MARYSVILLE — Moving the Clear Image Portrait Studio three blocks south on State Avenue was not an easy decision for owner Daniel Jolly, but he believes it will ultimately benefit both his business and his customers, even if they miss a few of its familiar trappings.

“I was asked whether we’d be taking the clock with us from the old building,” Jolly laughed. “Unfortunately, that’s part of the building.”

Clear Image first opened its doors at its former site in 1988, and Jolly has owned the studio for the past six years.

Over the course of the past year, Jolly has made his Everett location the center of his operations, so he didn’t need as much space in Marysville. Indeed, his new shop at 1331 State Ave. has roughly 1,000 square feet, as opposed to the 2,700 square feet he enjoyed just north of 88th Street.

Jolly has reassured his customers that they shouldn’t see any changes in their services.

“We’ve moved a lot of our storage to our other locations,” Jolly said. “The only real difference is that we don’t do the actual framing work on-site anymore, but we still offer it as a service. As for the studio itself, it’s not that much smaller. Our capabilities haven’t been downsized.”

Jolly acknowledged that the level of photography that’s available to the average consumer has become fairly competitive with what professional photographers work with, but high-tech cameras aren’t all that he has to offer.

“Photography is definitely a harder business to be in, now that there are more photos taken and posted online than were probably shot in the past 100 years,” Jolly said. “The technology that most people have today is actually better than what only professionals has about five years ago. But what the technology can’t recreate yet are the benefits of a studio setting and someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Jolly touted studio portraits as an excuse to get everyone dressed in their Sunday best for a group photo, something that the typical Facebook snapshot doesn’t provide, as well as ideal lighting conditions and a photographer who’s been trained in the art of creating attractive visuals.

“We know the proper angles for classic posing, to flatter our subjects,” Jolly said. “There are ancient rules of composing an image, whether it’s a painting or a photograph, to make it pleasing to the eye. We know how to create that sense of flow and feeling, how to tilt someone’s head to convey their personality.”

The contained environment of a studio offers privacy and the ability to control the lighting, but Jolly is no stranger to covering events in motion as well, from football games to the city’s annual father/daughter dance.

“It used to be that, if you wanted that kind of work done, you could go to Ravon, Josten’s or us,” Jolly said. “Now, there’s only us.”

Clear Image is also experienced in art reproductions, photo restorations, transfers of old visual media to new formats, and custom framing.

“We want to do what we can to help you carry your old memories forward into the future,” Jolly said.

For details, visit www.clearimageportrait.com.