Category Archives: Portraits

Portrait Wardrobe Best Practices

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We get it, dressing your children on a daily basis is hard enough, but then trying to coordinate outfits for family photos. Forget it! Unless you’re like us and you head to Target just about everytime we need to take a family photo. Here are a few quick tips from The Stokes on how to get the best results when it comes to planning for your family photos.

What to wear for photos? Dress kids photo

Nothing is worse than wearing clothes that make you feel uncomfortable and there is no better way to get your four-year-old daughter madder than a hatter than to make her wear something she hates. We recommend for families with children who are still of napping age, to schedule their session after nap time to avoid those “witching hours” we know so well in our home.

For us, we love all things grey and blue. I also happen to really love black and neutral whites and creams. While our home may be loud, we want our clothing to feel understated and classic for years to come. When choosing neutrals, opt for a brown tone for a warm color palette, or a gray tone for a cool color palate. Avoid wearing bright white because it will act as a light reflector and will draw the eye to whoever is wearing it.

What to wear for family photos?

Personally, I like a hint of patterns, especially when it is used as an accent piece. But be careful, patterns can add too much texture and distract. We like classic plads and simple elegant florals. Avoid trendy shapes that quickly will date your photo. Just think of your own cringe-worthy photos from 1990 when mom made you wear that hideous turtleneck and you had bleach blonde bangs.  Maybe that was just us…When kept in moderation, patterns can add interesting texture to an image and can bring out the personality of the person wearing it. Avoid matchy matchy outfits like the trend of everyone wearing jeans and white t-shirts. Also, a rule in the Stokhaus is that we do not wear overly branded clothes, this should apply for your family shoot too. We don’t want to distract from your face. and the Nike Swoosh does not need to be in your family portraits. We can talk about it when you’re a senior and you want to do sports photos. Maybe.

How to have fun with family photos

Since we’re located in Medford, many of our family portrait sessions take place with a Northwoods background, thus we recommend not wearing green. We want you to stand out from the background. We like to contrast the environment. One of the best ways to choose your color palette is to first determine if your photo shoot environment has cool or warm tones. For example, an orchard in the fall has yellow, orange, and red warm tones; a beach in the spring has blue, green, and white cool tones.

what to wear for family photos

Furthermore, what are your plans for your photos? Hopefully, you print them and have them hung in your home for years to come. Our walls are very neutral and most of our prints are black and white, but if you want some color in your home make sure the end result fits the decor and color theme of your home. For more simple Do’s & Don’t check out the link below. Also, check out our Pinterest Page for more suggestions.

Wardrobe-Dos-and-Donts

 

Wedding Portraits

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One of the most challenging aspects a photographer faces on a wedding day is finding the perfect location for portraits. Ideally, we like to shot these images in nice even overcast light, however, most times these images have to take place during the middle of the day when the light is most harsh. In the Northwoods, if you are outdoors, you fight the elements which include flying insects of all kinds, humidity, and heat during the summer. I personally am always thinking about how others are feeling – I want to make sure that brides and grooms that are in front of us are not only comfortable but look great too! You want their dresses 7 tuxes to stay perfect and yet at the same time want to take them on a hike through the woods. It is our preference to do these after the ceremony and as close to sunset as possible.

We work directly with our couples to help them plan their day around photography to ensure the best uses of their time and so they don’t feel like their entire day was spent in front of our cameras. We want them to have fun and come away with some gorgeous photographs that will stand the test of time and live on their wall or in their Heirloom Album. Similarly, this is why our collections include these options, because we want our couples to print their images so they don’t just live on their thumb drive or in their gallery.

I photograph my subjects how I would want to be photographed if I were them. In fact, that is how I do just about everything. How would I want this done or how would I want it to look if I were on the receiving end? I very much enjoy not only taking photos but being in them with the people I love. Life goes by too fast to not be photographed regularly and I don’t mean with your iPhone. When we do, we make tens of copies to share with family and friends to ensure at least one makes it to the next generation. As a curator of old personal photos, I have learned the value of a printed photograph and it is often the ones that were stored in the Family Bible that we have the privilege of holding one hundred years later. My wife grew up an oval convex framed print of her great-great grandfather on the wall, presumably a wedding portrait taken shortly before he died of the Spanish Flu around 1919. There was so much mystery behind the photograph; how did he die? Who were his parents? Where did he come from? It wasn’t until recently that many of those questions were answered. Had it not been for that photograph, his only living descendants might never have known he even existed. His own daughter new knew him.

I think of stories like these and realize that there are many such cases out there scattered throughout people’s family trees. It is our hope that our clients would realize the value of family and history and preserve their story for their descendants. We want your portraits to spark great conversations about the past and tell of a love that created an entire branch on your family tree.

Wisconsin Photographer www.james-stokes.com | James Stokes Photography, LLC - bride and bouquet wedding photography


   

Stokes Family | Fall Photos

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Central Wisconsin Photographers James & Katie Stokes

This has been a year filled with adventure, home-life refinements, and growth. Our family added Eveline and Flex, our Pekachu puppy. This year we have been watching our children grow and mature, some more than others. We are reminded daily that life is precious at every stage of life. We continue to have our eyes opened to God’s grace in our lives. In spite of our ourselves, he has sustained us through it all! Often we are our own worse enemies, believing the lies we’re told. For us, every part of our life has been a leap of faith, hoping that through our failures God would be glorified in our weakness both as parents and as entrepreneurs. It isn’t that we have a “leap off a cliff” type of faith, but more that God has brought us to the edge without much choice. I am thankful for that!

The overwhelming lie we hear and tell ourselves often is “you’re not enough!” I have to admit and confess that perfectionism and the illusion that “we have it all together,” is something we perpetuate and allow others to believe. We think our lives and homes should be clean and tidy and our Instagram feeds should be perfectly curated with beautiful images. As a child and even into my college years, I wanted straight A’s, a 4.0, I wanted it to be perfect. This is how I funded my expensive hobby, photography; my father fiscally motivating my efforts. While having high expectations can be good, I fear it has robbed me of joy and hindered my walk with the Lord and certainly robbed me of YEARS. So much of my value I feel came from what I could do and how well I could do it. Do I have value even when I am not doing anything? The hard truth is yes, especially for someone who HATES sitting still.

Even in our brokenness, by God’s grace, we are HIS! It is in the stillness that we can commune best with him. A struggle I think for any parent. Sadly, my joy has not been KNOWING God. It hasn’t been the focus of my heart and the framework I have built my life around.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33

Until a few short years ago, my main focus has been school and paying for it! Over the past seven years, it has been our business. How can I be the best? Through it all I have leaned on my own self-sufficiency. Thinking that I can do it all on my own; online schooling, self-help, YouTube. This is a lonely and isolating place to be and it isn’t where God wants us.

While the Bible tells us to be dependent on no one and to lead a quiet life, It never says we have to do life and faith alone. While God does demand perfection, but it is never something we can do apart from Christ. Our salvation is rooted in our complete dependence on Jesus! And because he has already done the work we can rejoice in his free gift. Sometimes harder said then done, especially when everything isn’t going the way we would like.

The perfection God asks of us is  of a heart that finds so much fulfillment and satisfaction in the God of grace that it is able to extend grace to those who don’t deserve it.

None of us deserve Grace and in our journey as parents, there is a constant tug-of-war between the law & gospel, yet so much of what causes tension and disharmony is setting biblical emphasis on worldly unrealistic expectations. In short, projecting our own sinful desires into the expectations of our children; how clean they keep their room is not a reflection of how much we love them or how much God loves them. They are not valued because their handwriting is neat or they scored the winning goal in the soccer game. They are valued first because God made them and second because they were given to me to shepherd. Grace meets us in navigating what are realistic expectations and what is disobedience. Addressing the hearts of your children is far more important than addressing why their sock drawer is always left open. I am a person who is often looking for ways of making things better. That is a nice way of saying I see flaws. Lots of them. In everything. I spend hours perfecting skin, removing blemishes, cropping out ipads, and culling out the not-so-wonderful rejects that no one ever sees all for the sake of creating the illusion of perfection. My soul can become burdened by this. Altering binary in a virtual world can feel frivolous and cumbersome for a person who longs for relationships, adventure, and simply moving. It points to the reality that we were made for more! 

We live in an age where work isn’t so much a location as it is a state of mind and one that is very hard to escape. We’re always connected. The news feed, inbox, and calendar dauntingly move forward to infinity. The constant stream of information at our fingertips keep us longing for more, to satisfy our innate hunger for knowledge. Our distraction and our constant search for entertainment are idols that rob us of joy. GUILTY. So where is that balance?

The answer: I don’t know, but God does. He promises that when we put him first everything else will come into order. Our God, the one who created the Universe out of NOTHING and holds it all together for his glory, will sustain us and provide for us!  He is a God of order and structure beyond all measure, yet has mercy on his children. As parents and as business owners, it is our goal is always to become more like Jesus and to raise disciples, serving other well, administering grace and kindness in all its forms. This takes a lot of prayer! 

In a beautiful way we can’t quite fathom, Jesus loves our children more than we do.

Special Thanks to Courtney Smith for capturing our family and for being an inspiration to us!

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