The Newstrom Family

• Published August 12th, 2009 by Michele Celentano
• 1 Comment

 

 

The Newstrom Family

 

Sometimes you never know where a good idea might come from.  Michelle Newstrom is a long time client and probably one of my favorite women.  I have been photographing her family for more than 5 years.  I get emotional looking at new images I have created for  her because I feel like I know her and her children so well.  Michelle has always loved photography.  She once came into the studio with albums that were her grandmothers.  They are her most prized possessions.  He home is decorated with tons of photographs from wall portraits to smaller images displayed in beautiful ornate frames.

 

At the end of last summer I was struggling with perfection issues.  I don’t see myself as a perfectionist - I think if you are a perfectionist you must do everything perfectly and want all things perfect all the time.  I always thought of perfectionism as a bad OCD type of problem and therefore did not want to be identified as one.

 

I spent days calling close friends to ask “Do you think I am a perfectionist?” (I know - a loaded question) However, I really wanted an honest answer.  

 

To my surprise most everyone said “yes”!  WHAT!  I don’t make my bed everyday, I leave dishes in the sink, I’m kind of messy, it’s rare that you can see the surface of my desk, there is always 2 weeks worth of laundry on the chair in my bedroom, I sometimes leave the towels in the washing machine so long I have to rewash them to get the moldy  smell out and I really don’t care if there is hair on the bathroom floor.   All things that would drive my perfectionistic mother NUTS!

 

How can it be?  It was then that they clarified that I was not a perfectionist in my personal life but that I was in my work.  Ok- I think that might be alright.... maybe.... only problem with that is that I always think I could be doing better work, reaching new creative heights, learning more techniques.... I’m not perfect....

 

Well, as in life all things happen for a reason and it was at that moment when the studio phone rang and Michelle Newstrom was on the other end thanking me for being such a perfectionist.  WHAT?  

 

She had been on her annual summer vacation at the beach in San Diego and had family portraits done with another photographer.  (I was in Africa during this time)

She called to tell me how unhappy she was and that none of the photographs she picked up looked right.  The color and cropping was off and she just was not happy.

She wanted to let me know how much she appreciates that nothing leaves my studio unless it’s “perfect”.  She spent less money than she normally does with me but it didn’t matter how much she spent she still wasn’t happy.  The lightbulb went off and I said to her... “we can fix that - I will go to San Diego next summer and photograph your family.”

 

 

Needless to say it was me on the beach this summer with Michelle, Doug, Daniella and Chris.  This years summer beach portrait sessions were planned around Michelle’s vacation.   I could not have been happier to be there with them and capture these images which are of course “PERFECT”!

 

Michelle and Doug - Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to photograph your beautiful family over the years. I am blessed to have you as clients and as friends.