Tips for a Flawless Photography Session

For some people, photography sessions are the highlight of the season, others are new to it, and don’t quite know how to make the right choices when it comes to planning. Here are some tips that I have gathered from some of my own clients, their take on the booking process and what questions they had in the beginning.

• Choosing your photographer
  There are photographers out there for all budgets, they come with varying levels of skill – so if you are going to be spending a lot of money on your outfits, hair and makeup – or traveling for photos, you will want to choose a professional that is educated around proper image handling. Sometimes I run into clients that find my pricing to be expensive, and so they will find a more affordable photographer only to end up finding that they hired a hobbyist for something that they needed a professional for, this not only costs them more money for a second photography session, but they will then also be out the money and time that they spent with the first photographer (outfits, travel costs, makeup etc.)

• Choosing your location
  The location is important, but not quite as important as our next point. For now – your location should be something that reflects who you are as a person, somewhere that you like to go, or a place you’ve always pictured yourself. When I choose the location for the client, I choose a place that is easily accessible, safe, and offers good lighting with a beautiful backdrop.

• Choosing the time of day for photos
  Lighting is your end all be all factor that can make or break a photography session. Photos on a cloudy day will give you even, beautiful light (this is my favorite type of lighting, but of course – we can’t choose the cloudy days all the time.) A location with dense trees or a hill will also give you more flexibility with lighting. If you have children who squint, the very last bit of light is going to be key especially in places like Twin Falls, where we have wide open skies and the sun is very bright. In a place like Maine, where we have lots of trees and cloudy skies, we can take photos all day long!

• Outfits – I wrote an entire post here – https://bespokephotographer.com/what-to-wear/

• Vocalize what your vision is – but be flexible
  With my clients, I ask what they expect from me as a photographer. I then make sure to deliver on what they want, and then go off with my own creativity to give them something different, a variety of images to complete the gallery.

• Expect that your photographer does things differently than previous photographers that you have worked with. What works for one person may not work for another, and when in a position where you have a question – just ask : )

• Download your images
  This might be a no-brainer for some, but for others they are so excited about the images that they forget to download them, and then their gallery expires.. woopsie! Images are HUGE files when you use professional equipment, so I like to send them off to the customer and remove the raw files as soon as I can to keep my system running smoothly. I service anywhere from 9 families per week to as many as 35 or more during the busy season, or travel so I need to have that space freed up in order to work efficiently.