Preparing for your portrait session

How to prepare

Seniors

Senior pictures are a lasting memento for your parents and you. It's a glimpse of who you are at the beginning of adulthood. It's not about the pose. It's not about the lighting. It's not about the clothes. It's not about the location. It's about YOU.


Whether you feel really confident about what you want and are ready to go, or feel shy and don't know what to do, we'll work to make your portrait be what you want it to be.

Your best preparation is to think about how you see yourself, who you are you at 18, and what you want to say about yourself in a portrait.

Senior pictures should reveal your individual style. We'll work on-site, we'll try things and we'll try some more things. Your pictures won't be like anybody else's pictures because these are yours and they are about you.

Engagements / Weddings

Your engagement / wedding is about you, not about your photographer. I want to photograph your engagement, bridal portraits, and wedding so that if someone wasn't there, they can look at your album and feel as if they spent the day with you. They'll know how you looked... and even better, they'll know how you felt...

The details of photographing a wedding are customized to you. Your wedding photography will reflect your individual plans and your individual style. We'll talk about it at length before the day and make detailed plans about your wishes. My main task will be to take that discussion and create your story so that anyone can read it... especially you, 50, 75, or 100 years from now.

I also highly recommend pre-wedding pictures. No matter what photographer you choose, please have engagement and bridal pictures taken. Pre-wedding portraits provide a study of how you will look on your wedding day, your hairstyle, the details of your dress, hair, and make-up. Although you are photographed on your wedding day, the relaxed atmosphere of the pre-wedding sessions allows for capturing the fine details of you on your special day. This allows the wedding day to become about capturing your expressions, your relationship with your fiancé, and your relationship with your friends, and family.

You need to find a photographer that you feel comfortable with so you won't look fake or stressed in your pictures. You need to be able to make your photographer really understand what you want. We specialize in listening first and photographing you with your desires in mind. We'll do our best to make your wedding portraits match your vision and your needs.

 

Children

Your goal for your professional portraiture session for your child may be to show your child's individual personality, a reserved study, the relationship between you and your child or between siblings, or, simply, capturing an intangible quality of that child's age and interests. Dressing up as a princess or a cowboy, playing with Mommy's jewelry, engaging others through a particular expression or activity, capturing your child painting (the painting and portrait look amazing side by side) and much more are all fleeting moments that we can help you capture forever.

We treat children as capable individuals, with respect, and honor their requests and wishes. In our experience, we find children do better when their parents are relaxed. Our technique is to interact with children and, with their feedback, decide how to best photograph each child. We wait for the unguarded moment and until they are relaxed, then take the picture.

It is a joy to photograph children because they are innocent, wonder-filled and, because they haven't become self-conscious, it is possible to capture their individuality. This means that their entire sitting becomes a true reflection of your child's spirit and personality.

Families

We understand that getting a family together, large or small, is difficult. Some family members never want their pictures taken. Some insist they need to lose weight, to postpone a session because there are more important things to attend to, or that it isn't really important.  However, it's important to remember that family photographs are some of the most treasured pictures you'll ever own, and if you wait too long it may never happen.

Families change all the time. Relationships between grandparents and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, parents and children, and new additions to the family need to be recognized. Families are extraordinarily dynamic and it's essential to capture moments in time that will never be repeated.

Think about scheduling a themed session such as inviting your family for a BBQ, picnic, or a sports match up. Or schedule us to come and capture your family reunion so you can enjoy the day while we capture the memories. These events will create some awesome memories and you will have great portraits to remind you of the fun day.

Our advice is to allow us to help you organize and expedite your family portraits in a low-key, relaxed, and enjoyable setting so that your family's moments will never be lost. Your whole family will be glad you did.