EDMOND — By Kathy Toppins

THE EDMOND SUN



No one told Jen Basford that she couldn’t design and build her dream during a recession, so she did. She custom built a 3,500-square-foot studio for her 4-year-old business, 3 girls photography. The building, at 1024 W. Covell Road, was completed in July; the studio’s grand opening was Nov. 12.

“Her business is beautiful. She has worked very hard, done a phenomenal job,” said her cousin, Michele McIntosh, also a photographer. “Every little detail of this studio has been laid out and designed by Jen.”

In addition to the dramatic interior design, the studio features a main camera room with 1,000 square feet of natural light and an outdoor courtyard where building textures change every 10 feet along the walls. Old doors, windows and fences, as well as screens and furniture, are available for photographs in the courtyard and the naturally lit camera room.

The business, named for her three daughters, is Basford’s Disney World. “Ninety percent of my business needs to be fun. The other 10 percent is dictated by the IRS,” Basford said.

Last summer, Basford’s cousin moved to Edmond from Columbus, Ohio, to help her open the new studio. Many of their mentors, Basford said, had family members working together in their photography studios. “Michele and I joked about doing this for years. You could not ask for a better working relationship,” she said.

The two cousins have a lot in common. Both have three girls, ages 4 to 10. Both are math whizzes. Basford has an MBA with an emphasis in finance and information systems from the University of Oklahoma; McIntosh has a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from Ohio State University. Both quit their careers to become stay-at-home moms. Both developed an interest in photography. McIntosh was the first cousin to begin a photography business.

In switching careers, the two cousins “learned from the best of the best,” McIntosh said. Basford took classes at the New York Institute of Photography. The two cousins took classes together through the Professional Photographers of America.

Even though both women are photographers, McIntosh will manage the business and sales end of the studio until January while Basford concentrates on photography. After January, Basford will photograph high school seniors, and McIntosh will photograph babies and families.

Basford said she works to build a relationship with her clients before taking their photographs. “We don’t know what type of photograph we’ll take until after they arrive,” Basford said. “We have to talk, play, have time to wind down.” She said she also studies her clients’ moods and the colors they bring. Ninety-nine percent of Basford’s clients, she said, let her create the artistic look for their photographs.

Those clients are putting their faith in a photographer who wears her hair in pigtails almost every day. Pigtails, she explained, make her and most other people smile. “If people can’t handle pigtails,” Basford said, “they’re probably not a good client for us.” In her photography sessions, she explained, “we’re going to be doing a lot of bouncing and giggling.”

Every April the studio has a fashion show in which about 35 Edmond high school juniors serve as models. The studio brings in clothing from Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York. The two purposes of the fashion show, Basford said, are to give high school seniors clothing ideas for their senior portraits and to give them the experience of showing some attitude while being photographed. Last April’s fashion show, at the University of Central Oklahoma, also was used as a fundraiser for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Basford and McIntosh are joined by part-time client service specialists Julie Reinhart and Angie Duncan. Both of them were clients before they began working at the studio. The four women combined have 11 children, 10 of them girls. “We couldn’t have a more perfect team,” Basford said.



FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 341-4170, e-mail info@3girlsphotography or visit www.3girlsphotography.com.