Displaying Your Wall Portraits ~ Idaho Portrait Photographer

In a similar post I blogged in April, I talked about displaying portraits in your home. I've been working on a follow-up post for awhile now to talk about the different sizes of wall portraits. As I stated in that original post, I used to be a little leery of large wall portraits. And then I purchased some of my own family, and I am IN LOVE with them! There really is nothing like having beautiful portraits of your own family hanging on your wall--much better than the mass produced pieces from home decor' stores. 

Sometimes it's hard to visualize how large an image you would need for the space you want to display it. In these examples, I used my standard-sized loveseat (54 inches wide).

Here is an example of a 30X45 canvas. Looks amazing doesn't it? Lots of impact, and why wouldn't you smile if you walked in to your own home and saw an image of your family like this? 

 
Here is another beautiful example of using a collage of gallery wrapped canvases to create a wall display in your home. For these, we take the space available, find images you love and find sizes to fit that space. The fun thing about designing a wall gallery like this is you don't have to do it alone-I help with all of those decisions and you can see how it's going to look in your own home!

 

Now this is the 20X30 we have hanging in our living room. And I admit, I do wish I had purchased a larger size. But I still absolutely love this canvas. Now maybe you're thinking, what?? 20X30! I can't do that. I don't think I couldn't go bigger than 16X20.

 

Well, this is a 16X24. What do you think? For me, it's just not big enough by itself for this space. It would make a great anchor for a collage of additional images of the girls though. 

 

Again, here is an example of a print that is just too small, but may seem "big" to you right now. It's an 11X14. This is the smallest size for a wall print. And again, if you want to display in a large space over a table, sofa, bed, etc., it is too small by itself. 

Finally, just for fun, here is an 8X10 image above the sofa. As great as the image is, it just doesn't have the WOW! factor that a large print would have. This size is actually a Gift Print, and is designed to sit on a desk or shelf.


I hope this post has been helpful in showing you different print sizes and how they might look in a large space. My mission as a portrait photographer is to provide you with timeless, storytelling images that you are thrilled to display as wall art and in heirloom quality albums. There is no better ART than that of your family, and I love to help my clients design their wall galleries that they smile at every time they seem them. I'd like to leave you with other thought in regards to wall portraits and ART of your family. Our home decor styles and tastes may change over time. What we love today may be what we cringe at in ten years. However, the portraits we have of our families will appreciate in value. We won't be getting back the time when our kids are little or when our parents are alive and healthy. The images of life we have captured right now are going to be the windows to the past that will mean even more to us later on.
I promise you this; your family will never go out of style.



For more examples of wall portraits, check out these posts by Amy Ro. She did a great job explaining more about wall portrait sizes and displaying large photographic art.

Bigger is Better part 1

Bigger is Better part 2

What's your favorite way to display? ~ Idaho Portrait Photographer

I thought it would be fun to hear and see how my clients, friends, fans and any blog stalkers I might have out there like to display their favorite memories-be it professional portraits or just snapshots they have taken. So, how about it? I'd love to hear what you do with those special moments! If you have a photo-even better. You can either send it to me at info@maggiemalsonphotography.com or post it to my Facebook fan page. I'll go first. Here's one wall of our living room. I have two other walls in this room that have photos displayed too, but this one is probably my favorite.

On the left, I have three 8X10 Gallery Mounts that I took of our kiddos. I love the plate rack my SIL gave me as a birthday gift. It made a great way to display these images. I normally wouldn't put 8X10's on the wall unless there was more than one. They are just too small by themselves unless in a really tight space, so this worked out beautifully.


In the center of the wall is my favorite--the 20X30 gallery wrapped canvas of our family. I swapped family sessions with fellow local photographer, Amber Fischer, and she captured a beautiful moment for us. I love it and it makes me smile EVERY time I look at it. That's what art of your family is supposed to do. :0) And that's why I think ART of your own children or family should be on your walls. What a great way to share the memories of them and show your kiddos how much they mean to you? My girls love the collages I made for each of them to sit on their desks from their birthday sessions.


I admit, I used to be freaked out about large wall portraits and thought 11X14 was large. I'm a big scrapbooker too (well used to be-I'm so behind now, but am determined to get caught up!). If it didn't fit in a 12X12 album, I thought it was too big. However, I knew when we did this session, that I wanted to order a big canvas. In fact, I really wished I'd ordered a larger one, 24X36 or even 30X40! And once I hung it on the wall, I was hooked! We have several other large (16X20 or bigger) canvases and Gallery Mounts on other walls of our home now too. And again, every time I looked at these images I just smile and remember.


Well, what if I have a small home or little wall space, you ask? Well, I realize that can be an issue. And there are a few options. Either get the biggest wall portrait or canvas you can to fit the space to give a big impact with just one image (really don't be afraid of going big) or try using several smaller prints together to create a collage look on the wall. You can put them in the same frame with matting, identical frames or mix and match frames, depending on your style and decor. However, I would recommend keeping the space between  frames small, as that will also give the images more impact. If you think you have to spread them out to fill up space, you probably need a bigger print size. As a service to my portrait clients, I can also help them create wall groupings with portraits from their sessions. I can even show you what your prints will look like in different spaces in your home. 

I have used Gift Prints (8X10 or smaller) together in several places in our home, either on the wall or a shelf, piano, dresser, etc. In this photo, you can see I put two 4X6's from that same family session on a small magnet board. Normally, I believe 4X6's only belong in a scrapbook or on a desk, but grouped together they can make a nice display.


Finally, on the side table is a Keepsake Album I designed from that session. I wanted to have all of our images in one place. It is a hardbound press-printed photobook with a leather cover and UV-coated hinged pages. I love how durable it is; I don't get as nervous when our two-year-old wants to look through it as I do the paper albums I've printed from scrapbook places. (Still glad I have those, but there is a big difference in quality between the two.) The girls love looking at it also! I don't worry about the pages getting torn or how it will last for several generations. I know that it is a keepsake we can enjoy for years and pass down through the family.


Whether you have big wall portraits or small gift prints in frames, or even have done something totally different with your favorite memories, what really matters is that you are capturing them, displaying them and enjoying them! I'd love to hear and see about what creative things you do, so please share! Thanks!