We are asked this question often when consulting with clients for their photo session.  Below you will find some general guidelines that are appropriate for all sessions, as well as some things you may not have even thought about!

P L A N   I N   A D V A N C E

• Allow yourself plenty of time to decide what everyone will wear.  Waiting until the last minute may make you feel stressed and rushed, but planning ahead will make you feel more calm and ready.  As well, this allows time for everyone to try on their outfits to make sure everything fits and gives you time to talk your three year old into wearing those fancy shoes “just this once”!

T H I N K   T I M E L E S S

• Try to select outfits in neutral colours that are classic, and won’t date you and your family a year or two after you have hung that beautiful family portrait in your living room.
• You will want to avoid really bright colours which will distract focus from the subjects of the photo.  The same goes for large patterns, characters or vanity t-shirts.  Go for subtle, perhaps using accessories and/or textures to make an outfit stand out.

“C O O R D I N A T I N G”   N O T   “M A T C H I N G”

• Choose a colour family and coordinate everyone within that family of colour.  Usually, if you start with one piece for one person, that you know you want in the picture, you can coordinate everyone else around that piece.

K E E P   T H E   L O C A T I O N / S E S S I O N   T Y P E   I N   M I N D

• Everyone should wear appropriate shoes for the location we are shooting, and be prepared for your shoes to show in some photographs.
• If your session is in the studio, make sure to bring indoor shoes for everyone.
• Cake Smash = mess.  You, your child, the floor, basically anything within the vicinity of the session is fair game, so plan accordingly!
• If you are already a Mom or Dad, you know the mess that comes along with having a Newborn child.  If you are expecting your first baby, well, all I can say is get ready to do a lot of laundry!  Make sure you have a backup outfit ready to go in case something goes awry during the parent shots.

G E N E R A L   H Y G I E N E

• Make sure all hands and faces, and clothes are clean when you arrive at the session.
• Nail polish on adults and children should either be fresh, or removed – including toes!
• Makeup should be kept light and natural.
• For the little ones, please ensure that all temporary tattoos have been removed, there are no marker colours on them, and that the accessories worn / toys brought to keep their attention are ones that you want in your photos.  We are happy to remove small cuts and bruises while editing!
• We know that having a hair elastic around your wrist is just “life” for a lot of people – and if you are ok with them being in your photos, that is not a problem!  If you don’t, please just leave them at home, or put them in your pocket or bag.  And make sure to remove them from your wrist long enough before the session so that there is no indentation or red marks.
• Bring a brush and a mirror.  Particularly if the session is outside where wind can become a factor.  When we move from one location to another, you may want to do a quick check!

A T   T H E   S E S S I O N

• Your photographer will be focusing on lighting, camera settings, backgrounds, posing, getting smiles, working with your children, and more during the session.  We won’t always catch that:
  • “person A” has left their sunglasses on for one of the group shots;
  • you can clearly see “person B”‘s sunglasses that were either pushed up on the top of their head or put on the back of their neck instead of taken out of the shot all together;
  • “person C” has a giant bulge in their pocket from their keys / cell phone.
• Bring a bag with you where everyone can put their sunglasses, cell phones, keys, toys, soothers, water bottles, and all those other things that are just second nature to bring with you wherever you go!
• We ask that outfit changes are limited to once during your session.  It takes time to get the little ones changed, and that takes away from the number of photographs we can take during your shoot which may result in a lower number of finished images.