FAMILY SESSION PREP GUIDE

LOCATION

• In your home or at an outdoor location - whatever we decide!

• Open your window shades and notice spots in your home with good natural light - this is all we need!

• Don’t worry about the mess - it’s all part of your story. If there are specific items you don’t want in photos, by all means tuck them in a closet or in the basement but you don’t need to hire a cleaning crew!

WARDROBE

• DON’T wear matching outfits

• DON’T wear items with logos or writing

• DON’T wear neon colors

• DO wear coordinating colors

• DO wear clothes you normally wear and are comfortable in

• DO wear vibrant colors & prints (just keep them coordinating, not competing!)

• DO wear textures that move well - linen, silk, knits or anything especially flowy

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION…

There are many options for locations. The first thing to think about: what kind of vibe do you want for your session? I love shooting families in their homes, as that is one of the places you feel the most comfortable and the most yourself. We can make almost any space in your home work, given one constraint: light! Open your shades, turn off your lights and notice the natural light in your home. These are the spaces we will work in.

We can also shoot outside, or a combination of both. Love your backyard? Awesome. We can shoot there. Love the park down the street? That works too. Have a super special to you outdoor spot? We can go there too. Just make sure to tell me before our shoot so we have time to plan and get on the same page.

The most important factor in choosing your location is picking a familiar spot where your family feels comfy, can be their authentic selves, and most importantly: have fun.

If we will be shooting in your home, a few tips:

1. Open your shades, turn your lights off and pay attention to the natural light. This will help determine the best parts of your home and the best time of day for shooting. I can make almost any lighting situation work, but having a sense of this will be super helpful!

2. Tidy anything you don’t want in photos. My love is documentary photography, so capturing things as they are is close to my heart. That being said, if there are stacks of mail and piles of laundry that you don’t want in the background of photos, take this shoot as motivation to finally deal with those things (or just find a different place to hide them, like I do with my own piles).

If you are at a loss for location ideas and feel stuck - reach out to me! Call me (805-816-4973). If you know the vibe you are going for, I will be able to come up with some options. You are not alone!

WHAT TO WEAR

Dress yourself and your family in clothes that feel good and are true to who you are. This is not the time to try a brand new style. We want to be sure your outfits speak to each of your authentic personalities. Things to keep in mind:

• Think about the shoot location - make sure everyone is dressed appropriately for the location

• Do NOT match. Instead, stick to neutral tones that compliment each other.

• Solid colors are best, but patterns can work too. Just make sure there aren’t too many competing patterns.

• Try not to wear clothes with logos, character themes or graphics

• Neutral tones work really well, but if you love color, by all means, mix in some pops of vibrant colors - just don’t overdo it!

• Don’t dress everyone in jeans and white t-shirts

• Wear clothes you can move in. Fabrics like linen, silk, and knits move really well.

• For the mamas - plan your outfit first, and then coordinate everyone else’s outfit

• I love receiving texts or emails with photos of your planned outfits so I can offer feedback! Seriously!

DAY OF

Put on your favorite tunes and do a happy dance! There are only a few things to remember, and the most important one is that we are going to have fun. The next three most important:

• Tell them I’m coming

• Feed and water them before I arrive (including but not limited to: babies, toddlers, preschoolers, school aged kids, middle year kids, teenagers, young adults, and dads)

• Relax

If we are meeting on location, feel free to bring snacks, water, or anything else that you might need. For this specific adventure, better to be prepared than to not have something you might need on hand. If you have little ones, a change of clothes is a good idea, because, lets be real - kids are kids.

Dress for the weather.

If you have mid year kids or teenagers, give them a good pep talk, tell them they’re beautiful, remind them there will be no forced smiles - that they just have to be who they are in this moment, and tell them they will be grateful to have these photos 20 years from now.

AFTER THE SESSION

After your session, I will get to work on culling your images down to the very best of the best (typically between 40-60 images/session, then editing those images and getting them up into your gallery. Once they're ready, I'll be in touch to schedule your 24-hour slideshow window. When you get the slideshow link, I really encourage you to make an event of it! Queue it up on your tv or a large computer screen and gather the whole family around (sound up!)... the first time you see your photos is always the best. Once you've selected and paid for your collection, your gallery will open for thirty days, pre loaded with your print credit and set for you to download the number of files that corresponds with your collection. 

Downloading your files: 

Once you've decided which images you'd like to use for your download credit (no need to choose if you go with collection C), I'd encourage you to do that immediately. The process is simple: select the images and use the down arrow in the upper right corner of your gallery - click on that and the system will walk you through the download process. The images will download as a zip file, which you can double-click on to expand. I suggest you make a second copy of the expanded files, then save the two copies to two different locations - I generally recommend that one copy be saved to an easily accessible drive (either on your computer or on an external hard drive), and that the other get saved to the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.). 

Copyrights (and wrongs): 

Once you've got your digital files in hand, you are free to print them when, where, and as often as you wish - you can use them to make holiday cards, share on your social media pages or personal blog, etc. The only things you can't do are related to the resale of your photos or use for commercial/business purposes. For instance, if you authored a book, you'd need additional permission to use one of the photos on the dust jacket, and you wouldn't be able to enter one of the photos into a contest and win prize money for it. Otherwise, you've got free reign. 

Printing your images: 

While everything that I offer in my store is printed in professional labs and guaranteed to be beautiful, I also recognize that you may want to print your images yourself, and thanks to those digital files, you absolutely can! I recommend mpix.com for prints. Be sure to de-select any color correction options, and be sure to upload the original files you downloaded, not copies. The files you receive from me should allow you to print up to 20x30" at minimum. 

COLLECTION A - $950

• 30 day access to your custom gallery and shop

• choice of 10 high resolution digital files with print release 

• $100 gift credit good toward your choice of anything in the gallery store: prints, frames, albums, etc. 

COLLECTION B - $1200

• 30 day access to your custom gallery and shop

• choice of 20 high resolution digital files with print release 

• $300 gift credit good toward your choice of anything in the gallery store: prints, frames, albums, etc.