Natalie, Portrait Artist

Natalie, Portrait Artist Capturing that unguarded moment, Natalie creates heartfelt portraits of children and families. This is what she loves. Heather Prokopchak, Dr. William and Mrs.

Do you ever notice how quickly your children are growing, and wish you could hold onto those fleeting moments- the ones that matter most? For the discerning parent, one who isn’t content with a routine family picture, Natalie offers an unparalleled experience. Telling the story of each family she works with, her portraits reveal who her subjects are. Her inner passion inspires her to create portra

its that transcend a simple visual record. Imbued with the essence of her subjects, her images create an indelible mark in time. Because of the personal, attentive relationships she forms with each portrait client, Natalie can only work with a limited number of families each year. Her reputation of excellence as well as her care for her clients’ needs have garnered trust from a select group of discerning families. Natalie accepts both national and international commissions. Natalie’s soulful portraits can be found on the walls of beautiful homes across the country. She has worked with several well-known people, such as actor Michael Weatherly and wife Dr. Bojana Jankovic; former running back for the New York Giants, Tiki Barber; a well-known Hollywood movie producer and his family; Dr. Richard and Mrs. Brooke Carnevali, and Patricia and Rich Eggleston. Her work has been featured in nominee gift baskets at the Academy Awards, and publications like Town and Country Magazine.

That first whiff of salt air and marsh. Maybe you roll your window down like I do, just to soak it in. You know you're c...
06/09/2026

That first whiff of salt air and marsh.

Maybe you roll your window down like I do, just to soak it in.

You know you're close. Just a few more miles driving past palm trees and bougainvillea and you'll be breathing in the smell of live oaks.

If you're a beach-loving family, what's the place that lets you know you're almost there?

Anywhere we've been with our families carries that feeling of anticipation, the delicious feeling of knowing what's coming, but also thinking about the new adventures we're going to have.

That muscle memory kicks in as soon as you arrive - lazy mornings, sandy feet, late dinners, and a week that somehow feels both familiar and brand new.

When I photograph kids playing on the beach, it’s hard not to feel a little of that myself. That freedom of just being in it—no schedule, no rush, just discovery, soft sand, the sound of the waves and the lure of the water.

With this family, I actually planned two sessions—one at sunset for their family portraits, and one on an early morning. We left the parents out of that one and just let the kids play and explore.

And they had so much fun—you can see it in their faces. Those are the moments they’ll remember long after the sand is gone from their shoes.

I'm a legacy portrait photographer, working with families and multigen families in business who have a story to tell. DM me for information about portraits of your family, whether you're thinking now or in the future.

Summer Portraits. Summer is here (or wants to be, depending on the day.)I only have a few more openings for beach/destin...
05/26/2026

Summer Portraits.

Summer is here (or wants to be, depending on the day.)

I only have a few more openings for beach/destination portrait sessions this summer.

Here are my openings:

☀️Mid-July — 1 family

☀️August + early September- 2 families in Massachusetts & Rhode Island, Block Island, Cape Cod, Maine and Connecticut

These family portraits are designed for families who want more than snapshots — they’re timeless portraits that capture your family’s story, in a place that speaks to you.

Every year in the fall I meet with a client who says, “I wish I had jumped in and done a portrait of the family this summer. I waited too long.”

If you’ve been thinking about summer portraits, reach out soon and we’ll see if we can make the timing work.

05/19/2026

"A smile is a living thing." - me being quoteable

While filming interviews I position a portrait lens between me and my storytellers, so when I pull a screenshot of their best smile it feels like I'm cheating in comparison to what photographers like Natalie, Portrait Artist have to do. I think they have to have instinct for a moment whereas I have instinct for the rest of a story. Getting the best out of people is a shared goal.

Art is so personal. And so is taste. I was at a small art museum last week with one of my closest friends. What I notice...
05/15/2026

Art is so personal. And so is taste.

I was at a small art museum last week with one of my closest friends. What I noticed was the variety- so many different ways of seeing. And that my friend and I were drawn to almost opposite pieces (that part wasn’t a big surprise!)

For something as personal as portraits, finding a good fit is imperative.

I have a pretty specific point of view in my work: soft, classic. My family portraits are relationship-oriented. I'm trying to capture something close to the feeling a parent or grandparent has when she looks at her family. Whether that family is her and her only daughter, or her and her 21 children and grandchildren.

It’s a portrait with rose-colored glasses.

That's not going to be everyone's thing. And I'm ok with that. If what you want is something trendy, stiff and formal, or abstract, I’m probably not your girl.

I've had potential clients laugh (or look confused) when I describe how I want them to feel when they see their portraits. Coaches and consultants have pushed back — what about the client who isn't close to her family? The answer is pretty simple: that isn’t my client.

It's not a judgment — I just know who I'm for.

I love looking at other artists’ work — it’s inspiring. But what pulls me in is when something feels true to the way I see things.

The right clients find me because something in my work feels true to the way THEY see things. When they see my work, they see their own family. They fall in love with these people they’re connected to all over again.

When you’re looking for a portrait of your family, that’s the connection you want with your photographer. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.

I’m a legacy portrait photographer working with families via rose-colored glasses.

05/12/2026

I’m looking at the view over the Tuscan hills for my portrait- and I know immediately it doesn’t have enough of the Tuscan feel I want. It’s after 8 am already, and the sun is higher than I thought it would be. A slight feeling of panic starts to rise in my chest…

A few years ago, my husband and I were in Tuscany and decided to do a portrait of ourselves.

I'm glad we did. Because I made a few mistakes that showed me why I have a process I stick to.

First of all, I didn't narrow down to the specific location the day before — I figured any of them would be great. Which meant we were later than I wanted so the sun was already high and bright by the time we started, and I was stressed instead of having fun.

But the biggest thing I forgot was to decide how I wanted the portraits to FEEL.

That's the first thing I do with every client.

Before we talk about location or background or what to wear, we talk about feeling. What do you want to remember about this moment? What do you want to see when you look at this image in twenty years?

I skipped it for myself. I had a fuzzy idea of what I wanted, but I didn’t think about the most important detail.

What that experience confirmed for me: my process matters more on location, not less.

When I’m traveling — when the light is unfamiliar, the setting is new, and I’ve only got one shot at this place and this moment for this client — there's no room to figure it out as I go.

I do have images from that day that I really love. But I also know what they could have been.

I won’t make the same mistake again. Not for myself, and not for a client.

It’ll be back in Tuscany with family this fall. This time I’ll know exactly where our portrait will be, what time we’ll be there, and what feeling I’m after.

Have you ever dreamed of a portrait in Tuscany? I have room to work with 2 more families or couples while I’m in Italy later this year. If you’d like to be one of them, send me a DM.

05/10/2026

For a while now I've been wanting to ask Natalie, Portrait Artist the difference between a photographer who does portraits and a legacy portrait artist. We found a lot of commonality in the purpose and approach to our art.

Summer's coming!Boating on the lake.Days at the beach.Floating on the river.
05/06/2026

Summer's coming!

Boating on the lake.

Days at the beach.

Floating on the river.

“They grow up so fast!" We know that. But somehow it always surprises us how fast kids change. As a legacy portrait phot...
04/24/2026

“They grow up so fast!"

We know that. But somehow it always surprises us how fast kids change.

As a legacy portrait photographer, I see how quickly childhood progresses. Even just in a few months.

Sometimes parents I work with talk about waiting to do portraits until-

summer

fall

spring

no one has braces

no one is missing their front teeth

no one is in an awkward stage

the schedule is less hectic

But all the while, time is going by, the kids are changing, and we’re not capturing those messy, memorable stages of life.

There’s no perfect time. It’s probably not perfect now, and it won’t be perfect next month, next season, or next year.

I’ve had parents say, “I wish I had done these portraits last year when I first thought about it.”

But I’ve never had anyone say, “I wish I had waited longer to do portraits of my children. I don't want to remember that stage of their life."

One client I’ve worked with for 18 years said to me, “I wish I had listened to you and had portraits done since the last time! The boys all grew up so much since then. I feel like I missed out on portraits of that part of their lives.”

What made her put it off?

Just life. Business, school, sports, etc.

She loves new portraits of her kids. But now there’s a gap in the family’s portrait legacy.

Let’s not wait for the perfect moment- because it doesn’t exist.

If we want to enjoy our memories years from now, we have to do something about it now.

Why do my clients love their Signature paintings?We love photographs because of the details we can see in our children’s...
04/03/2026

Why do my clients love their Signature paintings?

We love photographs because of the details we can see in our children’s faces – the way their eyes crinkle when they’re happy, their natural smiles, the curve of their cheeks.

Clients may also love the look of an oil painting. But they don't want one that interprets what their loved ones look like. The oils I create for them are the best of both worlds: the details of a photograph, with the look and feel of an oil painting.

Sometimes a client knows that's what they want, and we start off designing the portrait with that in mind. Sometimes they don't know until further in the process.

These aren't mail-order paintings like you see ads for- "send us your photo, and we'll turn it into a painting."

These oils are mixed-media pieces, oiled by hand, one brushstroke at a time. The one here is a close-up of a Signature portrait. You can see the brushstrokes, and you can also see the details in the faces - especially the eyes.

This summer, your family might be together to share some meaningful moments. My portrait planning guide can help you start planning a portrait that says how you feel when you look at your family. DM for your copy.

I have a dilemma. I’m in the early stages of planning a trip back to Italy this fall. My big decision: should I go back ...
03/31/2026

I have a dilemma.

I’m in the early stages of planning a trip back to Italy this fall. My big decision: should I go back to a place I fell in love with last time or go somewhere new for that part of the trip?

My list of “places I want to visit in Italy” is LONG. And getting longer. My husband says, go for the new place. And that’s logical.
There are only so many places that we want to fit in on one trip.

On the other hand, we don’t travel to tick places off a list. And some places feel more like home than others.

For instance, I love Venice. There’s no place like it. But it didn’t give me that feeling of “I’m home.”

Last time we spent a few days on the coast of southern Tuscany. It’s not the most famous part of Tuscany. So it seemed a little more Italian to me than some of the other places in that part of Italy.

There are at least 10 other places on the coast that I’d like to see this trip. But the memories I have from those days in Italy are pulling on me. I want to go back. Even knowing I could spend that time somewhere I've never been.

Not so that we can do the same things or stay in the same place. But so that I can explore the area with more depth.

I think about working with clients in the same way. It’s exciting to work with a new family. I love learning about them, figuring out what this time in life means to them, and putting together the puzzle pieces that will become their portrait.

But when a family comes back for a second, fifth, or tenth portrait, something is different. We skip a layer. I already know how they interact with each other, what they care about, how they want to be seen. I get to build on our work together, and take it to the next level with these new portraits.

New is exciting. So is returning somewhere that you already love. We need room for both.

Caption: The coast of Monte Argentario in Southern Tuscany. The bluest water I’ve ever seen! And those rocks- a lot of houses had walkways down to the water. A natural deck to soak up the sun.

Address

Roanoke, VA

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+15409821884

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