Meet the Colquhoun-Jasken family. Blog followers may recognize their oldest son Iain who is one of our JDP seniors we featured a few months ago. This was a big transition year for the family in so many ways and David knew it was important to mark it down for their family story. Click here to contact us re your own custom portraits.
The family is celebrating a high honor just bestowed on Julia. She was formerly in the provost role at McDaniel college for years and enjoyed her time there overseeing academic and campus life. She has just recently been promoted and transitioned into the role of president of McDaniel in June. Part of this transition meant leaving their home to go live in the president’s house on campus.
Continuing with transition, Iain is preparing to leave for college at Lafayette College to study chemical engineering. The family’s 13 year old Kyle shared, “my mom is the 2nd female president at the college and I’m one of just a few teenagers to live in the president’s house.” He’s made himself right at home on the college, walking their beloved dog Kiera on campus and getting to know all the familiar faces.
Hearing David talk about Julia’s accomplishments was sweet and tender. He’s so proud of his Dr. Jasken and is quick to point out, “she’s much too humble to tell you what a big deal this is.” These two met and fell in love while in college and never looked back. Today their lives continue creating a beautiful love story that has at its center them cheering one another on each step of the journey.
We traveled to one of Julia’s favorite spots on campus with a gorgeous overlook of Westminster. Whenever we shoot in public spaces, there’s always bound to be people watching the process, which can be a little unnerving for clients, but the family rolled with it like pros. 
And no portrait time at McDaniel would be complete without including the iconic Baker Memorial Chapel and fountain. And a little dance in the moonlight was a wonderful way to end our portrait time at the college. 
We concluded our portrait time back in my studio to mark down David and the boys playing a game that is special to them called Magic the Gathering. It’s a cerebral science fiction/fantasy card game with elaborate artwork by many artists. The objective is to figure out how the creatures are engaged. The boys were excited to be able to include this in their portrait time and it’s a great capstone for all the memories they’ve made playing this game over the years. 
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We dipped into a little more fantasy feel for this piece below and Kyle was all in to experiment to create a memorable portrait. Kyle will crack up anyone he talks to with his quick wit and eagerness to explore life. As I mentioned the why’s behind some of the things I ask clients to do in pose that may feel a little strange, he told me, “you’re the professional, so you make the calls. I’m gonna trust you.”
One of the other places David has made a lot of memories with his boys has been on the soccer fields. He’s shared his love for the game by coaching his boys their whole lives. My twins had the privilege of being coached by him many years ago and they said he was always one of their favorites. David, or “English Dave” as his boys call him who play with him on one of the 3 indoor teams he’s a part of, says he’s not a flashy player being English, but he gets the job done. 
Injury doesn’t stop him as evidenced by the recovery he’s got going on now which hasn’t halted his play. David’s competitive streak runs as strong as his love of the game. This is all a departure from the very cerebral work he does for a living. David is a technical advanced workflow specialist and his role is to help his sales team understand the science behind the products they sell. He’s a part of design and conceptual R&D on basically very fancy weighing machines called mass spectrometers. These are used by pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Mederma. To say this is one brilliant family may be the understatement of the year.
We closed with a little more fun for the boys and Julia just sat back with a big grin on her face watching her boys all crack themselves up. 
Congratulations on your banner year! Your balance of work and play in family life is skilled and a blessing in so many ways. May you continue to laugh heartily and celebrate one another’s successes each step of your journey! Click here to contact us re your own custom portraits.
