9 FAQ's for Family Portrait Sessions
Curious about the details of booking a family session?
Let’s take the mystery out of it today!
One of the HARDEST parts of this job is this shiny screen between myself and YOU, my darling readers and clients!
Admittedly, I am an extrovert. Through and through. I am at my best when I am surrounded by people that are living and loving. So, it is extremely difficult to convey my loud, sparkly personality through this screen. I wish I could reach through and have coffee with each of you, see your faces as you read, hear your thoughts about what you’re taking in.
Alas, I shall muddy through expressing myself as best I can with the written (er, typed) words.
I know YOU as a client (even if you’re not MY client…) have a TON of questions.
Sometimes, they’re easy like:
Do you require a deposit?
But sometimes they’re much harder to even ask:
What if my children are AWFUL?
To help and alleviate some of your concerns and worries, I have compiled the TOP 9 frequently asked questions for Family Lifestyle Photography. Give them a read through, and let me know below if there is something YOU would add on to this list!
{Disclaimer: These are as generic as I can make them, however, in photography different artists have different versions of what they do. I am going to use “patty the pro” when I am discussing what other photographers may do. She is fictional- no harm to her!}
It is easy to let yourself get pulled into the comparison game here. I hear SO many of my beautiful clients say this phrase:
“I love the flowy dresses you photograph, but my arms are AWFUL and I would never look good in that…”
This attitude crushes my soul.
EVERY woman deserves to feel beautiful when shes surrounded by her family. You don’t need to rock a size XS maxi dress to have gorgeous images but there are a few things you need to follow to pull together a “Pinterest worthy” styling to your session.
1) Choose your clothes to match your home. You are creating images to print and convert to art in your home. Coordinate it with colors!
2) “Choose 2 and pop idea”: Two neutrals, one pop of color.
3) Choose fabrics with movement! They catch the wind, your little one snuggles up in them, they flow off your body beautifully depending on the way you move.
4) Add texture! Use sweaters, tights, accessories … anything! Bring in some different textures.
I use an online styling/shopping site with my clients called Style and Select. It is magical. However, you can create your own pull together by laying everything out on your bed and mix and matching. There will be an ENTIRE blog post written on this difficult topic { LINK HERE } if you need more help!
Easy… GOLDEN HOUR!
This is the time of day 1 hour after sunrise or 1 hour before sunset. The light rays are longer, the shadows are more even, the quality of light is glowy, warm, and yellow. I get SUPER nerdy about the light quality in 5 minute increments during sessions because it changes at least 10 times between start and end of my sunset sessions. I just love the way light wraps around my families, glitters through trees and creates breathtaking sunsets, so i will ONLY shoot outside at Golden Hour.
Now- a good photographer can get amazing images ANY time in ANY light, so if your schedule is very specific, that shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Also, if you are shooting in your home or somewhere inside, you can shoot almost any time of day with amazing lighting and results. However, my DREAM time is that magical hour between evening and sunset.
Bribes, bribes, bribes… I joke, I joke.
I ask my clients to keep it simple and bring these FEW things:
water, small snacks, wipes, and themselves.
I don’t use props, I bring everything we will need but it is nice to have some comfort things for your littles. If you have something incredibly special like a family quilt, or a raggedy bunny for your youngest by all means BRING IT. However, you need literally NOTHING to create beautiful imagery.
Honestly, I would be extremely surprised if they didn’t. Children are masters of knowing when something is expected of them and then doing the EXACT opposite thing. Not their fault, it is just totally their nature.
That is why, at least at MY sessions, play and laughter and movement is celebrated. I want your kids to run because it fills their movements with joy. I want you to snuggle your infant, because the look on your face is ethereal…
Most family photographers have a certain amount of poses that they like to do and there are BIG reasons for that.
1) Those are the most flattering
2) You can get everyone looking at you at the same time
3) They showcase each member of your family in a nice way.
4) It is easy to get everyone is perfect focus when no-one is moving.
On the other hand, we all know that life is NOT perfect. I am a strong believer in experiences. I am sure every one of you can describe (in full detail) at least ONE of your photo sessions that went awry. Either when you were small, or now that your 3 year old wanted NOTHING to do with the camera. When you look at your images, I want you to FEEL pride and joy. I want you to remember that moment when your hubby leaned in and whispered “I’m so glad we have our beautiful kiddos.” I don’t want your images to conjure up any negative experiences or feelings of frustration because your barely toddler baby wouldn’t look at the camera.
Now, I could write a BOOK about this topic and why I am “anti pose” but let’s suffice it to say that a photographer should be able to capture breathtaking imagery for you at ANY time, even on the off moments where you are just gathering a huge bouquet of shells from your wild toddler. THOSE are the magical moments for me and I encourage you to look away from me and towards your babies because I want and cherish connection. Not everyone does. And that’s okay too…
If, and let’s be serious here when, your child misbehaves I will step away, focus on another child or group, try and distract them to something else or photograph you comforting them afterwards. I pace my sessions at “toddler speed” and shoot fast so that these long times of STAND STILL AND SMILE are gone.
Short answer: You will be. And that’s okay.
Long answer: Most photographers will know exactly how to pose you and how to prompt emotion from you that they’re looking for. I talk CONSTANTLY to my clients because I never want them to worry about being awkward. I use a long series of prompts and talking points to pull connection and emotion out of my sessions. However, if your photographer doesn’t do that- here’s how you can feel comfortable and beautiful in front of the lens.
1) Get CLOSER- vacuum out the space between you and whomever is in the photograph with you. It translates into intimacy.
2) Look near the camera, but not at. Most 3/4 profiles are the most flattering silhouettes of your face.
3) Move a bunch but do it in tiny movements. Brush the hair from your face, touch his nose, kiss their fingers, arch your eyebrow, change hand positions. Keep moving- it makes you appear comfortable and fluid, not stiff and awkward.
4) Don’t be afraid to BE YOU. If your husband always nibbles your nose and you LOVE it, do it in front of the camera. If your toddler always plays with your earrings when you hold them, do it in front of the camera. That is how you add your own moments and story to the session.
Most are about an hour. I alot 75 minutes for mine because sometimes it just IS that good and no-one wants to leave. An hour may seems like a long time, but there is so much to do and document and photograph that the time FLIES by. Trust me.
My normal delivery time is 2-3 weeks. I edit sneaks in 4 days. That is not the “norm” in the industry, as you may have Patty the Pro who doesn’t edit her images and gets them back to you in 2 days tops. Or, the other Patty who can’t deliver a gallery in under a month. Here are some reasons why the wait is necessary.
1) We are transforming your images into something beautiful. All that post processing takes TIME.
2) We are having a hard time limiting the images in your gallery to the TRULY great ones. I cannot cull to save my life. Why? I am a detail and moment photographer and it is painful for me to cut most of my images out of a gallery. THIS process takes me the longest out of all the things I do afterwards.
3) Our workflow afterwards is very time consuming. Our job doesn’t end when we get in the car after the session. I often joke with my clients that the shoot is 25% of the work for me. Here’s what I mean… (again, CYA here- not everyone does this amount of work or marketing or extra stuff… but i do.)
Session with my gorgeous clients~ 1 hour
Moving the images off my cards/camera~ 2 hours
Transferring them into my editing program~ 30 minutes
Culling and choosing which images ~ anywhere from 1 hour to 3 days… it’s a real problem for me!
Editing Sneaks ~ 2 hours (longer if we have to photoshop drool or cereal off faces ;-)
Uploading sneaks and sending them to client~ 1 hour
Writing social media posts, blog posts, etc… ~ 4 hours
Responding to all the love on your social media pages ~ who knows?
Editing the bulk of your gallery ~ 3 hours up to 3 days.
Creating the slideshow or family film from the gallery~ 6 hours.
Uploading the gallery to the internets ~ 1-3 hours
Total: 24 hours of work ( conservatively)
There is more *probably that I am leaving out… but that is why we charge what we do, and why it takes “so” long to get your gallery. It’s not just about taking them off the camera. But it is WORTH it to see you cry, or hear your reviews, or see you showing everyone you know because you feel so beautiful and in love. So worth it, sweet friend.
The sky really is the limit here… it seems that you can put your images on ANYTHING now! (I even saw custom socks you can make with your face on them!)
It used to be that each photographer had a “package” and you chose images and numbers and recieved a certain amount of prints. Nowadays, that is NOT the case. While some photographers still offer IPS (in person sales), A LOT do not. There are so many amazing retail based printers and photo companies out there now, that you do not necessarily have to go through a pro lab. Mpix, Artisan State, and Shutterfly are my absolute favorites. Once you download your images you should have the right to print them wherever you choose. I am writing another blog post on WHAT to do with the images, and come amazingly creative ideas that some of my clients have come up with later but, here’s a capsule view for you:
Wood Prints,
Metallic Poster Prints,
Acryllic blocks,
Albums,
Prints on a photo line
Canvases
Cards
Mommy Cards
Social media albums
Chatbooks…
Just do me one tiny, eensy favor… as tempting as it is to get your photos back immediately, DO NOT take them to Walgreens, CVS, Walmart… those places have machines that are calibrated to spit out cell phone pics- not professionally edited images and the quality WILL NOT make you happy. Just trust me on this. Please.
With me, YES! As long as you tag me and give “PC” (photo credit) to the studio because I am proud of my work and I want you to be as well. For other photographers, check your contract. If it doesn’t say… ASK. If they don’t answer, share and MAKE SURE to give them proper credit. A lot of our business comes from social media nowadays and it is a HUGE blessing and help to photographers to see where their work is being shown.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this read, and if any other burning questions come to mind- shoot me an email, I’d love to help!
