Capturing life's best moments

Irving Harris, photographer

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES Irving and Tracey Harris of Irving Photography are photographed in the studio in their home in Welcome. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

A passion for photography: For certified professional photographer Irving Harris, his love for photography started when he was young.

"As a child at 6 or 7 years old, I always took family photographs," he said.

He attended Chesterfield Technical Center, a two-year trade school in Chesterfield, Va., before coming to Southern Maryland to work for a photographic supply company in Clinton.

In November 1993, he purchased the assets of the business and started his own company.

"In the beginning the majority of sales were related to government sales of darkroom equipment and consulting," he said. "In the past seven years, it has shifted to 95 percent photography and 5 percent darkroom equipment to primarily colleges and museums."

Portraits and personality: "Portraits tell a story or evoke an emotion," Irving Harris said. "A portrait can show the immediate deep bond between a mother and newborn. Or the independence of an emerging teenager. The accomplishments and promises of a high school senior. These are all important milestones that tell a story of a person's life."

Although most of their work is high school seniors and kids, Irving and wife Tracey shoot 15 to 20 weddings a year.

"We do a lot of planning for weddings," he said. "By the time we get to the wedding day, we've had three meetings. You kind of build a rapport" and clients become "our friends."

"When they have their first baby, they think of us to call. … We offer a lot of products that you just don't get from the big box studios."

Irving Harris offers a baby's first year package. It includes photographs at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year. "Usually at the 1-year mark, we do a family portrait," he said. "Typically, if someone has been through the baby plan, they are pretty much a customer for life."

As the child gets older, he is photographed less, Irving Harris said. Becoming a high school senior is the next big event in the child's life and then the child is gone.

Their motto is "more than just a photograph … memories to last a lifetime."

Individualized attention: At Irving Harris Photography, there are no waiting lines. "Everything is carefully scheduled so that we never have the problem where someone is waiting," he said.

Family photo sessions are typically an hour.

"We show them a sample book and listen to what they say and pick up on if they are more casual or formal, outgoing or introverted," Irving Harris said. "That gives me an idea of the type of portrait they want. In that hour time, they may be in front of the camera for 20 minutes."

Teens are treated like rock stars, as Tracey Harris put it. "We have drinks waiting for them in the dressing room and snacks."

They also can bring their iPods to set the mood.

As for babies, "we might have things in the dressing room to help with changing diapers," Irving Harris said.

It really depends on the client.

"Some kids are pretty frightened," he said. In that case, "we have some toys down in the studio and I will sit down there and play with them for a while" until the child feels comfortable.

October was family portrait month, a percentage of the session fees went to Operation Smile, which repairs cleft palates for kids all over the world, Tracey Harris said.

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