FAMILY SESSION GUIDE Hello, hello! I am so happy that you have booked a session with me. I can t wait to meet your beautiful family and create some gorgeous memories for you. I am so grateful that you chose me; we are going to have so much fun. Now what? Now that you are booked and on the calendar, you are probably wondering what s next. Let me answer a few of your questions that most clients have after booking. BEFORE THE SHOOT How will I know where to meet you?
About a week before your session, you will receive an email with the exact meeting location. Often, I am still researching to find a fabulous and unique location or setting. (If you have any ideas, I m all ears.) Day of, I will send a GPS pin to your phone of the exact location if necessary. What should I expect at my session? Your 45 minute session is a time for me to capture your family photos and to have fun. Yes, I said have FUN! I believe that when you are having fun and enjoying yourself, your photos will reflect it. Come to your session relaxed and ready to have a good time. I try my hardest to make you comfortable and put you at ease. You ll forget that we are even taking pictures. Sessions are intentionally fast paced. Keeping the little people happy is my numbero uno priority, so we do lots of moving around. We walk, stand, sit on the ground, jump, and play. What to wear? What to wear, what to wear? This is the number one question I get. I completely understand. (I freak out myself as soon as I book a session and pay my deposit too.)
I promise you, there is no need to panic. The number one thing that I want you to remember is that comfort is more important than anything else. If you or your child is not comfortable, it will show in the images. Don t sweat it - you are a gorg family, no matter what you wear. The goal is to get an accurate representation of your family, that shows off your personality. You guys love each other, that s what we want to showcase. Some tips for picking out clothing: Color - Khaki and white shirts are classic, but they are also I m just going to say it, a little boring. Color brightens skin tones, brings out eye color, and creates vibrant focal points. Jewel tones are my personal favorite and think that kids especially look magnificent in bright colors. Royal blue, red, purple, turquoise, green, orange, yellow, bright pinks - these colors look amazing in photos. If you don t normally wear color, black or white is more of your thing, that s great too. (And will also look beautiful.) All that really matters is that you are happy and comfortable in your clothes.
Think of it as one big outfit - I find that the easiest way to coordinate clothing for a family is to pick one outfit and build the entire family s wardrobe around that. It isn t about being matchy, it s about complementing and coordinating. More often than not I choose my outfit (let s be honest, we all start with the mom s outfit) and then I will pick out colors from what I am wearing and pull it into the rest of my family s clothing. I will then put all of our outfits on the bed and make sure that there isn t anything clashing or too busy. Be mindful of conflicting patterns. I am going to ask you to sit on the ground, run, jump, play, scrunch, and walk. It is how we get fun and candid images. If we are on the beach or in the woods, we might have to walk through sand or thick grass, so be mindful of the shoes that you are wearing as well. (You can always bring some heels and put them on for the shot.) Just keep this in mind when you are getting dressed. Some of my favorite places to find clothing inspiration: Gap JCrew Anthropologie Boden Forever 21 Kids Zara Lands End Vineyard Vines Abercrombie Kids DAY OF THE SHOOT My main goal is to make having family photos done fun and easy. I remember being a kid and dreading family portrait day. Everyone was tense and stiff. We were wearing fancy outfits and my mom would tell us to smile through gritted teeth. I want our time together to be the opposite of that. Painless. We will chat for a minute or two, walk to our first location and get started. We will tell corny jokes, adventure a little bit, dance like crazy people, and be really, really, silly. It s a lot of fun. These sessions are intentionally short. We have 45 minutes from hello to goodbye and we will use every second of it. It is really important that you are on time. It s only fair to my other clients to honor the time slot that they chose, so it if you are late it will cut into our session time. Give yourself some extra time to get to the location, have a little snack, and you will be all set for a good time.
If you should need to get in touch with me day of, you can reach me via text at 916.893.8305. What if it is raining? Unless it is absolutely pouring, we will still have our session. Cloudy days and light drizzles make for great pictures. Wear some rainboots and get ready to stomp in some puddles. What do we do? Be yourselves. My most cherished family photos are the ones where we are engaged or interacting with each other. Not every picture needs to have everyone looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. If you are having fun and loving on each other, your eyes will be on your family members and your smile with be natural. These are the photographs that you will want to hang on your walls because they show the love you have for each other. So pick up your babies. Throw them in the air. Kiss your husband. Hug your tween. Tell a joke. Snuggle. Play. Just have fun. I ll take care of the rest.
AFTER THE SHOOT When will I get my photos? I try my absolute best to get your photos back to you within three weeks from the date of your session. If you have not received your photos within four weeks, please send a quick reminder email, we will send them again immediately. Sometimes email gets lost or stuck in a spam folder. How do I get my photos? When your photos have been edited and are ready for download, you will be sent an invitation to view and download 20-30 pictures. You will receive a PIN and will be able to download the high resolution images to your own computer. You will be able to share and view your images using a phone or tablet, but will want to download them to a laptop or desktop computer. The download button is located underneath the header in the share bar. It looks like an arrow pointing downward. You will need to enter your email address and the PIN number that was included in the invitation. You will then receive a download link via email. These files are very large, so they may take some time to download. The link will available for two weeks. If you should miss the window, the link can be re-sent, however the turnaround may be a bit longer. Once you have downloaded your photos, I suggest you back them up to a different location. Burn them to a CD, an external hard drive, or back them up to the cloud. You will be so grateful that you did if your computer should ever crash. (I speak from experience.) May I share my photos online? Absolutely, 100%, YES! Nothing makes me happier than to see clients sharing their images with family and friends. Feel free to use them on Facebook, Instagram, your blog, wherever you like. Where can I get my photos printed? I offer low price high quality printing through the shop page in your gallery, and you are welcome to order prints directly from me. These photos are professionally printed and are absolutely beautiful. You can place your order and the images will be shipped directly to you. Anyone that you share the gallery with is able to order.
You may also print your images using any vendor you choose. Included in the gallery is a photo release for you to use. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. It is my absolute honor to be able to do what I love to do - take photos of you and your beautiful family. Thank you so much for the incredible opportunity. I can t wait to get to know you and your family. Bree bree@breehesterphotography.com