We are honored to share that Strauss Peyton Portrait Studio has once again been named Best Photographer in Johnson County for 2026, making this our second consecutive year receiving the honor.
Strauss Peyton Portrait Studio is a portrait studio in Overland Park, Kansas, specializing in guided portrait experiences that help people celebrate the love and connection they share with their families, significant others and pets.
As we celebrate our 126th year in business, we’re reminded that awards are wonderful, but they aren’t what have kept Strauss Peyton going since 1900. The real reason we’ve been trusted by generations of Kansas City families is much simpler.
We’ve spent more than a century listening to people.
Every family is different, but after all those conversations, a few things come up again and again.
Here are three things we’ve learned about the people we photograph.
1. People Almost Always Wait Longer Than They Wish They Had
If we had a dollar for every time someone said, “We’ve been meaning to do this for years,” we’d probably have a pretty impressive coffee fund.
Life gets busy. There are soccer practices, work deadlines, vacations and a hundred other things competing for attention. Creating a portrait gets pushed into the category of “someday.”
But we’ve never heard someone say they regretted doing it too soon. Instead, we hear, “I’m so glad we finally did this.”
Sometimes it’s because the kids are growing faster than expected. Sometimes it’s a milestone anniversary. Sometimes it’s simply realizing that nothing extraordinary has to happen for this season of life to matter.
The right time is rarely when life gets less busy. It’s when you realize the people you love, exactly as they are right now, are worth celebrating.
2. The People Least Excited About Portraits Often End Up Having the Most Fun
There is almost always someone who arrives with a healthy dose of skepticism. It’s often Dad. Occasionally it’s a teenager. Every now and then it’s a grandparent who would rather be doing almost anything else.
That’s one reason our portrait experience begins with conversation, long before anyone stands in front of our camera. We want to know what you love about one another, what makes your family yours, and what you hope you’ll remember about this chapter of your lives.
Then we guide you through the portrait session so nobody has to know how to pose, where to put their hands or what they’re supposed to be doing. Instead of asking people to perform for the camera, we can concentrate on the relationships that brought them to us in the first place.
That’s usually when the reluctant participant discovers this is not nearly as painful as anticipated. Sometimes they even have fun. We try not to make too big a deal about it. 😉
3. The Meaning of a Portrait Grows With Time
We’ve heard from clients who tell us their portraits mean even more to them today than when they first brought them home. Children grow up. Grandchildren arrive. Beloved pets grow older. Families change, and life keeps moving.
One story has stayed with us for years.
We had just finished photographing a grandmother with her children and grandchildren when she disappeared for a moment. She returned carrying a portrait Strauss Peyton had created of her own grandmother decades earlier. She was so proud to show it to us and to tell us how many generations of her family had been photographed by Strauss Peyton.
That portrait hadn’t made the relationship valuable. Her grandmother had always mattered. What it had become was a reminder.
Decades later, she could still look at that portrait and see someone she loved. And now another generation of her family would have that same kind of reminder.
That is what more than a century of portraiture has taught us: photographs capture how someone looked, but the ones that endure and are special to us, remind us what that person meant to us.
Looking Ahead
Being voted Best Photographer in Johnson County in both 2025 and 2026 is an incredible honor, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who voted for us and continues to trust Strauss Peyton with the people they love.
Ben Strauss opened the original studio in Kansas City in 1900. More than a century later, the world looks very different, and photography certainly does too. But the reason people walk through our doors really hasn’t changed very much.
They love somebody.
Our job is to help them slow down long enough to recognize it, celebrate it and create something that will remind them of it long after that particular season of life has passed.
After 126 years, we can’t think of a better reason to keep doing what we do.
Thank you, Johnson County. Cheers!
