BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:

Bethany Kelly didn’t just have to learn the art of photography when she went to work at the Classic Kids studio in Newport Beach. She also had to learn the monkey show.

The studio on Westcliff Drive specializes in portraits of children and their family members — meaning that the photographers sometimes have to work extra hard to keep the young ones focused. Sometimes, Kelly and head photo artist Michelle Tingler bring out a ball or a rubber worm to enliven the shoot. When the situation calls for more, they sing, dance and act as zany as possible while handling expensive equipment.

And then there’s the monkey show. To entertain kids around preschool age, the photographers put on a two-woman act in which Tingler screeches like a monkey while Kelly does a simian dance. It wasn’t a skill Kelly expected to have to master to become a photographer’s assistant, but with the shop doing steady business, it must be working.

“You’ve got to have confidence in that monkey,” Tingler said during a break between shoots Friday.

“No shame,” Kelly added.

The artists’ shenanigans are the only silly thing about Classic Kids, which produces lush black-and-white portraits that families often frame on the walls of their homes. The studio takes all its pictures with cameras that use film and prints the images on handmade cotton-fiber paper.

Classic Kids operates nine locations nationwide in Illinois, Connecticut, New York and California, with the Newport Beach studio the only one in Orange County. Danielle Mertens of Laguna Beach, who brought her 3-year-old daughter and 4-year-old nephew in for a shoot Friday, said she had come to Classic Kids for pictures at least twice before. She loved the images for their artistic quality, she said, but also appreciated the studio’s kid-friendly style.

“It’s really hard to work with kids to get something that’s continually catching their attention,” Mertens said. “We’ve never had them crying in here and getting bored.”

Tingler and Kelly specialize in pictures of children, but service other ages as well. One of Classic Kids’ most popular offerings, Tingler said, is “baby parts,” in which the photographers capture isolated parts of a baby’s body — ears, feet, yawning mouths — and frame them together.

“People are amazed,” Kelly said. “One lady called and said she has a hard time getting one photo of her 2-year-old daughter.”

LOCATION: 1729 Westcliff Drive, Newport Beach

HOURS: 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

SPECIALTY: Black-and-white photographs of children and families

CONTACT: (949) 642-0200

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.