platypusdreamsphotography.com (302) 632-5665
Web: http://www.platypusdreamsphotography.com
Price: $20 sitting fee (slight extra for locations over 20 miles from Smyrna), and no pre-priced packages. "Build Your Own Package" prices start at $2 for single prints.
Same Day Prints: No. 3-5 days for a proof sheet, then 7-10 for final prints.
Specialties: On-site family photography at affordable prices.
Of Note: This is no-frills, traditional family portraiture. While the poses and backgrounds are much the same as those you would get at Olan Mills or JC Penny's, there is a major benefit in having the photographer come to you. I also like the idea of pricing based on single images and not being upsold into an expensive package. Event photography is also offered - think baptism, birthday parties, communion, Little League, recitals.

Name: Kiddie Kandids
Contact: 1317 New Churchmans Rd inside Babies R us (302) 455-0142
Web: http://www.kiddiekandids.com/
Price: Packages from $100 to $140, including sitting
Same Day Prints: Yes
Specialties: Maternity, children of all ages, families
Of Note: Kiddie Kandids is not professional level photography, but they are fast, reasonably priced, and they do a great job getting children to smile. They give you an amazing selection of poses, props, and backgrounds to chose from, so much so that you usually wind up buying the larger packages. Later you can log in to their website and order reprints of all of your photo sessions, or have the images print to things like mugs, keychains, or gallery sized photos. They do color, black and white, sepia, and color washed photos with a variety of borders. Only at studio; no on location sessions. And oh, how wonderful it is to have the photos ready in minutes.

Name: Dougherty Photo Designs
Contact:doughtertyphotodesigns@gmail.com (302) 345-1085
Web: http://www.doughertyphotodesigns.com/
Price: $45 to $180 for sitting fees, $30.50 to $160 for packages. Image CDs for purchase as well.
Same Day Prints: No
Specialties: Maternity, children of all ages, families
Of Note: Also does holiday and birth announcement photo cards. Will shoot on-location or in studio. Shoots in color, black and white, sepia. She also does "painted" photos (black and white touched with color highlights).

Name: Kerry Harrison Photography
Contact: kerry@kerryharrison.net (302) 494-4141
Web: www.kerryharrison.net
Price: Sitting fee $75, Packages start from single photos at $20 to packages at $300.
Same Day Prints: No
Specialties: Maternity, children of all ages, families
Of Note: Kerry's studio is at Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington's largest artistic organization. She also shoots on location. Kerry's photographs are expertly composed, beautifully lit, and she has a knack for capturing a child's personality with her photographer's eye without resorting to kitchy props. Proofs are available within two weeks and prints in two weeks after proofs. In addition to print sheets, Kerry offers canvas box mounts and bound photo albums.

Name: NKA Studios
Contact: Nicole@nkastudios.com (302) 602-3508
Web: http://www.nkastudios.com
Price: $125 for session fee. Prints start at $15 for singles to $375 for packages, with customization options on request
Same Day Prints: No
Specialties: Maternity, children of all ages, families, engagements, weddings
Of Note: Nicole also offers custom programs such as "Belly to Baby" with a maternity session with an 8x10" print, a newborn session with a 16x20" gallery wrap, 25 custom designed birth announcements and a photo slide show. Her proof turnaround time is about three weeks. Customers can view their proofs online at her web site with a customer password. Included with her session fee is an in-depth design consultation. Nicole will shoot in studio or at your location, and will also do the initial consultation where it is most convenient for you including by phone. NKA Studios photographs are simply beautiful! Of special note are the children's head shots. Each child's face glows radiantly, and she manages to emphasize lovely little details like thick lashes or a smattering of freckles. Faces fill the frame without a lot of wasted background, and the background that does show is artfully diffused to keep the viewer's focus on the subject.