Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance can we book you?!
I tend to book up fairly quickly, so I highly recommend reserving your date as soon as you’re sure of it so you don’t lose your date. My portrait sessions typically book 3 – 6 months in advance. My fall spots are the fastest to go, booking up to a year in advance.
I only shoot one portrait session per day, so once you’ve secured your date, that day is all yours and we can shoot for as long as we need.
Can we meet up before we book you?
Absolutely. If you’re local to the Colorado area, let’s grab a cup of coffee! If you’re out of state or international, I’m happy to chat on the phone or do a FaceTime call and walk you through my process and my portfolio to chat ideas and schedule.
Once your date is set, we can meet as many times as you’d like before the big day to ensure all details are set.
Where should we go for our session?
If you’re wanting outdoors (any why not, with the beautiful Colorado backdrop?), included in my collections is location planning. I’ll want to know if there are spots in Colorado that are meaningful to your family, or if we just want to head to a beautiful location. When you book your date, we’ll start chatting all about my secret spots and what feels right to you! And we’ll decide together on the most epic location to tell your family’s story most beautifully.
If you have a brand new baby, sometimes an in home lifestyle session is the best place to set up! I will come to you with lighting and some props and make it super easy.
And if you’re interested in a business headshot session, studio maternity, or boudoir, my in home studio is going to work best with professional grade strobe lighting, backdrops, and plenty of privacy.
How long do you usually shoot for?
Portrait sessions can be as quick as a half hour or as long as one hour or more. We will take as long as we need and as long as you have on portrait day to capture what we need!
Can we see a full portrait gallery?
Absolutely, and I think this is a smart thing as for! Whenever you’re ready, I’ll send over a few full portrait galleries that pertain to the session you are booking (family, senior, boudoir). This way, you can get a solid idea of what a session with me looks like with several different lighting situations and locations.
What should we wear?
Once you book with me, I will send over a full style guide specifically tailored to your session. My family style guide has tips for the entire family to coordinate outfits together. My senior guide will have tips on all of your outfit changes and the different locations we might want to use. I will walk you through all of this once you’ve booked.
I also want you to feel completely confident in your outfit choices so I am available via text and email if you’d like to send me outfit options! And I can give you my opinion on which outfit I think works best.
How are our photos delivered?
You’ll get a link to an online gallery with all of your digitals – from there you can download, share, etc.
How long until we get to see our photos?
Portrait sessions are turned around within 2 – 3 weeks, but generally less. The most time intensive part of a shoot is not actually capturing everything on the day of our session – it’s the hours of editing that comes afterwards! For every hour I shoot, I plan on 4+ hours of editing in Lightroom and Photoshop to get your images looking absolutely stunning and ready to hang on the walls and put in albums.
How many photos do you deliver?
This can vary. I typically say that for every hour I shoot, I turn around, minimum, 50 – 75 finished and edited images. Every session is different, and I do not put a ceiling number on what I shoot. I have delivered as many as 150 images for a family session before, and sometimes even more than that.
My very favorite images I will deliver in both color and a black and white copy, because some images just deserve to be presented in both mediums.
How do you back up your photos?
Good question! While shooting, I back my images up to two different memory cards inside of each camera. From there, all images go onto my computer hard drive, PLUS 6 external hard drives.
Do you deliver RAW images?
I do not deliver RAW or unedited images. Part of my craft is in the editing process, for my signature “light and airy and colorful” look, which is achieved both through Lightroom and Photoshop techniques.
My clients hire me for my specific editing style and trust my technique and judgement. A car dealership would not give you a car missing wheels or a bumper, and I would not deliver images that are not finalized and finished with my editing techniques.
Are your collections customizable?
Absolutely. Let’s tailor the perfect collection that fits your needs completely. We’ll tweak it as much as we need to fit your wish list.
Cancellation policies:
I totally understand that last minute scheduling conflicts, weather, and sickness come up! I will do everything possible to work around you and your schedule. I just ask for 24 hour’s notice before the session if you need to reschedule.
I want certain photos taken during our session. How can we plan for that?
About two weeks before our session, we will touch base on all the details.
First, I want to go over what’s called a “shot list”. These are all the images you hope to have me capture during our session! This can be anything from “I would like new headshots in addition to all our family photos” to “I really want a photograph of me and all my dogs wearing red hats.” I cannot guarantee I will capture them all, but most of the time I do!
Specifically, I want to have a good working list of all of the family portraits we will capture (entire family, all the kids together, mom and dad together, etc). I will go through this in detail with you before we shoot.
For senior photo sessions, I want to know exactly where you want to shoot and have those locations in mind before we meet up on shoot day. (For example: a field of flowers, the softball diamond, and your living room with a grand piano).
When do you show up on session day?
I will arrive about 45 minutes before we are set to start. I will map out a specific plan with different areas to shoot in and get a layout of the light and the land before you show up.
Sweet, we are ready to book. Now what!?
Yay! Head over to my booking form and fill it out as much as you can. I will then send over my collections and some galleries for you to browse!
We’ll chat about the different options, customize, and then I’ll send a contract over for you to look over and sign when you’re ready. I keep it simple and ask for $500 to book your session, which also gets you my lowest collection with several digital images and a large format print. You will decide if you’d like anything additional after we shoot and you see your images at the session reveal.
To learn more about my portrait session process, please visit The Experience page.