What’s really involved in a 1-hour Portrait Session?

“We just need, like, ONE good photo for our Christmas card”

I hear this a lot. People are after that one perfect image of their whole family looking pinterest-worthy for their holiday cards. Sure, we can do that.

And you know that for you to be photo-ready you have to shop for the perfect outfits, discover one kid has grown about 6 inches and make an emergency trip to the mall…. make a hair appointment, etc etc. And while I am not doing those particular things, there is still a lot that I do to prepare before the session and then steps that I go through every time to ensure you have the very best portraits in the end.

There’s a whole lot that goes on behind the scenes over here to make sure all my families LOVE their final images. Here’s a quick peek into the workflow that I follow for every family, senior or engagement session 🙂

• An inquiry come in -yay! Whether I’ve worked with you before or not, I make sure you are in my software so that I can keep up with all of our correspondence.
• I send you all the basic info (pricing, availability etc)
• Next we chat by phone (someday we’ll go back to in person meetings) so I can get a sense of your wish list and your style – this helps me create the perfect images just for you.
• I prepare an agreement and invoice and send those over so you know exactly what to expect from me through the whole process
  Here’s also where I follow you on IG so I can get a better sense of who you are so I can really bring your personality out in your portraits.
• Pre-session check in to make sure we’re all ready to go. I can even help with wardrobe styling!
• Session day! Woo Hoo!
• Post session begins for me with culling (going through and pulling out the very best images) and then editing your images for proof presentation
• I’ll create wall gallery mock ups and maybe even an album design mock up if that’s something in which you are interested.
• We’ll touch base and set up a time to get together (again, used to be in person, now it’s virtual) to review your proofs and make decisions about your image presentations
• Meeting Time! You’ll be thrilled with all the gorgeous portraits – and you’ll want them all (promise!) but I’m there to help you figure out which to frame for your walls and which album cover material will go best in your home.
• On to product fulfillment! There’s time spent retouching and preparing the image files for the printer – and then uploading everything.
• At this point, I’m also preparing any social media posts that I might have planned for your session.
• Your product is HERE! I’ll call you and set up a time to meet up for delivery.
• Any social media posts will go up and you’ll get tagged so all your friends can see your gorgeousness (unless it’s for a card, or gift, in which case we won’t post it).
• Whew!

So, you see – while I could grab my camera and rush out the door, snap a few pics and call it a day, I don’t feel like that really provides you the level of service you deserve. These are important memories we’re talking about here and I want you to know that you are taken care of through the whole process.

So, when you are ready for a fantastic portrait experience, from start to finish – let me know. I’ve got you 🙂