What can I expect at my session: In one word: Fun! My goal is to capture relaxed and candid images of your family, so my sessions are casual and customized to your family’s personality. I want your family to be as they always are, doing what makes them happy.

Children feed off of their parents’ energy. If you’re happy and enjoying yourself, they will be too. If you’re anxious, they will be too.

Don’t worry about standing still, looking at the camera, or what to do with your hands. I’ll be there to tweak your hand position if it looks awkward and encourage interaction for casual portraits. I love capturing images of family members looking at one another, rather than at the camera, so if a member of your family does something funny, enjoy it! Smile at them, not at me.

When I first arrive: I’ll chat with everyone until I feel we’re all warmed up and ready. I might play with the kids and your pets for a few minutes before shooting any photos. I’ll remind you that all you have to do is be yourselves. Doing something together helps you forget about the camera and allows those special moments to shine naturally.

Moving Furniture/Other Items:  Depending on the layout of your home and the location of the windows, I may need to move some furniture around to achieve appropriate lighting for your family’s images. I might also move some other things around while shooting (e.g. opening curtains and raising blinds, moving brightly coloured objects off a side table, or moving diapers and wipes off the top of the changing table). I promise I will put everything back as it was before I leave! Don’t feel obligated to deep clean your home before I come over – I promise, I won’t mind. You might want to take a few moments to tidy up the rooms where you think we are most likely to be shooting, putting away items that you don’t want to see in your images (e.g. boxes of diapers, baby gear, and gifts that are not being used, etc.). Beyond that, I love to capture your home and your family just as you are!

Clothes: For families, think of coordinating or complementary colors (e.g. jewel tones, varying shades of the same color, etc.) rather than matching. Make sure everyone dresses to the same level– either casual or dressy. You want to make sure you all have the same ‘feel’ with your outfits. Logos, characters, slogans, pictures, etc. on clothing should be avoided because they distract from your family’ in the photos. Clothes should also be comfortable and easy to move around in so that your lifestyle images will look natural and reflect your true personalities. And, don’t forget about your fingers and toes! Your nails will probably be making an appearance.

Location: I am an on-location, natural-light photographer, so I come to you or we meet at a pre-arranged location. I want you and your family to be comfortable so their true self can shine. A spot that is meaningful to you also creates wonderful photographic memories. If you are up for coming to my area, I can recommend a beautiful, comfortable location.

Light: Unlike studio photography, lifestyle sessions are always different and unique to the family. Your home and lighting is real and honest and as a photographer, I don’t have the control that I would have in a studio. There’s no use of flash, as flash can be really distracting and will interrupt the moment. This means that sometimes, the lighting won’t be perfect and there may be some noise (tiny little speckles) from time-to-time as my camera settings will be crazy high to compensate for the darkness. But, your photos will be authentic, unique, and capture the true personality of you and your family. It will be beautiful.

Rain/Snow: For outdoor lifestyle sessions, I will keep in touch with you leading up to our session day. If it looks like bad weather, we will reschedule to the next available date that is convenient for you.

After the Session: My turnaround time is about two weeks. I carefully select and hand edit each image in your gallery so that they look their best. When editing is completed, I will send you a link to an online gallery where you can select your final images.