The Secret of Taking Great High School Senior Pictures

The Secret of Taking Great High School Senior Pictures

by Walla Walla Photographer Dean Harman

“Hey picture dude!”

I hear it called out to me all the time, usually by one of my past clients as I am walking down the street.  I have even heard it yelled out loud in a crowd, in far off locations like Portland or Spokane and even Seattle.

Yes, at first it bothered me a bit but to know that there is really no privacy anywhere I go, but when I think about it for a second or two, I realize it is kind of cool to be recognized by one of my past clients.  Some go as far back as 1983 when I started photographing high school seniors in the Walla Walla area.

Past high school seniors know me not because I am such a fantastic photographer, but because I always have tried to treat them with due respect.  As a professional senior photographer, it is my task to find the very thing in a teenager’s life that brings a certain glow to their eyes.

Usually, it only takes a nice complement and a few simple questions to get a high school senior to open up about themselves.  Once they do that, it is only a matter of time before they clue me into what really makes them tick.

Then, we can go about photographing them in a way that tells their story.

High school seniors and their families have always been burdened by the immense task of searching for a competent portrait photographer that can create some outstanding senior portraits.

Finding a photographer that can take senior pictures isn’t usually the hard part.  Online search engines or a phone book can come up with dozens of photographers from Walla Walla, the surrounding area and Google will even pepper the results page with portrait and wedding photographers from far away locations.

Really, the difficult part of choosing a portrait photographer is filtering the list down to the photographer that today’s demanding teenager will, first of all get along with, and second, can consistently make each photograph look amazing.

Let’s face it, everyone knows someone that has a pretty good digital camera, or, at the very least, a darned good camera that came tucked inside their smart phone.

Many teens find it kind of cool to go to some far-out location with their buddies, snap off several hundred photographs and somewhere, somehow there should be at least a couple good ones in there.

That may be exciting for a couple of hours, but what lasting impression of ones youth does that experience provide?

I have discovered that as a professional portrait photographer, we are entrusted with the unique power to kindle quite a positive self image in a high school senior.

In reality, we should be able to create some powerful and awesome portraits that high school seniors can be proud to show family and friends.  Pictures that really represent what kind of things that particular teen is in to.

Alternatively, it is also our job as trusted professionals, to reach people on  a level that can’t be seen through the lens of a portrait camera.  Call it a psychological level that can leave people with a positive impression and give fuel to our seniors to take on the world for awhile longer.

When a high school senior realizes that they really can look great and their friends and family are complementing them on how wonderful their portraits look, that is what makes being a professional photographer all worth while.

That is the secret to photographing high school seniors.

That is why I will always love it when someone in the crowd excitedly yells, “Hey, it’s the picture dude!”

To see more examples of some unique high school seniors and the portraits we created at Harmanportraits.com, here is a quick little slide show from flickr.com.  Click here for senior pictures slide show.

Dean Harman

e-mail:    dean@harmanportraits.com

Website: http://harmanportraits.com

Phone:

541-938-7079 Office

541-215-2884 Cell

: : : : : : : : : : :

Basel Cellars Estate Winery – 2009 Wine Stomp

Basel Cellars Estate Winery sure picked a beautiful day in Walla Walla to host their annual Wine Stomp festival last Saturday for their Wine Club members.

Earlier in the day, the sky threatened light rain but by noon, the weather promised to be hot and sunny.  A prefect temperature for an outdoor wine party in the Walla Walla valley.

And what a festival it turned out to be!

The wine star of the party was the new release by Basel Cellars Estate Winery – The Earth Series, Volume 1.

The Earth Series

Volume One

The Rock Stars of the party was the roots rockin’ band The Coyote Kings led by everybody’s favorite front man Robbin Barrett.

The Coyote Kings can fill up several hours of entertainment and can get any crowd dancing, or at least bouncing around in a swimming pool.

The Coyote Kings

Performing at Basel Cellars Wine Stomp “09

The most meaningful stars of the Basel Cellars Wine Stomp “09 turned out to be all of the wine club members that were in attendance.  The crowd raised over $800.00 for the Chris Elliott fund http://chriselliottfund.org for brain cancer research.

Becky Basel and Dellann Elliott

Display collected cash for the Chris Elliott Fund

Prize Winners of the Magnum Bottles

Proceeds donated to the Chris Elliott Fund

Birds Eye View of Grape Stomp “09

Basel Cellars Estate Winery

Wine Club Members Summer Bash

New 360 Virtual Tour-642 Magnoni in College Place WA

This is the latest 360 virtual tour that I just uploaded for Trisha Bush at Preferred Properties Land and Homes in Walla Walla Washington.  An ultra modern design where you will find modern appliances throughout the home.  The living space is very open providing complete access to the kitchen, dining area and even to the open loft upstairs.  I thought the loft could be a perfect office for the person that does their work from home.

Just click on the picture above to get to the virtual tour window or go to:  Virtual Tour of College Place Home.

Walla Walla is still a great little town to work and play in and is a thriving wine enthusiasts Mecca.  You will find this home in a newer development in the neighboring town of College Place Washington.  Traditionally, College Place was developed around the Seventh Day Adventists and still adheres to some of the Adventist traditions.  You will find it a friendly town to all residents and visitors.  Take advantage of small town living where you can easily become friends with your neighbors. The schools are still a reasonable size, where your child can receive a great education.  In fact, College Place is home to the famous Walla Walla University!

Trisha Bush of Preferred Properties Land and Homes can be reached at (509) 525-4040 if you would like to contact her regarding this newer home.  You may also visit her website for some great online search tools that will direct you to any number of properties in the Walla Walla area that Trisha lists.

Dean Harman

Presenting 360 Virtual Tours and Internet Marketing of Real Estate, Business and Hospitality Facilities throughout the Pacific Northwest.

wwtourguide@bmi.net

541-938-7079 Office

541-215-2884 Cell

 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

: : : : : : : : : : :

Preferred Properties New Website Created by Dean Harman

Preferred Properties Land and Homes owner, Trisha Bush, recently hired us to create and publish a new website for the Walla Walla Realty office.

I was, of course, more than happy that they could put their trust into my website designing skills.

The website had to be very user friendly, conform to the Preferred Properties Land and Homes color scheme and, for my own requirements, had to be built entirely without the use of those horrible tables that so many HTML authors love to use.  The code should conform to strict standards and be designed and controlled by nothing else but CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

I wanted the website to hold a page reserved for our Virtual Tours that we had already completed and to be expandable for any new virtual tours and video tours that would soon populate it.

A challenge in itself to use nothing but CSS, I soon found out that a Realtor website had to also include the popular MLS search functions.  It wasn’t long before I realized that would require much more than a simple link to some far away MLS service.  It took me many weeks to learn all the ropes of MLS and IDX search functions, how they work and how to get them to load up properly without annoying prospective clients.

Trisha Bush and her staff were more than patient with me as I slogged my way through the learning curve.  More than once I thought I had chomped into more than I could swallow.  But, somehow, hard work and late night sessions in front of my computer came up with a pretty nice website.

As I peeked into other Walla Walla Real Estate websites, I noticed more than a few Real Estate professionals were lacking updated websites and especially noticed the absence of good, interactive virtual tours!  The door is wide open for improvement among Realtors to market their properties and I will soon be visiting local Walla Walla Realtors to show them how our Virtual Tours differ from what they may be used to.

This Interactive Virtual Tour is of a home in College Place Washington that was built by local Walla Walla builder Jeff Moeller.  The home was featured in last years Parade of Homes for the Walla Walla area and I think the home has sold!

Click on the picture or the link to see the virtual tour of 724 Bedford Loop

 http://rtvpix.com/RE-7362-033AJK-01

Link to Preferred Properties Land and Homes

http://preferredww.com

Dean Harman

wwtourguide@bmi.net

541-938-7079 Office

541-215-2884 Cell

 

Virtual Tours of two separate homes at Walla Walla Country Cllub!

The latest virtual tour is of a home up on Country Club Road in Walla Walla.  This is the second home on Country Club Road I have done a virtual tour for in the past 6 months!

You can view the virtual tour of 1391 Country Club Road in Walla Walla from this link: Click here to see the interactive virtual tour by Dean Harman

This home is situated directly across from the Walla Walla Country Club clubhouse.  You could have access pretty easily to their facilities including the swimming pool and the tennis courts from right out your front door.

This is a view of the front of the home

Here are a few of the great features of this open home:

The Octagon shaped exercise room,

And the connecting library and sun room

The first tour we did at the Walla Walla Country Club was of a home that was purchased, torn down to the foundation and rebuilt around an awesome wine room and custom built for luxury living at the golf club by Walla Walla developer Rick Voth.

Of course the virtual tour of 700 Country Club is the best way to view this custom home in Walla Walla and can be seen at this link:  www.700countryclub.com

Here is a Before picture taken by builder/owner Rick Voth of Voth Construction in Walla Walla.

Here is a picture of the finished home

There is quite a difference.

Here a panorama photo of the back patio showing the outdoor kitchen area:

Dean Harman

wwtourguide@bmi.net

541-938-7079 Office

541-215-2884 Cell

 

Market Your FSBO Property With A Domain Name

When we finished up this interactive virtual tour for 700 Country Club Lane in Walla Walla, the owner wanted to be able to market the property in a different yet effective way.

This beautiful home is for sale by owner in Walla Walla

We decided to go ahead and grab the domain name www.700CountryClub.com and attach it to the virtual tour window. He could then use the domain name as a sign in the front yard of the property. These signs are called “PanoRiders” and are visible from the street. When a prospective buyer drives by the home, they can easily remember the website address because it is the same as the street address.

The buyer can then bring up the virtual tour on his browser at home or on his Mobil device and quickly take a look at the home inside and out!
All of the MLS information is clearly visible at the tour window as well as contact information in the event that the prospect is interested in taking a “real” tour of the property.

Another great addition we make to the already powerful Virtual Tour is a nice post to our Issuu page.

By first having us build an interactive virtual tour and then following it up with a custom domain name is a proven method of gaining more interest in property. Does it make sense to pay for full color ads in the newspaper anymore?

If you would like to discuss gaining added interest to your Walla Walla properties through new and innovative website marketing, please contact us at wwtourguide@bmi.net

: : : : : : : : : : :

Personalized Wedding Website A Great Way To Stay In Contact With Friends And Family

Keeping in touch with your wedding guests by using a personalized wedding website is how it’s done in the 21st century! In the past, all an engaged couple could do was to send out “save the date” cards and then “engagement announcements” through the mail.

I would never suggest eliminating the very important, not to mention etiquette safe traditions of mailing your announcements to all of your friends and family.
We now have the convenience of adding a personal wedding website.

I was introduced to a good wedding website provider at www.eWedding.com. Like most, you can choose from several templates for FREE or you can pay a small amount and get some added space or bandwidth.

wedding website host-eWedding.com

Actually, if you Google wedding websites, you will find there are a lot of online hosts that allow you to easily create your own wedding website by simply entering your information and details.

Your website can be as simple as an online announcement, however, the really cool features like wish lists, gift registry, your history as a couple and favorite photographs are really simple to add. The extra content that you add will be entertaining and informational for all who visit.

As a photographer (www.harmanportraits.com), I see it as a great way for a couple to show off their wedding portraits and to link back to their proofing site that we provide. No longer are wedding photographs stuffed, unseen, into a photo book or dark closet! Now the world can see your wedding!

I recommend every couple at least try out this new mode of communication.  It just may simplify the tedious task of staying in touch with your guests.

: : : : : : : : : : :

Ryan and Darlene Engagement Portraits

We photographed Ryan and Darlene’s wedding engagement portraits Saturday morning on the Whitman College here in Walla Walla.  Our engagement portrait sessions are designed not only to get some great photography of newly engaged couples, but to get a chance to work closely with a couple to sort of give them a taste of what their wedding portraits will be like.

Obviously, if we all are getting along great and the couple is having fun, then it just makes everyone feel comfortable being photographed.

Getting in up close and personal helps create a fun atmosphere and really takes care of any “nerves” and unnatural expressions!

A kiss under a tree ends the perfect morning portrait session.

For more pictures of this great couple, visit our website:

www.harmanportraits.com and go to our “proofing” page!

Dean Harman

Harman Portrait Photography

541-938-7079

e-mail: dean@harmanportraits.com

Website: www.harmanportraits.com

Get huge traffic to your blog from www.alphainventions.com

: : : : : : : : : : :

Virtual Tour of 1840 Fern Walla Walla WA

This is a Virtual Tour we completed of a custom built home in Walla Walla back in January of this year. I wanted to give this client a little marketing boost for spring so a new Craigslist ad was created and sent on up to Seattle Washington.

Craigslist ad link: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/reo/1121433308.html (real estate – by owner)

Interactive Virtual Tour link: (click on picture below to view the tour!)

1840 Fern Ave. Walla Walla WA

: : : : : : : : : : :

Walla Walla Wedding Dream Team

It has been a long hard winter here on the Walla Walla River.  Snow, rain, sleet, wind, I thought it would never stop.  Then it got nice for awhile in January but all that bad weather came again.

But, this week I saw robins jumping around my lawn so that means only one thing.  Spring in wine country is finally here!

Naturally, when spring is here, that means people are starting to really take seriously and plan for their upcoming summer and fall weddings here in Walla Walla!

I just thought it would be nice to put a good word in for my personal wedding vendor friends out there and provide you with some links to their websites.

Sometimes it is really hard to find the right vendor for your wedding so I put together a “Dream Team” of vendors that I can personally vouch for.

These people all do a superb job and whether you are having a wedding at a Walla Walla winery or your backyard, they all take weddings seriously so you can defiantly trust each one.

I call it the “Dream Team” because if you were to hire all of these wedding vendors you would have a Dream Wedding with no worries!  Just let us do all the fussing about.

Of course, I would be happy to do your wedding photography and I hope you will give me a call, but for now, here is the “Wedding Dream Team” at your service!

Call this a little gift from HarmanPortraits.com.

Favorite Venue:

Basel Cellars Estate Winery (www.baselcellars.com)

Join their wine club so you can use their facility!  The most outrageous place to get married…and wine?!! You gotta be kidding.  A rockin summer party! Your guests will never forget your wedding.

The reception area at the Basel Cellars pool

Basel Cellars wedding venue

Photos from Basel Cellars Estate Winery and Resort www.baselcellars.com

Favorite flower lady:

Flowers 4 Rent (www.flowersforrent.com)

Norita Dahlin has the eye for the perfect combinations of flowers.  And the best part?  You rent them!  They never fade in the hot sun and they won’t drip on your dress because, although you could never notice, her flowers are made from acrylic but they feel like the real thing.  She is such a gracious person, I bet if you asked her really nicely to send you a sample, she would!

Artificial flowers from Flowers For Rent in Walla Walla

A beautiful bridal boquet from FlowersForRent.com

Pictures of artificial flowers from www.flowersforrent.com

Favorite Food guy:

Graze Catering in Walla Walla (www.grazeevents.com)

OK, talk about a great spread!  You can smell the chicken cooking on the BBQ while you’re watching the wedding!  Your guests can’t wait to get in line at the reception, and isn’t that what makes a great reception?  ..The food?

I once overheard a guest at one of John Grazes catered weddings say “Man, beer and hot wings! What else could anyone want at a wedding?”  I think it was the guy in this photo wearing the snazzy blue vest who said it.  Go John and Tracy Graze!

Read about GrazeEvents catering services here.

Beer and hotwings!

Colorful entre from Graze Events Catering in Walla Walla

Pictures from www.grazeevents.com

Favorite Party Supply:

Sandys U Rent (www.SandysUrent.com)

Toni Thorne over at Sandys U Rent in Walla Walla can provide your wedding with everything, and I mean everything, from candles to napkins to linens.  She can even set you up with canopies and tents.  I have seen one of her tents that you could host a whole circus inside!  Except that it is a very elegant tent, with lights and heaters and even drapes!  You wouldn’t want to set a bunch of elephants loose in there but you could set a bunch of wedding guests loose and they would be happy as a tribe of monkeys in a bananna boat!

Tent from Sandys U Rent in Walla Walla at night wedding reception

A tent from Sandys U Rent can add elegance at any reception

Just a couple of tents that www.SandysUrent.com offers!

: : : : : : : : : : :