Artful portraits crafted to
celebrate your story
Please use these resources to help you plan for your session. You’ll find information regarding what to wear, what to expect, how to prep, and some tips and tricks so you have a positive experience and receive the best gallery of images.
My inspiration is what makes your life beautiful, what brings your heart joy, and what matters most to you.
01 Outfit + Styling
Your personality is multi-faceted and your style and outfit choices will serve as an extension of that. I suggest my couples to bring a couple of outfits to show off a more casual and a more dressy side. We’ll start with your second favorite. Be sure your clothing choices make you both feel comfortable. If you can’t move, sit, squat, stand, etc or you feel self-conscious in at least one outfit choice, it will reflect in your images. Choose colors that work best with either your wam, cool, or neutral skin tone. Be sure prints or patterns compliment your body type vs overpower it. Pair a bold pattern with a soft solid or soft complimenting pattern. Skin photographs beautifully so don’t be afraid to show some skin. Necklaces and accessories can help add some dimension if you’re wearing sleeveless or shorter dresses.
Neutral colors photograph beautifully along with pops of coordinating colors. Outfits that offer movement (flowy dresses, tops, or bottoms) along with textures like lace or layers also work well. Jewelry, hats, and scarves take an outfit up a notch and add special interest. We will shoot through all your options so you receive a gallery full of images that include your extra’s and some more minimalistic images. Your shoes will show in the images so bringing a couple pair along with shoes that allow for walking (depending on our location) is a great option. Leaving your hair down and styled will give you more posing options. Professional makeup is an excellent choice and if you’re doing your own, go for slightly bolder than your average every day look without feeling like you’re stepping too far out of your comfort zone.
AVOID: logos, faded clothes, wrinkles, animal hair or lint, neon colors, baggy pieces that don’t fit correctly, dirty shoes or shoes that don’t coordinate with the style you’re going for.
Dark colors are naturally more bold while light colors appear to soften the image.
Need more personalized guidance? Email me and I’ll send out my consult call schedule so we can chat!
From beginning to end, I want to make your photo experience as stress-free as possible for you, which is why you will have access to my online personalized styling service. This service is completely complimentary to your session. The inventory is updated on a weekly basis and individual stylists are working their magic on your personalized questionnaire. HOWEVER! Do not feel like you are required to use it or purchase anything new, I get absolutely nothing; no kick-backs what-so-ever. I just want to offer even more value to my clients. If all you do is gain inspiration from the outfits, that's perfectly fine! Your styling code was emailed to you!
online styling service⤵
02 Prepping For The Session
I will guide your session based on the answers from your questionnaire. I love to capture the in-between moments that are unscripted and something I didn't intentionally ask for. With that being said, I do often ask that you stand in a specific spot, turn a certain way, or step aside depending on the shot I'm after. (I'll also tell you what to do with your hands and the best way to stand.) I take the chaos with open arms, but I do slow things down at times to be sure I'm intentional with the images I capture. I’m happy to guide and instruct as much as necessary to make you feel comfortable.
It's most important to me that you all connect with each other vs my camera. If I'm prompting you to move or play; it's always best to break the contact with the camera and look or interact with each other. When I need you both looking at the camera, I'll be sure to specifically ask that "both looking here!".
Weather is hit or miss in the area and it cools off quickly when the sun goes down. Packing a tote that we can set on the ground and can carry a jacket, comb, water, change of clothes, etc is a good option.
Props, puppies, etc: If you’re wondering about how you can make your experience personal and memorable, feel free to bring along any props that are special to you. My favorite and simple props are: neutral colors blankets, hats, textured shall/sweaters. If this a maternity session and you’d like to use the images to announce a pregnancy, feel free to bring a sign or whatever you’d like to announce. If you are announcing to a significant other during the session, lets chat about it before your session!
Pull up our meeting location to determine your travel time. Many of these locations have no or spotty service, so be sure to get an idea of the location well before you leave. If you don’t see your meeting location in the list, let me know and I’ll send you a pin!
03 Session Flow
I have a flow to all my sessions that has naturally developed after photographing hundreds of couples. Sessions aren’t rigid and I keep in mind the shots that are important to you from your questionnaire. I typically start with more posed and coordinated images. From there, I like to incorporate movement and details. We’ll chat and wander around so I can get an idea of your personalities. As always, this “flow” is very fluid and we will sneak in shots here and there and I’ll be looking between the lines at the details, and seeing how you interpret my prompts.
I will shoot through everything. If you’re laughing because your significant other pinches your behind, if you interpret a prompt completely unique, if you giggle instead of a serious picture… I shoot through it all. I will ask for you both to move, walk, look around, and more. I love when my couples interpret my prompts in their own ways and will most often base my direction off where the session naturally moves; I will go with the flow of each individual couple. I will ask you to repeat actions and I’m always open to your idea’s and opinions. I shoot based on lighting first, scenery second.
04 After Your Session
Post Production takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks. The more time, the more details, and the load of the season, determines the exact amount of time post production takes. I deliver full galleries for every session. All of your images are processed in house and hand edited by me. My style is consistent and can be explained as film like with a punchy flare. I do not follow fads and want your images to be timeless; able to pass through the generations with the same beauty and appreciation of them when they’re first delivered. What I deliver is the final product. If there are images that are missing from your gallery it is because they didn’t meet my standard. RAW images are never delivered. Basic skin retouching is performed on every image and unless requested, no permanent markings are removed. Scratches, pimples, etc will all be removed. Skin is left with it’s natural texture while softened to best showcase skin tones.
When your images have been processed, you will receive an email with your gallery details. From your gallery you will download your images for archival purposes. Prints, canvas, acrylic, frames, cards, and more are all available to you from my professional lab that has been tested to reflect the best color rendition of your images. Prints from outside labs will not be guaranteed.
Your kind review means the world to me and is the last step that ties up your session. I’ll send you links with your gallery to make it simple for you to let other people know what it’s like to work together and how your experience was. Returning clients always get 10% off future sessions.