Booking
To book a session, you can send me a quick email or use the contact form! Tell me what you're looking for in a session, how many are in your family and the kids ages. After I learn a little bit about you and your family, I’ll help you choose a location and then before the shoot we will talk about the details. What photos are most important to you? Are there any specific poses you already adore that I can capture?
Your Session
Sessions typically last 1-2 hours. Your family session will be held on location using natural light. Sessions are done 1 to 2 hours after sunrise or before sunset, also known as the "golden hour" because of the fabulous lighting. My style of photography is lifestyle, also called photo-journalistic. I will take some "posed" pictures, but I will encourage you and your family to just interact and have fun together so I can capture some natural moments as well. You can bring books to read to them, tell jokes, have a tickle fight- whatever you normally do at home to have fun! These are always the most loved images. I try to keep the atmosphere of the shoot light and fun, kids "perform" when they aren't under pressure to give a perfect smile at all times. I follow the lead of the family and the children for the session. I want to capture you just as you are!
What to Wear!?
There are really no rules here, most importantly everyone should be comfortable. It will be hard to get the little kiddies to smile if they feel itchy or uncomfortable! :) Try to avoid clashing patterns and colors. I suggest picking a few basic colors and try to have everyone base their clothes around those colors, instead of matching all the same color. Now my favorite, the trouble with white... If possible, please try to stay away from all white tops or bottoms. We think of white as clean and classic, and easy to coordinate. But honestly, it’s not that great for portraits. First off, since our eye is drawn to the brightest/lightest part of a portrait, white outfits will compete with our faces for attention. Second, it’s not slimming. I would also encourage you to stay away from vivid greens, to make sure you aren't lost in the grass or trees outside. The number one cause of clothing clash is pattern clash. If you are not comfortable coordinating patterns, then I suggest sticking with solids. Vary the tones or textures to add interest. To help decide if you will all look fabulous together, lay each outfit out on your bed and look at them all together as a group and ask yourself: How do these tie together? Then, is there any one outfit that your eye is immediately drawn to? If so, that will be the outfit that catches the eye of whoever views your portrait. Now, you may WANT this to happen (such as focusing the attention on your young child) but for most families, this isn’t ideal, so pull that outfit out and try another one. I am also glad to offer advice for anyone who is having trouble picking outfits- feel free to use your phones camera and send me a picture, and I'll tell you what I think! For babies that are in the sitting up stage, avoid shoes. It looks much better to have their piggies out! Hats and scarves can add a fun pop of color, and can easily be switched out!
After your Session
Sit back and relax! I’ll be hard at work editing your images and choosing the best ones to present to you. I know you’re anxious, so I will provide you with a very brief sneak peak of what I captured within 24 hours of your session. You will find your sneak peak on my Facebook page where you can tag yourself and share with family members! 2 weeks after your session, I will put the rest of the images on Facebook and you will receive a disc with the high-res edited photos on it. From there you can choose which ones you want to print, frame, etc.