After you decide that I am the photographer for your family we will have an initial email or phone conversation to go over the details.  We will discuss availability and general location ideas.  It is at that point you will be asked to pay your session fee in full to be placed on my calendar.   You are always welcome at any point to discuss with me your inspirations for the shoot, themes, and occasion for the shoot. 

family portrait preparation

Look at your home- what colors are on your wall?  what is the pop of color that shows up throughout your home?  Do you have tan walls, brown couches and pops of red? or did you pop blue?  Are the walls grey? You want to think about your home before you decide on a color theme.  Your location, if a park, will already have green, or if a downtown look- grey, so how can you coordinate your clothing to match your home.  Once you have the color palette down then you decide on the style you would like to wear.  Are you going to be fancy, casual, vintage?  This was the hard part!  Let me know your colors and I will bring a couple things we may need that will not clash with what you are wearing.

Dads and kids need to be properly bribed.  Dads especially.  If they are excited about the shoot than they will get the kids excited too!  His bribe is reliant upon the kids behavior!  So have dad happy well fed and properly bribed.  Little marshmallows and small appropriate snacks are needed to keep the little ones happy.  Teenagers are as bad as dad- have them properly bribed as well.  

Bring water to outside sessions.. 

newborn portrait preparation

Newborn babies are best photographed between 5- 10 days. Newborn sessions after 14 days are very hard- but never turned away.  I do believe that every newborn deserves the chance to wow us with portraits!   Newborns should be bathed the night before- never on the morning of.  Bring a pacifier.  Even if you plan to never use one again, I need a way to soothe your baby in between posing and feedings as I will be disturbing them often and touching their cheeks which is a cue to feeding time.  Please give your baby a long big feed before you leave, even if it not on the schedule. This way we are not spending the first 30-45 minutes of the session feeding baby and only topping baby off if needed. Newborns need to arrive in a zipper or snap down outfit so I can easily undress them.  Please have extra disposable diapers and wipes with you even if you choose to use clothe- clothe are bulky and I want a streamline fit while they are wrapped. Breastfeeding mothers- Please try your best to avoid fast-food, gassy foods (like broccoli) and spicy foods the day before and the day of your session to maximize baby’s comfort.  If you have any special outfits, knitted outfits, blankets, keepsakes, or stuffed animal you want in your images have them ready.  

Parents will need two tops each- a black top and and a pretty neutral colored top.  You may want to bring an extra set as babies like to go potty at the worse of times.  If baby has siblings they will need one neutral colored outfit.  I take the sibling and family images first- when siblings are young because they are most important and then dad and siblings can play after.  You will find that the family portion of the newborn session can be waived, but that is less images to choose from and the session fee will not be discounted. 

Babies under 3 months (or who can not hold their head up) are to be placed in a newborn session.  They can be wrapped with wraps I provide or wear outfits from your closet. 

My Newborn Props that am constantly adding to:  buckets, baskets, bowls, wraps, bonnets, tieback, and stuffed animals.  Please bring any prop or basket or idea to your session and we will try together to capture the image you have in mind within safety and ability. 

Milestone  and Senior portrait preparation

Any milestone will need some basic props like blankets and baskets.  I have some that I bring.  Anything themed or special you have in mind please share with me and together we can come up with the props we will need to make the shoot a success.  

I suggest bringing more than one outfit.  Something fun and then something classic and timeless.  The image of the classically dressed baby will hang on everyone's wall forever. 

Bring special babies, blankets, and books to be in your images. This stage carrying that dinosaur everywhere will not last forever.  

If you are doing a cake smash make sure you order your cake a week in advance.  Cakes are not included. 

Several looks for the senior is needed!  It makes it fun and gives us a lot to play with!

After Your Session! 

After your session you will be presented with an online gallery of the session to view and select the portraits you would like to purchase.  That gallery will be active for no longer than 4 hours to make your selections. You will then receive an invoice to pay for your selected images via PayPal or you may pay with cash or the cash app.  In July, print orders will be added, and digital portraits will be raised significantly. You should have your images within 3 weeks if there is prompt response to your invoice.  No retouching or print orders will be started or submitted until the invoice is paid. 

Clients spend between $1650- $280  in digital images purchases.