When you’ve made the investment into documenting your memories, you want those resulting photos to be a representation of your best selves and I get that! It’s hard, no matter what season of life that you’re in, to just wing it and still feel great in front of the camera and have a stress-free session experience.
I want to arm you with all of the tips, tricks and tools to prepare for your portrait session. Take a few minutes to scroll through this page and help all of the members of your family be ready for a smooth, fun and easy session!
I can’t wait to see you soon and help capture your lives authentically and beautifully and leave you feeling thrilled instead of exhausted!
Preparing for your session with young children:
Discuss what they can expect
Most kids don’t thrive in new environments immediately. Talking to your kids about having a portrait session can really help set the scene and aid their little brains in processing the experience. Before your session, depending on the age of your children, talk to them about me (they can just call me Savannah!), what we’ll all be doing, looking at the camera, where our session will take place and what that place might look or feel like.
It’s all about the snacks
Sometimes, all kids need to keep going during their session is a little snack. Gold Fish, yogurt melts, raisins, Cheerios and orange Tic Tacs are all great, little, one-bite snacks to bring along with you to your session depending on your child’s age.
Prepare for everything
I always suggest having a backup outfit for each child, having a meal before your session, bringing wipes or your diaper bag and planning to leave the house earlier than you need to.
KEEP YOUR EXPECTATIONS LOW
Listen, it’s not unusual for your session to not go as you envisioned it in your head. Especially if we’re working with a toddler (or a few). I don’t quit when a tantrum manifests and I’m certainly not judging either. Parenting is hard. Kids are fickle. I ask that you please go into your session with reasonable expectations and I promise to help your kids feel awesome about themselves, want to have fun and be their silly, unique selves. These sessions aren’t stiff, studio portraits. They’re a documentation of your family, in all its goodness.
The Process: Step-by-Step
STEP 1
You’ve booked your session and that has brought you here! YAY! You can use this page as a resource to help you prepare for your session. I highly recommend you review the style guide and tips to help you look and feel your best and help your session run smoothly.
STEP 2
We’ll meet up for our 45-60 minute session where we might play silly games if you have young kids or I’ll tell cheesy jokes that will make your teenagers roll their eyes and force a grin. I’ll try my best to help you feel comfortable and have a great time! I’ll guide you through poses but also encourage natural interaction and movement. Don’t worry, I will instruct you the entire time!
STEP 3
After your session, I hurry home to back up your photos and work hard to choose the best ones and get you an edited sneak peek. From there, I’ll begin the process of artfully editing the remainder of your images which can take up to 2 weeks. It’s at this time that the remainder of your invoice is due.
STEP 4
You will receive an email that your gallery has been completed! All of the best, edited images from your session will be uploaded to a gorgeous online gallery where you can download the files, share the photos with friends and family and order professional prints if you choose. Plan to sit down when you have some quiet time alone or gather your family around the computer after dinner to enjoy scrolling through the images!
STEP 5
Arguably the most important part of the process is what you do with your images after you receive your gallery. You can share them on your social media (just remember, please do not apply filters or edits - your photos have been carefully, professionally edited to be timeless and vibrant!), print them and hang them in your home, make your holiday cards and so much more. But most importantly, it’s so vital that you backup your images and store them safely. Scroll down to learn how!
HOW TO BACKUP AND STORE YOUR IMAGES
Keep those images safe so that they stand the test of time and can be cherished for generations!
After your session, you will receive an online gallery of your images that is active for 6 months from the release date. Hopefully you’re obsessed with them and you spend time looking at them again and again. Inevitably though, weeks and months and then years will go by and life moves on. You want to ensure that you’ve kept those images safe so that when it is time to reminisce again, they’re there to make you smile and remember.
The more places that you store your images, the safer they will be. Below are a few safe storage options suggestions!
CLOUD STORAGE
Upload your images to an online/cloud storage solution such as Google Drive, Dropbox or iCloud. Google offers 15 GB of cloud storage for free with a Gmail account. You could even create a new Gmail account simply for storing photos (example: ourfamilyphotos.lastname@gmail.com). Ideally, you should upload your photos to more than one cloud storage solution.
PHYSICAL STORAGE
Physical storage spaces, not including your computer drive, are also a great backup option. This could be a USB/flash drive that you store in a fireproof safe or a portable hard drive or solid state drive. Again, the more places you can store your images, the safer they will be. Storing them solely on your computer is not a foolproof or safe plan!
Printing Your Images:
Seeing family photos in print allows children (and adults) to see themselves in the family unit. A 37% increase in self esteem behavior was shown in children who have family portraits around their home; like prints on the walls and in albums.
[Source: Tulane University]
You can easily order prints of your images through your online gallery. Savannah Smith Photography offers C-Type professionally produced prints. Often known as Chromogenic Printing, this process is a nod to the classic darkroom-style print method that you might already be familiar with. Prints are available on several different paper types and sheens in all popular sizes.
If you choose to print your images yourself, it’s recommended that you skip the grocery store and pharmacy where photos can turn out with weird skin tones or color tints due to their lack of machine calibration and lack of ink color variety. MPix is the best online source for printing your photos yourself!
A few more things:
Should you need to cancel or postpone your session for any reason, I do require notification in writing (email is fine). Your retainer is non-refundable and in the event of a cancellation within 48 hours to your session time, the total session fee will be due as scheduled. I try to be flexible about postponements, I know life happens! My schedule can be very full at certain times of year so I just ask for your flexibility too!
If you're not already following me on social media, I would love to ask you to join me! I share same-day sneak peeks, behind the scenes information and lots of fun lifestyle stuff on both my Facebook and Instagram pages! Plus, it helps me tag you in your images once they're ready! I absolutely love showing off my gorgeous, kind and sweet clients!
QUESTIONS?
I’m here for you! Email me at any time with any questions regarding your session. I’d love to help and chat! I will touch base sometime the week before your session with a session reminder and weather update!
