My goal when taking photos is always to capture connection and joy.
My next goal is to help my families to choose their favorite photos and to order professional prints for them. I know it’s easy to order from places like Walgreens or Costco, but their quality isn’t so great. Plus…it can be hard to narrow down your favorites and to know what sizes to print.
That’s why my full sessions include an at-home consultation where I help my clients to choose their photos to keep and which to print. I then do the ordering for them through the amazing professional lab I use and they have heirloom artwork ready to hang on their walls within a couple of weeks of our photo session.
When you book a full session with me I will come to your home to help you choose your favorite photos plus the best ones to print and to put on your wall as art. Because photos are meant to be seen. And not just seen once in a while when you open up the digital files or see a Facebook memory. The beautiful ones you planned for, shopped for, showed up for, that I take for you, need to be displayed in your home!
I always aim to catch joy and connection in my photos and that is definitely what belongs as artwork in your home
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If this was your family how would you, and your children, feel seeing this photo on your wall everyday?
So, what is a family portrait session like with me from start to finish?
Well, first I will make sure to say hi to everybody so I’m not a stranger with a camera! I say hi to the kids usually before they come out of the car because I am truly happy to see them! I love meeting new children and getting them ready for photos
. When people are repeat clients I get to see how much they’ve grown and guess the kids’ ages which I usually “over-estimate” by about 20 years
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Next, I will tell you how my session flow works, but that if it doesn’t go as planned it’s still ok! I usually start with the whole family because the kids want to stay close to their parents until they see that I am actually fun and nice. Then we move on to different groupings of kids and parents and kids alone.
I try to make every session fun and to listen to the kids (and dads sometimes!) if they express discomfort so that I can help them to feel comfortable. I am definitely patient and I’m not afraid to act silly to get natural smiles. I always try to add some movement photos towards the end of the session to let the kids move and have fun.
So, here’s the problem I was finding in the past: I would see my clients again after a few months or a year and they would say, “We love the photos you took but I haven’t gotten them printed yet!” I heard this over and over and knew I needed to extend my services into In Person Sales so that my clients would have a complete experience ending in artwork on their walls.
In Person Sales is a business term and I don’t love the name so much because it has the word “sales” in it. I don’t sell, I educate my clients on their options. When left alone to decide it can be overwhelming. How many photos to print, what sizes, where to put them? I don’t want your experience with me to end up stressful and end up with your photos hidden on your computer.
So all full sessions with me end with me coming to your home (zoom is an option too!) to show you your curated gallery and to help you choose your favorites to keep, the ones to print and enlarge and even where to hang them in your home so you can enjoy them within a few weeks of our time together!
