50 Essential Portrait Photographers: Jenn Di Spirito of Jenn Di Spirito Photography

Vancouver-based photographer Jenn Di Spirito contacted me in early November to see if she could be added to the list of 50 Essential Portrait Photographers – but she didn’t have to. I already had emails and tweets recommending that she be added to the list! Scroll down and look at her photos – they are absolutely fabulous! I particularly love Jenn’s advice to make sure that us moms get in front of the camera. I adore Jenn Di Spirito’s photos and I think you will too.

Why did you get into photography?

I had always had creative pursuits on the side, but it never really occurred to me that any of them could morph into a business. Once our son was born, I realized just how much I loved photographing families with young children and decided to pursue it.

Tell us a bit about your company.

Jenn Di Spirito Photography is a boutique portrait studio for young-at-heart families. I am all about capturing your family just as they are right now and finding the extraordinary in your everyday. I realized quickly that other people wanted the type of images that I had of my son and of my son and husband together so my goal for a session is always to capture the types of images I would want of my own family.

How would you characterize your style of photography?

Bright, colourful, contemporary, relaxed, free-flowing, emotional and natural. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure to get some smiling ones of everyone looking at the camera for grandma. 🙂

Who are your clients?

I specialize in young families from maternity through age six.

What should your mom clients expect when working with you?

Your portrait session will be fun, relaxed and luxurious from beginning to end. When you first call to enquire we’ll set up two appointments – your planning session and your actual portrait session. The planning session gives me a chance to get to know your family (and maybe read your kids a book or two so we’re best buds on the day of our portrait session), discuss locations and go through your closets to solve everyone’s biggest dilemma – how to dress your family on the day of our session.

The day of our session will be fun for everyone. We’ll hunt for rocks, sing songs and make animal noises while I snap away. I’ll ask you to play and lounge around like you normally would so I can photograph all the little intricacies and unique relationships of your family. A few days after your session I’ll email you a sneak peek or two from your session and we’ll set up a time for your ordering session. At your ordering session I’ll project your images onto a large screen and make the process of narrowing down your favourites simple and easy. I’ll also give you advice on how to create a wall gallery and how your images should be framed.

Anything else to add?

Please make sure that you’re not missing from your own family photographs! So often it’s us moms who have the camera out at every turn but very rarely does the camera get turned on us. I’m as guilty of this as anyone and really need to make an effort at it. But I don’t want my kids to look through our albums 15 years from now and wonder where I was when all the fun stuff was happening. And please don’t wait to have your family photographed. I often hear “I really want to have some portraits done but I just need to wait until I….. lose weight, get my hair done, insert your reason here”. Our kids change so fast and these moments really are fleeting.
Also, go big. We’ve been conditioned to think that a 4″x6″ or 5″x7″ print belongs in an album and an 8″x10″ print belongs on the wall. But what better way to make your house a home than by displaying a 24″x30″ print or canvas of the people who make you smile the most in a treasured spot in your home. I have plans for a 30″x40″ canvas that’s going to make our playroom even more fun than it already is.