Investment
What it costs
Blackwater Fine Art Portraits · Bellaire, Ohio · August 31, 2026
The question everyone wants to ask, and almost no one asks out loud.
So we will answer it plainly. A Blackwater portrait is a commission, and like any commissioned artwork it is priced by what it is: the people you love, made into finished pieces for your walls. Here is what it costs, and what that pays for.
The session is not the product
Most photography sells you the session and hands you a folder of files. We do the opposite. The session is where it begins; the artwork is the point. What you commission is finished, gallery-grade wall art, designed for a specific room in your home and made to outlast every device you own. You are not paying for an hour of our time. You are paying for the piece that hangs on the wall for the next forty years.
What the $299 does
$299 A retainer reserves your date. It is not a fee that disappears. It is credited in full toward whatever artwork you choose at your reveal, so it holds your place on the calendar and comes back to you as art. Nothing about it is an add-on.
A portrait is finished when it is on your wall, at the right size, in the right room.
A finished piece, hung where the family walks past it every day.
Where wall portraits begin
$549 Individual wall portraits begin here. That is the entry to finished, framed artwork, ready to hang.
What most families invest
$1,595 and up We will say that plainly, because you deserve to plan. Families who come to us are usually designing a collection, a signature wall piece, a grouping, an album, not a single small print. The number is not a secret, and it is not something we apologize for. It is simply what the work is.
What that buys
It buys materials that last: archival papers and canvases, hand-finishing, and framing built to be handed down rather than replaced. It buys hours, the retouching and finishing that happen long after the session ends. And it buys the design appointment, where we plan your artwork together at true size, on your actual wall, so the piece fits the room the first time. You are commissioning something, not ordering it.
The people you love, finished to a standard the moment deserves.
A collection designed for one wall, in one home.
Why we work with a small number of families
We photograph a small number of families on purpose. A guided, unhurried experience and artwork finished to this standard cannot be produced at volume. Keeping the number small is how every family receives our full attention, and how the work stays what it is. It is also why the calendar fills, and why dates are worth reserving early.
Two seasons are open now
The Wonder of Christmas, our fine art Santa experience, is October 24 and 25, with only ten families across the two days. Senior sessions run through the fall, from late summer into October. If either is for your family, the moment to reserve is now. You can also see how finished artwork is designed and priced on our investment page.
Questions, answered
What does the $299 retainer include?
The $299 retainer reserves your session date and is credited in full toward the artwork you choose at your reveal. It is never an added fee.
How much do fine art wall portraits cost?
Individual wall portraits begin at $549. Most families invest $1,595 and up in a collection designed together at their reveal.
Why do you work with only a small number of families?
A guided, unhurried experience and hand-finished artwork cannot be produced at volume. Keeping the number small is how every family gets our full attention and how the work stays what it is.
