What I recommend

• If you’ve booked an outdoor session, once we have a location chosen, keep the environment in mind. Will there be leaves changing colors? Will the surroundings be very green or will you be in colorful wildflowers during spring?

  • If there is going to be a lot of green, I suggest you avoid wearing green that matches the grass or leaves on the trees. That doesn’t mean you can’t use that color as an accent, but we don’t want you blending into the background, we want you to stand out. For the same reason, if you’ll be in wildflowers, I suggest avoiding floral prints.

  • With that said, you don’t want your clothing to stand out too much. We want you to coordinate with your surroundings and look like you belong rather than looking like a sore thumb.

• If you’ve booked an indoor session, consider your home’s colors, style, and decor. Again, you don’t need to match your home’s environment exactly, but you do want your clothing to complement your surroundings (Is your home cozy and comfy or more modern and sleek? Considering these elements can help inform your clothing choices). As a side note, for indoor sessions, shoes are optional.

• If it’s the right time of year, adding layers can add depth and texture to any image (think scarves, sweaters, cardigans, etc.)

• Accessories are another way you can mix in color and add color pops to more neutral clothing or wardrobe choices which will add depth to the photos

• If little girls are wearing skirts or dresses, have them wear bloomers, tights, or shorts underneath so that if they twirl or play, their underwear won’t show in the photos

• While you want to be intentional with your wardrobe choices, try to stay true to your family's personal style. The most important aspect of your wardrobe for your photos is that it helps you feel confident—your confidence and joy will come through in your photos!

What to avoid

• I would suggest staying away from solid black or all white clothing because those extreme shades can throw off the exposure of a photograph (but of course there are exceptions, so if you have a black or white outfit you want to wear, you could shoot me a picture and I can give you my thoughts)

• Neon or very bright colors can reflect onto your face and cause color casting, so stay away from those

• Avoid clothing with graphics/text or distracting logos

• Avoid having everyone "match." Instead, you want to aim to coordinate. You can start with one piece and build from there for the rest of the family.

  • It's usually easiest to start with mom or a girl in the family because men are typically (though not always!) easiest to style.

  • Once you have a piece you want one of you to wear, you can pull from the colors of that outfit. If the outfit you started with has a pattern, start finding complimentary clothing pieces for other family members in the detail colors of that first selection. If it's more of a solid, look for complementing colors that coordinate with that first choice but do not match

• Be sure dad doesn’t keep things like his wallet, keys, and phone in his pockets during the session so there aren’t weird phone-shaped protrusions on his pants in the photos!

Preparing Children

• Make sure the kids and/or babies are fed and as well-rested as possible before your session time (hungry, cranky kids have a tendency to be less than thrilled about photos/everything in general, am I right?)

• I know any time you’re trying to get the whole family dressed and prepared for a special event on time, it can be stressful. However, please try to at least appear relaxed while getting ready and preparing so your kids will also feel relaxed and not stressed during the photo session

• Both before and during your session, please refrain from scolding, yelling at, or disciplining your child. Of course, you know your kid best, however, if possible, we’ll let our session be a window of “letting the small things go,” and we’ll try to stay relaxed and focus on helping little ones have fun during the session

  • Tell your children in advance that someone is going to take photos of the whole family having fun together, snuggling, and hugging/kissing so they know what to expect aren’t caught off guard by a stranger suddenly showing up with a big camera pointing at them!

Other Ways to Prepare

• Consider the time of year and location of your session—you may want to bring bug spray if mosquitos are out, some optional layers that coordinate with your family’s outfits if the weather is chilly or transitional, a hairbrush if it’s windy, and so on.

• Go ahead and save my cell phone number in your phone in case you need to contact me en route: 210 326 3482
  

Before Your Session

• One of the first things I’ll do when your family arrives is introduce myself, talk to your children, and get to know them

  • It’s important for me to develop trust with kids who I’ll be photographing so they can be their authentic selves during the session, and so they don’t feel like their personal space is being invaded

  • Please feel free to message me and let me know if there is anything that would be helpful for me to understand about your child(ren) before the session!

During Your Session

• Get ready to interact with each other! We will do a few “posed” traditional family photographs (everyone smile and look at the camera!), but we will primarily focus on documenting your authentic connections and interactions

  • I’ll prompt you on different ways to interact with each other, but mostly you’ll be focusing on enjoying your time with each other and soaking in the moments

• Babies and kids are unpredictable much of the time (dare I say all of the time?), so while I will be helping prompt you all, we will also go with the flow, so if the kids want to play or dance or pick flowers, we’ll use that as an opportunity to capture some sweet, authentic moments

After Your Session

• After your photo session, I will send you a proofing gallery of your unedited images. You’ll then select which photos you’d like. I’ll edit your selections, then send you your final gallery where you can download your digital images and order high-quality, beautiful prints and products!

• Enjoy, share, frame, post, and cherish your images!