You Ask, i answer..
I get this question often and the response to my answer always interests me. "How long will it be until we get our photos?" The answer to this question is that for sessions, our contract states that you will receive your photos within ten days of your session. For weddings, the contract states that you will receive your entire wedding gallery within five weeks of your wedding date. The secret is... those dates give me a lot of wiggle room. Like A LOT! Sessions are typically delivered in 3-4 days at the latest if everything is going seamlessly; meaning my internet provider is being sufficient and no one is sick in my house. Weddings are delivered in the first 10 days after your wedding if I am really on top of things. During my Fall wedding season, I didn't have a wedding that took longer than a week and half to deliver. I won't ever change the time frames in the contracts just in case my kids do come down with something or if I do, or if Atlantic Broadband likes to perform at it's not-so-great ability, or if my computer needs attention and updates.
When I answer these questions people respond in two ways; either that they are grateful that they don't have to wait a month to get their session gallery or they respond in a way that comes across as they assume the pictures won't be great if they get them as quick as possible. In all honesty, I do not like to have your photos unedited and not delivered. I would hate for something to come up in any way that would prevent me from editing and delivering to you, so I do not hesitate to get started as soon as possible. Ninety percent of the time, my editing takes place once our little guys are asleep at night.
booking your session
When you reach out for information about booking a session, I send you the variety of sessions that I offer, what they cost, how long they last, and then we work on picking a date and location that work with your schedule and with mine. I love to get to know your family; the ages of people being photographed, if any pets will be included, etc. We can work through any type of wardrobe or styling questions you may have so that the colors and patterns that you and your family wear come together nicely with the natural backdrop of the location and my editing style. From there, I send over a service agreement and an invoice for deposit. The agreement states what you should expect from me in a timely manner and what the payment plan. It also goes over consent for me to use photos from your session for marketing purposes and sharing on social media. There is a $75 deposit due at booking and then the remaining balance is due the day of your session. If there is a reschedule needed due to weather, there are no additional fees or changes in your price, we simply just move your session to the new date along with the balance or the payments made.
During your session
During your session, depending on what type of session you booked and if there is an occasion or milestone associated with it, we start with some very posed photos to get every warmed up to me having a camera in front of you. Once we do a few posed photos, we do some candid shots, and go back and forth until the session is over. No matter what location we are at, we move around a lot. We turn different angles, try different points of view, and get all of the combinations of family members photographed together. When children are involved, I make sure to introduce myself to them after they see me talking with their parents a bit. I know that with our boys we make a point to teach them to not speak to strangers or engage with strangers, so if they had a stranger in their face with a camera odds are they would not be very happy. Also, for sessions, I am in my comfiest of clothes to shoot in. For weddings, I tend to wear black or dark colors, but again I am not dressy or too dressed up. It is important to me that I can move freely and comfortably in what I wear so that I can get all of the shots I want without worrying about a dress being too short or a shirt being low cut, etc. I don't want any attention drawn to what I am wearing as it will take away from what YOU are wearing and YOUR photographs.
after your session
After your session, as soon as I get home, I import your photos from the SD and CF cards into Adobe Lightroom and my external hard drive. It typically takes me twice as long as your session to edit once I am able to sit down and work straight through with little distractions. I do not use any purchased Presets, each photo is hand edited directly and completely by me. I have created my own Preset for importing that has a base color temperature and a few other baselines that I like to start each edit with to maintain consistency within my brand, and then I adjust from there based on the lighting and details of the shot. Some of the photos are duplicated and edited in Black and White as well as Color. Standard sessions are typically delivered with anywhere between 70-120 photos. The number of photos truly just goes off how the session unfolds, it doesn't mean that "good" sessions get 120 photos or anything remotely like that. I also edit and deliver every image that turns out from your session so there are usually a lot that are very similar. I have realized that with especially with children and candid moments, expressions change quickly even if they are slight. And, I have realized from having clients being able to create a Favorites List within their gallery, often times the photos that are my favorites are not always theirs and vice versa, so rather me sending just the ones I like best to you I prefer you to choose which you want to share and print.
gallery delivery
The only time your gallery is delivered to you a few days or up to ten days after your session is when I have multiple sessions booked in a day and I work through the sessions in the order in which they were taken. Still though, you will have your session within ten days at the latest. Your gallery is delivered in an online format where you can download every photo or just your favorites. You can print directly from the gallery if you choose to. I always tell clients that the prints are of the highest quality but they are not as quick or cost effective as Walgreens, etc. You can create holiday, wedding, and baby cards to order directly from your gallery. With your session, you will receive discount codes to Still Novel. They do fine art printing that include birth stats and wedding stats. Their prints are gorgeous and they have partnered with WRP so since you have worked with me, you get to save on their prints! Also, because I have the utmost gratitude for loyal clients, recurring clients receive a discount with their each session they book after their first.
So hopefully, now that you know the process it will help you build a trust me as your photographer. I would be honored to work with you!
