Our Family Photo Session Guide

Welcome

I am so excited to be working with you, and am looking forward to your upcoming session! Photos will always be the most meaningful art you own, so I want you to have the best experience possible. This is a time for you to relax and enjoy yourself while I capture your family in a natural and authentic way. Because my style is relaxed and genuine you can rest assured that your photos will capture you as you really are.

This guide will help you to prepare for your session and get the most out of our time together. I’ve included tips on what to wear, how to select and coordinate colors and patterns, ways to add unique, meaningful touches to your image, as well as how to prepare your spouse and kids. I can’t wait to get started!

Start With What You Love

Do you have a certain color that you really love to wear? Wear it! Do you love dresses? Wear one! Find something that makes you feel beautiful! If you are comfortable and confident in what you’re wearing can make a huge difference in how you feel and how relaxed you are in front of the camera. Still stuck? Here are a few recommended pieces to get you started!

For Mom: Dresses are the most flattering, and photograph beautifully. Dresses with movement add an extra touch of grace and elegance to your photos!

For Dad: Chinos and button-up shirts or henleys look sharp, masculine and tailored in photos. Keep in mind that fitted slacks, as opposed to cargo styles, photograph best.

For Small Children: Same as mom and dad! Don’t forget to accessorize! Little touches like hair accessories, bow ties and suspenders can add the perfect stylistic touch to your photos.

For Older Children: Similar looks to mom and dad with slight differences and more youthful variations can be effective in looking unified.

Coordinating vs Matching

There is an old-fashioned idea floating around that everyone in the picture needs to have on matching clothing. This is not true! Coordinating is far better than matching. Choose colors that look nice together, but don’t fall into the trap that you all need to be wearing the exact same blue shirt, Your photos will be far more interesting with some variation! Add interest to your photos by incorporating plenty of color and/ or patterns. Don’t be afraid of either of these! If you’re overwhelmed with where to start, or wonder “How much is too much?” you might start with a print that you love, and pull in some of the coordinating colors with other pieces.

I always recommend having at least three colors in your palette, let the colors of your home inspire you! Since your home is where your images will be displayed, think about the colors that will coordinate well with your home and style of decor. I also like to recommend that my clients consider the Pantone Color of the Year as well! Because fashion designers utilize the Pantone Color of the year in their design choices for the coming seasons, making selections from these options will usually result in color choices that are fashionable and on trend. The Pantone website will provide you with an array of coordinating colors and hues!

Finish off your look with accessories and layers. This can really make your photos “YOU” and looks fantastic in photos! Consider adding a statement necklace or scarf to your outfit, and for your family, consider accessories such as a vest, belt, jacket, hat, suspenders, headband, etc. Accessories are the befect way to give finishing touch to your look, and they can really set your photos apart.

Things to Avoid

There are a few tones that are less flatteringfor photos that I usually recommend my clients avoid, specifically neon colors, and wearing all white. White tends to wash out most people’s skin tone and isn’t the most flattering. This isn’t to say you can’t have any white on., but it might be best to not make it your principle color of choice for every person in your photo shoot. Neon colors will cast bright colors onto your skin in photos, and can make it difficult to capture your natural skin tones. While neon colors are a lot of fun, it’s best to save them for occasions outside of photo time.

Helping my clients get ready for their photo session si one of my greatest joys! I hope these tips give you some ideas and help you to feel a little more prepared It you have any questions, or even any more tips or ideas, don’t hesitate to ask! Contact me for a list of my client’s favorite place to shop for their photo sessions!

How to Prep Everyone

Checklist for Kids

• Make sure they are rested
• Make sure they are fed
• Tell them what we will be doing, and make it sound exciting!
• Make this exciting for them -consider a reward/something fun afterward
• Let them be little! Just give them grace to be little, and know I will capture their personalities no matter what.

Checklist for Dad

• Make sure he is rested and fed too – Haha! But really…rested and fed applies to the grown-ups too!
• Show him a few of your favorite pictures from my blog/website so he can see the relaxed nature of my work. This will help him know what to expect.
• Let him know that the best thing he can do is to just enjoy his family – and let ME do the work. The pressure is off.
• Let him know how much this means to you, and that you’re glad he is willing to be such a team player for one hour!

Checklist for You!

• Make enough time to prepare on the day of your session, so you don’t feel rushed and anxious.
• Let go of your need for perfection. This is the biggest anxiety for most moms. It’s ok if your kids aren’t “perfect” during our time together.
• Don’t worry about your kids not giving me their “real smiles!” only makes it worse…So, don’t worry. I will work hard to get them laughing and will be sure to capture them at their best!

What to Bring

• Bring comfy shoes for walking between spots
• Snacks for kids (snacks that won’t stain)
• A towel or blotch paper
• Bring along something extra and meaningful – your child’s favorite special toy that you may want to photograph, their favorite quilt, etc.

Final Thoughts

The most important thing for you to remember is to just enjoy each other’s company. Let this be a time that you have fun with one another, tell silly stories, and laugh a lot! Down the road, it won’t matter nearly as much if you were having a bad hair day that day, or if your son wasan’t listening well, on these pictures and remember this moment in time, and how quickly it went.

Pricing

Session Fee 20,000

This session fee price covers our photo session, coordinating locations ranging from public venues such as a park or city street area. Sessions are typically between 60 to 90 minutes. Your session fee is also credited toward your images.

When our images have been fully processed, we can enjoy the images at a photo reveal meeting to select and place orders for a la carte prints or digital images, photo collection packages, or wall art purchases.