Each portrait session will last one to two hours. The younger the child, often - the shorter the session! Even if meltdowns occur, we won’t leave until we have gotten some really good shots or, if necessary, we will schedule a reshoot.

Neutral, non-patterned clothing is best for a portrait. When two or more people are in a portrait together, the faces are what is most important, so it’s best to dress alike in neutral tones such as light denim blue, khaki, light yellow, or pale pink. Patterned clothing is not ideal for portraits, but we can shoot your child in the dress from grandma or the ballet costume if you need us to. For the holidays, try to dress everyone in one solid such as red or green, perhaps matched with khaki, black or denim. Fussy prints are not a good idea. Black or white can work well depending upon the setting you want to use.

We can schedule your portrait session around your family, but appreciate working with children who are not overtired from a day full of activities or who are not yet awake for the day. We can control lighting just about anytime, although mid-morning and late afternoon/early evening is usually best for outdoor portraits.

One of the best tips we can offer is to allow us to give your children any direction needed. Young children in particular can get confused when they get instructions from us and another set of directions from their parents. At times, we will ask parents to help us coax laughs and smiles out of their children, particularly babies and toddlers who respond to a certain silly thing that Mom or Dad do. Our most successful shoots are the ones where the parents leave the area or stand back, so that we can capture children doing something that is natural for them.