It came! 20 x 24 Family Storyboard

Last week was an exciting one for me and my clients. Their special order of this 20 x 24 storyboard arrived looking as gorgeous as we could have hoped for! We went with metallic paper mounted for framing with a linen texture and a glossy finish. I can't wait to see it hung up in their home!

Family Treasure: 16 x 20 Storyboard

Here's the 16x20 storyboard design I created for one of my family shoots. The hardest thing was making the paisley background! They family had it printed on metallic paper--gorgeous color saturation and a rich metallic sheen--and are going to have it framed. It was so fun to create a piece that will be treasured through generations.

Family Portrait and Fram-eable Special Edit | Johns Creek GA Family Photographer

When I started Butler Family Photography, I chose our name based on the fact that it would be Jacob and I (and hopefully someday our son) shooting and producing the images. I also wanted to imply that our main focus was family-inspired images. 

It's so hard to get a great photo of everyone altogether in your family, especially a big family, and especially if you try to do it yourself. (I know, I've attempted it with my own.) So we are focused on making images for others that we would want shot of our own family. And would I love a big frame-able Special Edit like this one? Large enough for a 22 x 28 print or canvas. Yes! (You are going to want to see the bigger version. Click on the image to see it.)

A few design notes:

• Jacob suggested I make the border look a little like the photograph is spilling over a bit onto the image frame. Fun idea, huh?
• I change the names of the families when posting my designs on the web. Don't they look like they could be Johansens, though?
• Oh, and a big massive thank you to Jacob who did the incredible editing on the background. It needed a lot more bushes and leaves than were there originally, and he is the master at that! 

Our clients liked how the image looks in black and white too.

Family Portrait Storyboard

My storyboard special edits are a hot item lately! Besides this one, I have 3 more packages I will be designing storyboards for. It's fun to create a custom look for each family's group of photos. This storyboard was based on a special edit I did last year, but definitely customized to fit the pictures from their shoot.

Here's how I did the blue background:

1. Flat colored base. I chose the color with the hues and shades of the photographs in mind.

2. Texturized so it looks a little like linen-finished paper.

3. Decorated with a subtle floral brush in a darker shade than the base color.

4. A custom texture overlay to add a little more depth.

5. A second layer of floral brushwork. Done!

Sibling Storyboard: Special Edit

I'm finally starting to catch up on all the posts from my holiday shoots. For this one, I designed a 11x14 storyboard as their special edit. I loved incorporating 3 photos along the side with the awesome waterfall portrait. I custom-design each storyboard according to the colors, atmosphere, and character of my subjects and their surroundings. For this one, I really wanted to bring out the personality of the brother and sister and well as compliment the color work of the main image. I also love the fact that these storyboards look and feel ready to frame without a matte.

Busy, Busy, Busy . . . and a Beautiful Storyboard

I have been SOOO busy: shooting, editing, more designing, more editing, babysitting, more editing . . . but "tis the season" for the photographer to be up at--uh, 1:36 a.m.--and blogging because she's neglected it for too long!

Needless to say, I have LOTS of things to post and I think this 11x14 storyboard is a great place to start:


It was a challenge to figure out how to get all the kids and mom and dad in a nice arrangement with the big group photo, but I think it really works. By the way, I change the names of my clients when I post custom designs on my blog . . . I'm just trying to be careful about privacy. I also get a kick out of making up a new name for my clients.

Border Detail

I love doing some overlapping/transparency in my storyboard designs because you can tell that it's a custom design, not just a cookie-cutter template off of a photo site.

11 x 14 Storyboard: Special Edit

Here's the special edit from my recent shoot with a family at the Smith Plantation grounds in Roswell. Originally, my clients and I had planned on a spot color of their cute girl in her swim gear (below), but I felt the photo was at its best as a full color image.


So, I suggested a storyboard using some of the awesome group photos we got. Since I knew black and white was mom's favorite, I used the best family shot and then made black and white conversions of three more photos for the "3-peat" row of boxes. The finished product is a gorgeous 11 x 14 suitable for framing.


Storyboards are new for me as a special edit. (Jacob designed the Baby Parts collage we did last year.) But design is not new to me. I based this special edit on some of the guiding principles of design: dominance, white space, contrast, and simplicity. My dad would be so proud! (He's a professor of graphic design at South Dakota State University.) I especially love the subtle detail in the borders: elegant but subtle so as to not draw away from the focus of the entire piece.


I am so excited to offer these one-of-a-kind designs as part of my packages. I'm looking forward to more opportunities for custom designs (business cards, photo collages, Christmas cards . . . )