Wall art sizing guide | Denver Family Photographer

When I started working at the commercial portrait studio 15 years ago I sold prints and wall “enlargements”. In the one week of training, we received before starting as a photographer and “portrait artist” not one bit was about how to help our clients choose the best size of art for their home. Most of our clients came in, bought 8x10 prints, and likely went home and realized they were way too small for their space. After 9 years as a business owner, I started offering my clients wall art and studying interior design. While I still have so much to learn one thing I have learned is that there are rules to choosing the proper size wall art piece, especially if it is going to hang above a piece of furniture. So today I am sharing those “secrets” with all of you.

You may be reading this because you are a current client of mine, or looking to hire a photographer, or maybe you stumbled across this trying to decide what size painting to hang above your couch. Either way, whether you come to have your portrait taken in my Arvada photography studio or a beautiful outdoor location in the Colorado mountains and allow me to design your art for you or you just need to find the right size for the landscape print you are ordering the rules are the same.

The Basics

If you are planning on hanging your portrait or gallery wall centered above a piece of furniture like a table, bed, or couch you will want the image to be 50-75% of the size of the piece of furniture. The same rule applies if you are using a gallery wall, you will want to space the images 1-4 inches apart and have the full set be no more than 75% as wide as the furniture below it.

There are two different rules for how high to hang your images. The rule for hanging above furniture is 6-12” inches above the furniture piece however the general rule is at eye level. Here is how I handle these two sometimes contradicting rules:

For a low piece of furniture that is well below eye level, hang the images at eye level. In the image above it appears that the table is fairly low so when I created this sample I “hung” the images at what I believed to be approximately eye level. You could put something decorative on top of the table (maybe candle sets on either side?) to give the table some height and then hang the art 6 inches above the top of the decorations if you wanted to try and follow both rules.

For higher furniture pieces, go with the 6 images above to hang as close to every level as possible.

And in the case you have small children who may touch your art, either choose a durable option such as canvas or hang just out of reach of your little one!

Choosing the proper size for above a bed

This is a quick “cheat sheet” for creating art galleries above your bed based on the size of the bed.

The program I use to show my clients their art, which is also what I use to create these sample galleries, shows me the total width of the full gallery set so that I can make sure I create the correct size for your home. So having a cheat sheet to check those numbers against is really helpful to make sure that when it arrives it will fit perfectly like this set that I created for a client last fall.

Sizing “cheat sheet”

If you are hanging your art above the headboard choose this size for the best fit:

Twin bed- 22-30” inch art

Full bed - 30-40” art

Queen bed - 34-45” art

King bed - 42-56” art

Crib (above the long side) - 30-40”

Hopefully this gives you a start in choosing the correct size. I would love to design portrait art that fits perfectly into your space. When I plan your session with you and create your art I take into account the colors and design style of your space as well to make sure your art looks at home in your space! Ready to get started? Click below to schedule a call and get all of the information about your session!

Jennifer Tavera is a Luxury family, maternity, and newborn photographer in Denver Colorado who specializes in creating an experience that will make mom feel comfortable, papered, and beautiful so she will be excited to turn her portraits into art for her home. Sessions are available outdoors all over the Denver and Boulder area and studio sessions in the studio space in Arvada. Ready to start planning your dream session? Click below to schedule a call.

Jennifer

Why professional photo printing is important {Denver Photographer}

All of my clients receive both printed portraits AND digital files. I often get asked why I don’t just give my clients the digital files and let them print them. There are several reasons why I chose to give a printed product, if you haven’t read my blog post “how one family changed the way I do business” then go read that for one of the biggest reasons, another huge reason is quality. If you had your images printed at a store that also sold food and cosmetics, you did not get a professional quality print. The same applies if you printed at a discount online printer. These printers are only a small step up from printing on your home printer.

So what is the difference between a professional quality print and those done by these discount printers?

1. Color

Professional photographers work on color calibrated computers. If you have never calibrated your personal computer and are unfamiliar with what that means it basically means that we have set our computers to make sure it isn’t too light, dark, green red, warm (yellow), or cool (blue). Then as a professional, I hand edit each photo to make sure that the color balance of that image is perfect. I want to create a work of art, not just another photo. After all that work the last thing I want is for you to get get a cheap print that makes your skin look too grey, green, yellow or blue. Unfortunately, these cheaper printing labs can be hit and miss with color and often are not true in color to the original edit. The person printing your images is often not a professional photographer or printer and does not have a trained eye. They also typically have little control over the machine they are printing from beyond loading it with new paper when it runs out.

Professional photo lab employees are trained to color correct images that do not match the edited image that they receive. And when you order through me you have an extra line of defense from discolored images since I check each image before delivering it to my clients.

2. Images that last

These consumer labs are also not focused on images that last a long time. They print the snapshots from your phone and your 10-year-olds camera and their focus is to do this for you at the lowest cost possible NOT on printing photos that you can hand down for generations. Their images often fade or become discolored after a few short years.

Professional quality print labs such as the ones that I order through for my clients are focused on a product that is high quality and lasts. From matted prints to canvas wraps to wood prints all of the products I offer come from a professional heirloom/museum quality lab that uses only the best products such as professional-grade paper, ink, and printers to create your finished images.

When you invest in images through me I can ensure that you receive a product that will last longer and look better hanging in your home. You will still receive the digital files for sharing online, creating fun photo gifts or cards, and even making additional prints to send out to your family, but, you will also have high-quality images that I know you will love!

If you have more questions about a session with me I would love to chat! Contact me or set up a time to chat about your session.

I'm Jennifer Tavera.

A family photographer and portrait gallery designer in the North Denver Colorado area.

I help moms capture the moments and milestones that matter and turn then into beautiful art to hang in their home.

Learn more about me and a session with Truth Photography below.

How to display your family photos: Story boxes {Denver family photographer}

Updated August 2020 to include information on new sizes!

Do you remember those old photo albums with the sticky sheets inside that you just stuck your photos to? For anyone who has no idea what I am talking about you bought them at the store empty and each page was similar to a thick card stock covered in a stick material and then a clear sheet of plastic. You pulled back the plastic and stuck your photo to the sticky part and then stuck the plastic back over. They were great until your images started to fade from the acid in the paper and glue and then permanently stuck to the goo…

I recently heard my Storyboxes described as a modern-day album, it’s not a bad description. Like those sticky albums or the sleeve albums that were also popular you can easily switch out the images in the box however unlike those, the Story box protects your images instead of ruining them.

I recently heard my Storyboxes described as a modern-day album

I love these because they are the perfect way to display your images without running out of wall space!

They are an 8x10 sized box with a beautiful oatmeal-colored cloth cover and the option to emboss the front with your family name, your child's name, and birth-date, special dates such as the date of a religious milestone, the date of the session or any other writing you would like. They have a black interior and they feature a black ribbon to help you easily remove images from the box.

These come in 3 sizes, 10 print with 10 matching digital images, 20 print with 20 matching digital images or 30 print with your full set of digitals. All printed images are matted 5x7 prints in 8x10 mats that you can display in the box full time or take out and frame!

Ready to get more information on a session with me, fill out the form below to get instant access to my session planning guide including pricing on this and other beautiful ways to display your photos.

My name is Jennifer Tavera, owner, photographer and gallery designer for Truth Photography LLC. I have created beautiful custom portraiture for my clients here in the Denver and Boulder Colorado areas for the past 12 years! I specialize in growing families including children, maternity, and newborn. I love what I do and I cannot wait to share my passion with all of you.

As a busy mom myself, I understand that you need a photographer who will go the extra mile to help you with every aspect of creating cherished imagery of your family.

I would love to become YOUR family photographer and can't wait for us to get to know each other better!

Client Spotlight:The Stone family's winter session {Boulder Family Photographer}

I had the honor of first meeting Jackie and her family just over a year ago. They found out about me through an awesome local organization called Love for Lily. Love for Lily is a support group for parents with children in the NICU and also offers grants to a few NICU families in need each year (learn more at https://www.lflnicu.org/). To raise money each year they do a fundraiser and a friend of mine who worked with the organization asked me if I would be willing to donate a session to their silent auction. The Stone family where the lucky bidders to receive the gift certificate that I donated and I have since had the honor of photographing their son twice and now the whole family!

I was so excited to finally get to photograph the whole family in November at one of my favorite spots out in Boulder and while we had hoped for warm weather for their session the little bit of lingering snow the day of their session wound up being so perfect! The old Doran barn, tall grass, mountains, and snow all worked together for the perfect look for the portraits and the colors Jackie chose for their clothing were perfect with the colors of the barn!

Their son Jackson was so excited to play in the snow and throw snowballs at his parents! Isn’t he just the cutest!! (I may have a bit of a soft spot for toddler aged boys!)

Here are some of my favorite images from their session. If you are interested in a session at this spot or any other Denver or Boulder location scroll down and fill out my contact form for more information.

Get more information on a session:

My name is Jennifer Tavera, owner, photographer and gallery designer for Truth Photography LLC. I have created beautiful custom portraiture for my clients here in the Denver and Boulder Colorado areas for the past 12 years! I specialize in growing families including children, maternity, and newborn. I love what I do and I cannot wait to share my passion with all of you.

As a busy mom myself, I understand that you need a photographer who will go the extra mile to help you with every aspect of creating cherished imagery of your family.

I would love to become YOUR family photographer and can't wait for us to get to know each other better!

The Old Barn, Boulder CO {Denver Photoshoot Locations}

The old barn in Boulder has been one of my most requested locations for a long time. The barn, mountains, tall grass, nearby river and sunflowers in the fall make it a beautiful location for family, children’s and maternity sessions. This is one location I would not recommend for outdoor newborn sessions.

Best time of year for this location:

This location is beautiful year-round however I do not recommend this location right after it rains or snows or any time of year that the mosquito population is high. Because of the tall grass and nearby river I have on occasion been to this location when it was wet and mushy or when the mosquitos where completely out of control. I prefer this as a fall location personally but have used it in every season!

Best time of day for this location:

Sunset!! There is little shade except right up against the barn and you can’t really use this location to get the best looks shooting other times of the day so I highly recommend an evening/sunset session for this location.

Parking:

Parking is a little complicated at this location, there really isn’t any, but there is plenty of room to park cars on the dirt shoulder off of the road.

Other info for this location:

While this location is a little more off the beaten path than most Boulder spots it can still get crowded in the fall so expect to work around other photographers and families that time of year. I highly recommend you bring bug spray just in case for this location as noted above the bugs sometimes get bad here.

Get more information about a session at this location:

My name is Jennifer Tavera, owner, photographer and gallery designer for Truth Photography LLC. I have created beautiful custom portraiture for my clients here in the Denver and Boulder Colorado areas for the past 12 years! I specialize in growing families including children, maternity, and newborn. I love what I do and I cannot wait to share my passion with all of you.

As a busy mom myself, I understand that you need a photographer who will go the extra mile to help you with every aspect of creating cherished imagery of your family.

I would love to become YOUR family photographer and can't wait for us to get to know each other better!