What To Expect From Your Documentary Family Session

Margaux's weekend morning | San Jose And San Francisco Bay Area documentary newborn and family photographer(This is a post from 2016 – find an updated version for 2017 over here!)For shorter storytelling family sessions I recommend some sort of activity that helps everyone have a good time and forget about the camera. Baking, board games, playtime, crafts, beach fun or even having a session during your morning routines with pancakes and all are great examples of what you could do.Here's what to expect from an in-home session with me:We'll talk. Maybe on the phone, on Google Hangout/Facetime or even meet for coffee. I want to make sure we are a good fit.You'll sign a contract and pay a retainer to hold your date. I will send you both the contract and the invoice electronically, so everything goes smoothly.Moms and hair.  I recommend doing your hair in a way that keeps it from falling onto your face when you’re looking down at your little one.How you dress matters. To have an honest record of your family, you should dress like you do every day. Too match-y is not real, and is best reserved for formal portraits. Neutral colors are best, since bold colors might reflect color onto family members. Avoid solid white and black as well, since they might look unflattering because of the amount of contrast I use in my post-processing.Be you. Almost all of my moms feel self conscious especially after having a baby, but what I like to bring up is that these kinds of pictures are mostly keepsakes for the kids. Thinking back I never cared about how my mom physically looked in our childhood pictures (or in real life); it's the expressions, the action and the connections that are most important.Let your kids be themselves. Here's a previous post about how to talk to your kids about their upcoming family photo session.I will show up in comfy clothes. I have to be comfortable to be able to crawl on floors, lay in the grass or climb on top of furniture while taking pictures.Don't mind me! You might hear me utter these words when climbing on chairs or when getting close up and personal with my camera.You'll pay the remaining balance by the day of the session. Then I can start editing your pictures right away – high five!You'll get your digital files asap. Unless something very dramatic happens, I can edit your files in 1-2 weeks. I will let you know if I have any plans that may change the delivery time.I can’t wait to hear your reaction about your photos. I’m checking my email every seventeen seconds after I’ve sent pictures to a client. I pour so much love into the pictures, and hope they make the family as happy as they make me.Let me know if there are images you do not wish to be shared online.  Usually I'll write a blog post, or post some images on social media. It is very important to me that my clients can trust me, and are comfortable with anything that I would share online. Situations where families might ask me to not share could be their kiddos running around butt-naked in the house, for example.You can choose to order prints or photo books from me. I use an amazing print spot for pictures and am obsessed with their museum grade paper quality. A photo book could make for a cherished coffee table read.I can recommend you a spot for printing, if you want to DIY it.Recommendations and reviews are important. There are few things that make me feel better than a client who raves about their photos enough to encourage their friends to book me for a session of their own. A written testimonial or a review on Yelp/Facebook helps me book future clients, too, and is greatly appreciated.We are done! Until next time.Bonus! When someone you refer to me books a session, you can choose an image of your own to be printed (on that glorious museum grade paper) as a thank you from me to you.
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