We do things a little differently around here.
THE STORYTELLING
EXPERIENCE
My approach to photography can be described as both storytelling and documentary. I want you to remember every single thing about this season, and that’s why your experience is so much greater than just showing up to a session, ready to shoot. I don’t want to just give you photos smiling in a field. I want you to remember the way your baby reaches out to grab your hair and the way your oldest snuggles deep into your neck. I want your kids to look back at the photos we capture for years to come thinking this is the love from which we came. Photos are more than a simple picture. They are capturing the tears, laughter, love, late nights patting the baby’s bum, and the early mornings drowning in coffee. Photos are physical reminders of the most chaotic and love drenched years of your life— the moments that are so fleeting, you blink and you can miss them. I want to cut past the perfect hair and stress of baby’s not smiling straight towards the camera.
I tell your full story.
First things first:
We make sure we’re a good fit. I intentionally created my inquiry form to begin this process. There are parts that may seem long, but I want to make sure you know that I’m committed to this process & your unique story. It’s important to me for you to know that a session with me is a full experience. There will be planning parts to the session to make sure we are capturing your season in all it’s fullness. The inquiry form is a part of this. Within 48 hours of filling out that form, you’ll get an email back from me, walking you through the booking process. This email will include additional sample galleries, the booking process, and a brief overview of what you can expect. Once you’re ready to move forward, we’ll choose a date and I’ll send over a proposal. If you are booking further than six weeks in advance, we will choose a tentative date to hold, and I will reach out to confirm once we reach that six week mark.
Although later in the process we’ll hone in on picking a location, I want you to already be thinking of somewhere that feels like home to you. Perhaps this is a session within your very own home. Together, we’ll create a list together of activities you love to do as a family. It could be as simple as making PB & J’s together and sipping on lemonade as the kids run around in the yard. It could include reading, baking, making forts, putting on a puppet show, doing crafts, playing chess, playing with toys, or chasing each other in a game of tag. Your home is the place that hold your greatest memories, and it can lead to some of the most intimate sessions. Perhaps the session is outside of your home, but it is in your favorite hiking spot— the one you found when first moving here that you continue to bring your children back to. Perhaps it’s a picnic where you watch and count airplanes fly by. It could be a coffee spot in the city that carries your favorite latte. It could simply be capturing the mountains in the place you call home, and snuggling in to watch the sunset. Locations are a huge piece to telling your story, and I want you dreaming before you even sign the dotted line.
Immediately after booking:
Once you’ve booked, you’ll receive a confirmation email. This will include a link to my own personal vision board to help you start building your own. This piece of the process is important because this starts you dreaming of your own session. When you approach your vision board, I want you to choose photos that make you feel something. Get creative with this. It doesn’t only have to be family photos that you love. It could include colors you are drawn to, different angles or perspectives, light or shadows, or the general mood of a photo. Pay attention to these as you browse my vision board. This will help you create your own. Here’s the reason why this is important: I’m not asking you to build a mood board because I’m being lazy or want to copy someone else’s work. It’s because I want to know the inspiration and emotion you’re drawn to so that we can lean into that same feeling.
By the way, this doesn’t have to be complicated! The whole process could take you 15 or 20 minutes. I just want enough time for you to share photos with feeling. In this email, I will also be sending you a sample location guide (as applicable) and an outfit styling guide. We will choose an exact location (as applicable) after you complete your questionnaire (see below), but this will get you started in the process.
Planning prior to your session:
Depending on how far out you book, you will receive your last planning email three weeks before our shoot date. This will contain a questionnaire for you to fill out, as well as a a place to plug in your Pinterest vision board. The questionnaire should take you ~30 minutes to complete, but my hope is that you don’t rush through it. I will take your answers here, along with the vision board you’ve created, to finalize your location and session activities, as well as put together a custom vision for your session. If this process sounds complicated, it’s not! Rather, I use all these small details (expect 1-2 hours MAX of all planning prior to our session on your end) to make sure I am telling your full and most honest story.
One week before our session, I’ll reach out and confirm all details, as well as ask for your phone number. I’ll check in within 24 hours of our session via text to make sure you don’t have any questions for our session day.
Your shoot day:
Because we took the time to thoughtfully and carefully plan your session, the actual shoot day will feel like a special day to really focus and play with your family (with a little tag along!). We will spend the first 10-15 minutes of the session knocking out any portraits (aka looking at the camera and smiling poses aka “mom shots” that we all like to have for gifts!). The rest of the time will be used to play, explore, cuddle, and enjoy each other. If we are doing a session in your home, we will have pre-planned activities to do together. If we are doing a session outside of your home, you’ll likely have brought props and other activities so that the kids will stay excited and involved. You may be wondering why our session is up to an hour and a half, and the answer is simple: your story is worth taking the time to tell. You cannot force candid moments in the same way you can’t force intimacy, especially with kids. Most kids (and let’s face it, adults do too) need time to feel comfortable in front of the camera. As I create a safe environment for them to play and feel understood, this leads to the freedom to be themselves, which allows us to create the season exactly the way it is. And, let’s face it: as parents, it’s HARD to slow down. The longer you sit and truly enjoy your family, the better your story will be told in a way that feels honest to you. Because of this, much of your session will feel like hanging out and following your kids lead. There may be some chaotic feeling moments (as at any time with young kiddos), but I encourage you to trust the process and go with the flow.
Wrapping up:
I promise you, I’m doing a happy little dance all the way home— just absolutely dying to get into editing your photos. Part of what makes your experience with me unique is that I am just as invested as you are. I want your story to be honest, unique, and true to you. I want you to remember the chubby fingers and dirty faces and the whispered “I love yous”. And I don’t just want you to remember them. I want your children and your children’s children to feel the feelings you felt in the love that started it all. I’m just giddy thinking about it now, and experience that tenfold after each storytelling session.
Give me 2-3 weeks to edit your session. I always shoot to get your gallery to you sooner, but I will never rush through your edits. The editing process is one of the most intentional pieces of your whole session. Paying attention to which photos best tell your stories, the different perspectives and crops— they all tell the feeling. This is why my editing turnaround time is the length that it is.
Once your gallery is finished, I upload the images on to an online gallery for you to print, download, and share as much as you please. I do recommend you download and save on a hard drive of your own as I can only promise your gallery will be saved on the online delivery platform for six months.
I also cannot recommend enough to print your photos. They say you can’t freeze time, but I beg to differ. Photos allow us to cement memories for years to come. They are meant to be shared, yes, but not just on social media. Pictures are the heirlooms your children’s children will pick up off the coffee table: curious of the love where they came. They are gifts that are passed down from generation to generation. You can print directly from your gallery (which I recommend! The quality is good and the pricing is competitive) or download to print elsewhere.
If you made it this far— thank you for caring as deeply as I do. Your story is meant to be remembered. And I would love to be the one who tells it.