HOW TO PREPARE:

• Try on your clothes within seven days of our session. Make sure you like the way they fit, and if there’s any wrinkles or stains, you can address them before we’re on location.

• Have a plan for your hair and makeup. Consider trying your chosen styles ahead of time to make sure you like them.

• Check the weather and choose clothes that you’ll be comfortable in. Also consider bringing blankets or umbrellas as needed to keep comfortable between shots if your clothes aren’t ideal for the day.

• Sleep well the night before. 

• Drink water and hydrate in the days before.

• Wash at least your face and hands as part of your getting-ready process.

• Moisturize all skin including face, arms, elbows, hands, legs, knees, et cetera.

• Listen to music that makes you feel good in the car on your way to the shoot. 

• Consider making a playlist to listen to during the shoot.

• Leave early but don’t worry if you’re running late. Being in a good mood is most important. I tend to factor in time for you to run late. So if you’re running late, don’t stress. 

• Do your best to come in a good mood. =]

• Practice posing in the mirror and in your phone camera.

• Consider sending video messages to someone you trust in the months leading up to our session so you can get accustom to seeing how you look and adjusting as you see fit.

  WHAT TO BRING:

• Bring flats if you’re wearing heels to walk from location to location and to give your feet a rest. 

• Bring Chapstick, lotion, hair styling products, and any touch-up makeup. 

• Bring Hair tools and accessories like hair ties, Bobbie pins, et cetera. 

• Bring dental floss or a toothpick. 

• Let me know if you have any props that you’d like to bring that can contribute to the story we’re telling with your photos.

POSING TIPS:

• The more things in the picture, the less the focus is on the subject of the picture. If you tend to be hard on yourself in pictures, add more things to the frame to give the viewer more things to look at. This can be things like props, books, flowers, balloons, pets, depending on what the theme of the photoshoot is.

• If you have any preferences, like your favorite side of your face, or if you like to cover or enhance certain assets, let me know and we can work with that. My lens choice and lighting locations are dictated by how I want the final picture to turn out. So if you want to minimize your shoulders, I might have you turn diagonal and use a longer lens. If you want to maximize your shoulders, I might have you straight on and use a wider angle lens. I also might use more harsh lighting to create shadows to show the contours.

• I will show you the back of the camera so you can preview the pictures during the session. Let me know if you want to redo anything with slightly different posing before we move on. Look at your hair, eyes, teeth, overall face positioning, hands, and the rest of your body. I give direction for what I think looks best, as well as think about framing, composition, focal length, lighting, lens flares, post-processing, and what I’m going to have for dinner after our session. I want to make sure you love the pictures. Sometimes I’ll think a person looks amazing, but they will have an insecurity I would have never noticed, so I want to work together with you to make pictures you will be happy with.

• Some of that does have to come from within. We all look the way that we look. And if we choose, it is a moment in time, not ourselves forever. I’m happy to reshoot if we want to make a change and return, but I want to celebrate you for being who you are today! =]