What can I expect during a session?

I hope you’ll have fun and be relaxed.  Many people feel nervous at the beginning of a photoshoot and that’s normal. Throughout most of our time together I will position and pose you in flattering and meaningful ways.  There are moments in sessions when I invite the client to ignore me and instead talk/gaze/embrace/etc. and during those moments I don’t do as much guidance, but instead, I’ll capture those natural moments.

For family sessions I follow the kids’ lead and stay upbeat and happy.   I try not to force smiles or tell them to “Say Cheese!”  If they need a break; we take a break.  If the perfect posed portrait isn’t working then I encourage families to play and I capture the candid, happy, natural moments.  Once they relax, we try again for the posed portraits.  If they still don’t cooperate then we will go back to capturing their genuine expressions, moments, laughter, and interactions.  I may invite you to play by tickling, tossing a child *very carefully* into the air, walking, talking, telling jokes, or making silly faces.

What should I wear?

 
Remember, rules are meant to be broken!  But these are some of my personal preferences and helpful guidelines:

4. Please wear layers (shirts under sweaters, leggings under patterned skirts), and bring in textures. Do not be afraid of patterns!! Throw in 1-2 different patterns and it will look wonderful. Just don’t have it too busy by your face.  Kids’ outfits can be more busy than the parents.

5. Keep it comfortable.

6. Accessorize? Yes! Please wear fun shoes, jewelry, hair accessories, scarves and brimless hats. It’s hard to overdo it in this area.

7. Wear colors that you would love to see hanging on your walls!

8.  If you plan to do a warddrobe change (like in a senior portrait session or engagement session) I often advise to have one dressy outfit and one casual outfit.  It’s nice to mix things up.

Where will our photoshoot take place?

What happens after the session and how do we get our pictures?

After our time together, I go through all your pictures and choose the best.  I’ll edit each one individually enhancing certain features, removing blemishes, smoothing skin, brightening eyes, removing distracting things in the background, and converting some to black and white.  About two weeks after a portrait session and one month after a wedding I will upload your completed images to an online gallery where you can view and share your pictures immediately.  I will also mail you a USB drive with two sets of the same images.  One set will be the full resolution images and one set will be resized and sharpened for web usage.  Always use the full resolution images when printing and use the resized set of pictures for social media, websites, etc.

What type of payment do you accept?

Payment is due the day of a portrait session via check or cash.  I do accept PayPal but we add a 3% fee to offset the PayPal processing fee.

For weddings and events we ask for a 25% deposit to reserve your date and final payment is due one week prior to the event.

How far in advance should I book?

The sooner the better!  I typically book 1 – 2 months in advance for portrait sessions.  However, my schedule is quite flexible so if you’re on a tight time frame I’m often able to squeeze people in.

For people traveling to the area I often recommend booking a session at the beginning of your trip so if we need to cancel because of bad weather we’ll hopefully still be able to find a time to reschedule before your vacation ends.

What if it rains?

No problem!  It happens.  We’ll try to find a time to reschedule.  I usually schedule photoshoots and weddings on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  So, my Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays are often open and if needs be I can shoot on those dates.  I don’t work on Sundays.

If you still have questions please contact Alicia through our online contact form or via email: alicia@thatsaprettypicture.com.  Thanks!