Client Lounge

Welcome!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for choosing me to photograph your memories. I know how valuable your time and investment are and I do not take this privilege lightly.

In order to be as prepared as possible for your upcoming session, please take a look at all the info below. If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or your client portal. I can’t wait to work with you!

Preparing for your session.

This section covers family, maternity, and extended family sessions. If you have scheduled a newborn session, please scroll down to the newborn section.

I am so excited to work with you. I truly believe that capturing our memories is incredibly important, especially as time goes by. My goal is to give you beautiful art that will capture you and your loved ones, exactly as you are, at this time in your life. Please read the below tips to help you best prepare for our session.

LOCATION: Your session will take place at a location of your choice. We will work together to select a location that works best for your family. I have several favorite outdoor locations in the WNY area and am happy to help you choose. I choose these locations based on several factors including light, available space, and the surrounding environment. For these reasons, I do highly recommend using a location I am familiar with. However, I am always happy to be flexible and if you have somewhere in mind, we can work with that!

Check out my blog post HERE for some of my favorite locations.

TIME: For outdoor sessions, I recommend starting approximately 1 hour prior to sunset for the best outdoor light. For indoor sessions, I recommend mid-morning.

For Extended Family Sessions - I understand how tricky it can be to accommodate everyone’s schedules and for these sessions, I can be flexible on times. Please understand that if outdoor sessions are done earlier in the day, the lighting will be different than the golden hour light you may see in my portfolio images.

WHAT TO WEAR: Time for one of the most important questions - wardrobe selection! I know this is a worry that many families have. Here are my best recommendations based on years of experience!

  • Be comfortable. My number 1 recommendation. If you’re not comfortable, it will show in the photos and you’ll be worried about adjusting your clothes the entire time. We don’t want this, we just want you to enjoy being with your family. Comfort is key for both adults and kids!

  • Be Yourself. Now isn’t the time to make a wild fashion change. You want your photos to reflect you and your family.

  • Choose coordinating colors, not matching. If you Google "color schemes for family photos”, you’ll find a bunch of suggestions to get some ideas. I am always happy to help too!

  • Choose colors that reflect your aesthetic. The hope is for some of these photos to be displayed in your home - so think about what may look good hanging on your walls or displayed on your tables!

  • AVOID: Clothing with large logos or letters, bright/florescent colors (these can create unflattering color casts on skin), anything with tiny checkered or lined patterns as these create a weird, wavy effect in photos.

  • Don’t forget to think about your shoes!

  • MATERNITY CLIENTS: I have found that long dresses seem to be most comfortable and allow for easy moving. However, it is completely up to you and what is most important is that you feel beautiful and are comfortable.

  • Check out my BLOG POST for more info on what to wear and please feel free to contact me at any time. I am happy to help and offer suggestions.

Tips for your Kids

  • Adults, keep smiling: Rarely do things in life go exactly as planned and photo sessions with kids are no exception. It’s best to embrace this and go with the flow. Many times, the best photos happen when kids are just being themselves and the adults are looking on, smiling. Kids pretty much look cute no matter what, so if you keep your smile on, we’ll end up with beautiful images.

  • Prepare them ahead of time: Let your entire family know ahead of time what to expect. Tell your children that your family is going to have fun, explore, and be playful together while a photographer takes their photos. Let them know that we will be taking some photos while standing, sitting, and exploring. I find that preparing kids and even spouses ahead of time is very helpful so that everyone knows what to expect.

  • Hanger Management: Make sure your kids eat before the session and bring some favorite dry snacks (so it’s less likely to mess up their outfits).

  • Bring a special small toy or stuffed animal for comfort. Sometimes, these are a big help if a child is feeling nervous.

  • Most importantly, please don’t stress if your kids are running, playing and don’t want to smile. Kids can read their parents’ energy so easily and if you’re stressed about their behavior, they will pick up on it. My best advice is to allow them to just be themselves. Some of the best photos are of kids doing little things unique to them that we might otherwise not remember. This is what is important, even more so than everyone looking at the camera and smiling.

Preparing for your newborn session.

I am so excited to photograph your family and your sweet newborn. Having a baby is a huge life change and I know those early days can be both amazing and very difficult. The time truly does fly by and it’s so wonderful to have some of this time photographed so you can remember how it felt. My newborn sessions are laid back and aim to make it as easy as possible for you and your family during this transition in your lives.

LOCATION: Your session will take place at a location of your choice. Newborn sessions can be done outdoors or in the comfort of your own home.

Check out my blog post HERE for some of my favorite outdoor locations.

TIME: For outdoor sessions, I recommend starting approximately 1 hour prior to sunset for the best outdoor light. For indoor sessions, I recommend mid-morning.

WHAT TO WEAR:

  • Be comfortable. My number 1 recommendation. If you’re not comfortable, it will show in the photos and you’ll be worried about adjusting your clothes the entire time. We don’t want this, we just want you to enjoy being with your family. Comfort is the key for both adults and kids!

  • Be Yourself. Now isn’t the time to make a wild fashion change. You want your photos to reflect you and your family.

  • Choose coordinating colors, not matching. If you Google "color schemes for family photos”, you’ll find a bunch of suggestions to get some ideas. I am always happy to help too!

  • Choose colors that reflect your aesthetic, especially if your session is being done in your home. The hope is for some of these photos to be displayed in your home - so think about what may look good hanging on your walls or displayed on your tables!

    AVOID: Clothing with large logos or letters, bright/florescent colors (these can create unflattering color casts on skin), anything with tiny checkered or lined patterns as these create a weird, wavy effect in photos.

YOUR BABY: I practice baby-led posing, which means that I follow your baby’s lead. If your baby prefers to be in your arms the entire time, that is what we will do. What is important is that we capture this special time in your life. I recommend simple clothing for baby. Also, please gather a few favorite swaddle blankets for your baby to be wrapped in. If possible, I recommend feeding your baby about 15 minutes prior to my arrival. If we need to take breaks for changing or feeding, that is completely fine.

SIBLINGS: If you have other small children, I typically try to get any photos that include them done in the beginning of the session. Children tend to lose interest quickly, especially if they are very young. I have 3 young boys of my own and I completely understand how big of a change this is for them and your whole family. You can prepare them by letting them know a photographer is coming to visit and take some photos of your family so that they are expecting it and not surprised. And please, do not worry much about how they are behaving. Very little surprises me with kids and typically the adults just going with the flow makes sessions with young children much easier.

YOUR HOUSE: If your session is in-home, please do not feel like you have to have a spotless house. I know what it’s like having a newborn and cleaning should be one of the last things on your mind. Many times, you won’t even see portions of the room in your photos. We can easily move things out of the camera frame. I often utilize the nursery, master bedroom, and couches for photos.

What to expect after your session

AFTER THE SESSION: After your session, I will get to work on culling your images down to the very best of the best (a minimum of 50 images, usually more), then editing those images and getting them up into your gallery. Once they're ready, I'll be in touch with the link to your online gallery. Your online gallery will be hosted on my website for 2 months.

SLIDESHOW: Your online gallery will come with a slideshow to music. When you're ready to view it, I encourage you to make an event of it! It’s best viewed on your tv or a large computer screen, rather than a phone. Gather the whole family around (sound up!)... the first time you see your photos is always the best.

Your slideshow will be available for as long as your gallery is open (2 months). You will have the option to purchase and download the slideshow for $100 if you’d like!

DOWNLOADING YOUR FILES: You will have the ability to download your images directly from your online gallery. I recommend you then save 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: 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: In addition to the photo book that is included with your session, I offer professional prints and products that can be printed directly through your gallery. When you view your gallery, you will be able to see those options and have the ability to purchase additional items if you’d like.

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 online 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.

You will receive a questionnaire for you to complete a few weeks prior to your session. This really helps me to get to know your family a bit and I encourage you to be as thorough as possible.

Extended Family Session questionnaires will also have a spot for you to list the groupings that are most important to you to capture.

Please let me know if you have additional questions! I can’t wait to work with you and your loved ones!