Norman family's business offers a portrait of success

NORMAN — Like many special needs families, Rick and Wanda Felty found it almost impossible to get a good portrait of their daughter.

Kayla Felty, 19, was born blind and later was discovered to be autistic and nonverbal. Photographers didn't know how to communicate with her, and she couldn't communicate with them.

"I went to one photographer after another,” Wanda Felty said. "Either I'd get a really good picture of the bottom of Kayla's chin, or one of the top of her head.”

The Feltys, both of whom have photography backgrounds, found success taking their own photos of their daughter, and now they're sharing that gift with other special needs families.

The Feltys opened their own photography business, A Special Touch Portraits, four years ago and began the process of becoming accredited to serve special needs families through Special Kids Photography of America.

While they do traditional work (family portraits, weddings, team photos, etc.) to pay the bills, the Feltys' passion is working with those who have special needs.

"One in five people has some form of disability, and almost everyone knows someone with a disability whose needs aren't being catered to,” Rick Felty said. "Year after year, these families go out and try to get good portraits. There's a point where you just quit trying.”

Penny McCoy of Noble was one of those people. Her son, Cody, 22, has autism and epilepsy.

"We had his picture taken all the time, but no one could ever capture who he really was,” Penny McCoy said. "He doesn't adapt to change well, so taking him to a studio didn't work out at all.”

After meeting the Feltys at a daily living center her son attends, Penny McCoy hired the couple to take family photos. She said she ended up with some of the best photos she's ever seen of her son, as well as her two daughters who are adopted from Guatemala.

"You can't just go up and touch Cody. He grimaces,” Penny McCoy said. "Wanda just knew what to say and what to do. She was able to work through his disability.”

Cody McCoy said the Feltys helped him relax, and for once he actually enjoyed having his photo taken.

"I felt a little nervous at first, but then I felt comfortable,” he said. "I just wanted to be a happy guy.”

Brenda Johnson of Lexington said her 23-year-old daughter, Courtney, has cerebral palsy, mental retardation and vision issues. Since she has a tendency to turn her head to the right, it's always a struggle to take her photo.

"She doesn't have binocular vision. When Courtney looks straight ahead, we're not sure what she sees. It's distorted,” Brenda Johnson said. "Since she is pretty much nonverbal, we didn't understand that for years because she couldn't tell us.”

Johnson and her husband, Johnny, a golf professional at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course, hired the Feltys to take family photographs, as well as their daughter's senior portrait, on location at the golf course. One of their favorite photographs is one of Courtney in the golf cart she got her for 16th birthday, Brenda Johnson said.

"The pictures were just beautiful,” Brenda Johnson said. "One side of Courtney's face is larger than the other, and they took that into consideration. Courtney doesn't even look handicapped in the picture.

"Kayla really has been an inspiration to them to help others,” she added. "We have enough that we deal with on a daily basis. Being able to get a good photograph taken is one less stress.”

While the Johnsons chose to have some photographs taken of their daughter out of her wheelchair, people shouldn't be afraid or embarrassed to incorporate a person's disability or related equipment into a photograph, the Feltys said.

"A wheelchair is an extension of that person,” Wanda Felty said. "If they don't have a problem with the wheelchair, you put that wheelchair right in that picture.”

The Feltys said pre-portrait interviews help them determine likes and dislikes, and what the family is looking for in a portrait.

"There are times we may have two or three interviews before the actual photo shoot,” Wanda Felty said. "That's when we find out how they feel about the chair, what supports are needed, if low or no flash lighting is required or even if too much action can cause a negative reaction.”

They do most of their work on location, taking photos where their clients feel most comfortable, and allow families to view nearly all of the images taken during the proofing phase of the process.

"Whereas most photographers might cull out images they feel are not acceptable, such as blinks, turns of the head and crossed eyes, we allow the family to view even those,” Wanda Felty said.

She gave an example of a little girl with low vision who grabbed a balloon from behind her and held it to her face before they could snap the shot.

"We snapped the image of her profile, head down, and the profile of the balloon in her hands,” she said. "To most photographers, this is not the ideal image.”

As it turned out, she said, the family chose that image for their large print.

"They said it's the first time she was actually looking at a balloon,” she said. "Now, that's a moment in time that only a photograph could capture.”