Family Session Guide

WHAT TO EXPECT

LOCATION

Toronto and surrounding areas offer some beautiful locations. If you’re looking for amazing spots nearby, let me know and I’ll be happy to give you some ideas! Think of places that speak to your personalities best. Or opt for the comfort of your own home. For newborn sessions I recommend taking your photos in the comfort of your own home.

For indoor sessions think of a couple of rooms you would like to feature, this could be your bedroom, the nursery and either a living room or family room. The rooms with the best natural light usually work best. If we are taking photos in one of the bedrooms, it’s best to use white bed linens. Do your best to clear the rooms of any items that you do not want to be in photos. This way the focus can be on you and your little one. (Please don’t feel like you have to clean the house before I arrive. I know what it’s like to have kids! Focus on one or two rooms we can use, and if you don’t have the time, (or are just exhausted) we can easily clean up an area that we want to use for photos while I’m there.)

TIMING

Babies and young children are almost universally at their very best first thing in the morning, which just happens to also be a great time of day for beautiful light. If you have children under five years old, I encourage you to consider an outdoor session at or as close to sunrise as you can reasonably be ready. If you choose your session indoors a mid morning session works well as to insure sufficient natural light in your home.

If you have older children or have one of those rare babies that doesn't do mornings, the other time of day that gives us great light is late afternoon/early evening... usually around 1.5 hours before sunset.

WHAT TO BRING

Water, snacks, whatever you need to keep everyone happy (sometimes a little something to bribe your child helps :)! Make sure everyone comes to the session with food in their bellies.

Four legged friends are more than welcome (if they play nice and our location allows pets!)

PREPERATION

To avoid last minute stress, make sure to pick out all family outfits & any props well in advance. If your outfits are new make sure your kids have a chance to try them on a couple times before the day so that they’ll be comfortable during the shoot.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS

Your clothing selection & choice of location will make a big difference in the final feel and look of your photos! Feel free to message me with photos of your ideas / questions about what will look best for photos.

WHAT TO WEAR

1. Don’t match, coordinate. Pick a colour combination for your family to work within. We don’t want everyone to match perfectly or wear nothing but a single color, but we also don’t want everyone wearing different colors and patterns.

2. Go for earthtones, textures, and solid colors. These are the most classic & timeless and will guarantee your outfits are still in style years from now.

3. Flowy articles of clothing for the girls is fantastic, however, in general with pants + shirts, aim for fitted clothing that is on the tighter end of what you would normally wear. Avoid baggy jeans or loose fitting shirts etc.

4. Above all we want your session to be enjoyable and fun for everyone involved. Most importantly make sure you and your children are comfortable!

5. For more ideas on what to wear please follow my guide on Pinterest (click below):

FAQ

WHAT IF MY KIDS WON’T ENGAGE?

That’s okay! Many children are shy or have a hard time with posing for photos - Which is why we forget the posing and just get you all hanging out and loving on each other! You just enjoy the moment and I’ll worry about the photos.

CAN I CANCEL / RESCHEDULE MY SESSION?

After booking deposits are non refundable, as I am holding the date for you and turning away other clients. If you need to reschedule, please let me know 48 hours in advance.

WHAT HAPPENS IF IT RAINS?

Beautiful photographs can be made in any kind of weather, but I understand that there are some downsides to being photographed in the pouring rain or the freezing cold. I can and do reschedule sessions for inclement weather, but am also happy to use your home or studio locations if sticking to the schedule is a priority.

HOW LONG IS THE TYPICAL PHOTOSHOOT?

The day of the session, please block off 2-2.5 hours (3-3.5 hours for a newborn). Typically we're done within 60 minutes or so, but I don't charge by the hour, so if there's some kind of wardrobe malfunction or child meltdown, I like to stay flexible. If a parent has to leave for an important business meeting but the rest of the family is still available, that's fine... just let me know ahead of time so I can focus on getting that parent in the frame more while they're still available.

I promise to give the grown-ups (and kids) breaks throughout the session as needed, and to make it as painless as possible for everyone involved. If it would ease tensions to crack open a beer before I arrive - or better yet, serve mimosas with breakfast - well then I say go for it!

AFTER THE SESSION

After your session, I will get to work on culling your images down to the very best of the best (typically a minimum of 50 images/session, then editing those images and getting them up into your gallery. Once they're ready, I'll be in touch so you can select or download your photos (depending on your package!).

Downloading your files:

Once you've decided which images you'd like to download, I'd encourage you to do that immediately (No need to choose if you select a full session or newborn session- You get all your photos!!). The process is simple: select the images and use the downward arrow in the upper right corner of your gallery - click on that and the system will walk you through the download process. The images will download as a zip file, which you can double-click on to expand. I suggest you make a second copy of the expanded files, then save the 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 (and wrongs):

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:

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! Be sure to de-select any colour 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.

What you're going to do with your images is perhaps the most important aspect to consider when you're planning for a photo session, but it's all too often the aspect that's overlooked... all that time and money invested deserve a better return than photos gathering dust on a hard drive somewhere. You'll never get the same feeling looking at your photos on a screen as you will seeing them on your wall or flipping through the pages of an album, so I include a substantial print credit with every collection. Below is a sample of some of the items you can choose among: