First off, thank you so much for choosing me to capture special portraits for you! Whether we’re capturing your sweet family, or celebrating a special moment in your life, like maternity or extended family pictures, I am so honored to help you remember this season for years to come. I've created this guide to help you get the most out of your photos, and by the time you’ve read through this, hopefully you'll have all your questions answered and feel more than ready and prepared for your session. If there is anything I miss please feel free to contact me with your questions or concerns.
Portraits session Guide
*Lake Hefner
Arcadia Lake
*Martin Nature Park
Yukon Prayer Garden
*Ren Studio - Edmond
*MB Studio - Bethany
White Moose - OKC
*Ren Studio - Edmond
*MB Studio - Bethany
White Moose - OKC
*Hafer Park
Will Rogers Garden
Myriad Botanical Gardens
*Arcadia Lake
Martin Nature Park
Mitch Park
The best session locations are often ones you find most meaningful as a family; however, I'm also happy to make recommendations. From all white studios to open fields and lakeside beaches, the options for session locations are many! For studio sessions there is an up-charge of $40 to cover studio fees. I love classic studio sessions year round but I most highly recommend them for family sessions occurring November-March so that we can stay out of the cold and keep everyone (especially little ones) warm and happy. The (*) below indicates some of my personal favorite locations.
Choosing a location
Woods/fields
Parks/gardens
Beaches
studios
fall favorites
URBAN
Sunset & bedtimes
In the warmer months, if we are shooting outside, outdoor sessions often fall during the witching hour. They may even fall during or after bedtime.
As much as I love a consistent bedtime routine, in order to capture the best light during "golden hour", we're likely going to need to throw off your schedule a bit.
If our session takes place close to dinnertime, I recommend feeding kids (and yourselves!) before we begin shooting.
If your little one is going to be going to bed later, consider pushing their nap a bit that day, letting them sleep longer or packing pj's so that you can quickly tuck them into bed as soon as you get home.
Choosing what you are going to wear to your session is one of the biggest decisions you will make in preparing for your photo shoot. In order to help you choose wisely, I have four basic things I want to suggest for the best possible outcome in the final product.
#1. Avoid Small Patterns or Prints - General rule of thumb, if your article of clothing has a pattern or print that is smaller than a dime, be cautious. If you opt for small checks or stripes, for example, my camera's sensor will cause a distortion called the moire effect. This is very undesirable and is not fixable in the editing process.
Tip: Instead of patterned clothing go for textures such as those found with eyelet, ruffles, and linen. Less is more!
#2. Choose Light Colors - When choosing colors for your outfits, I recommend selecting softer, lighter tones and more muted shades. By avoiding ultra-bright, bold colors, it will help bring all the attention to your faces and let the eye focus on you. The camera loves shades of soft pink and muted blues, mixed with sophisticated light neutrals like heather
gray, creams, leather brown and white. That softer color palette fits beautifully into almost all natural outdoor environments.
#3. Wear Something Comfortable - I recommend that you wear something that flatters the parts of you that you love the most and also allows you to be extremely confident! If you are uncomfortable when you look in the mirror (having to suck in and only like the way you look from one angle), then that probably isn’t the best outfit choice for you. I want you to be really confident in your outfit because I know that you will love your portraits so much more if you’re not worrying about how your clothes fit!
#4. Outfit Changes - If you desire to add variety to your session, I love to offer the
opportunity for an outfit change halfway through the session. This gives you the
opportunity to get a few different looks and feels with your session while maximizing our time together. Many of my clients opt for one dressier option and one more casual option.
WardrobE
Dresses and skirts look most stunning because they really flatter every female body, especially on camera — which is probably why the red carpet is always full of so many dresses and not very many pantsuits! I recommend avoiding pants and shorts for your session and saying yes to a dress or two instead. Long, full-length, flowy dresses and skirts look amazing on camera because they bring extra movement to the photos. Especially when juxtaposed with nature, like the desert, forest, plains or beach. Consider softer fabrics like chiffon or tulle which allow for beautiful movement in the images.
When considering the length of your dresses or skirts, it’s also a good idea to factor in whether or not there will be little ones in your photos. If you have smaller children, I’ll likely have you sitting or crouching on the ground to interact up-close with them. Cute, shorter cocktail length dresses photograph beautifully, but if you have little ones in your photos, a floor-length dress or skirt, or perhaps a cute midi- skirt, will make moving around with your kids much easier, and look perfect on camera, too.
If you’re an expecting mother, I always recommend floor-length gowns or maxi dresses. These dresses create the best silhouettes to flatter your figure and really highlight your bump.
SAY "YES" to the dress
As you're coordinating your outfit with your family, keep in mind that your outfits will look the most cohesive on camera when the color palette and wardrobe pieces coordinate, but don't actually "match." In fact, I recommend that you avoid thinking about "matching," and instead think about what "fits" together. This will create more visual interest, and allow each personality to shine through.
The goal of coordinating a family is to visually break up the colors and shades so that you're not all wearing the same color on top and bottom. The more we can mix that up, the better. I encourage you to think about planning each outfit with "dominant colors" and "accent colors" in mind. A dominant color is a color that you see the most in an outfit, while an accent has a smaller piece of the visual real estate. When you're planning each family member's outfit, if you can aim for each person to have a different dominant color, and then tie in and vary the accent colors, it's going to look great all together.
If you would like to view examples of coordinating outfits, please check out my Pinterest Board for inspiration.
Outfit inspiration
REMEMBER: Avoid clothing with super small patterns such as checks or stripes. If you opt for clothing like this, my camera's sensor will cause a distortion called the moire effect (see picture for example). This is very undesirable and is not fixable in the editing process.
Fine Art Prints are true works of art! Printed on 100% cotton paper with hand torn edges, these prints are made to make a statement. Not to mention, the colors on these prints are beyond gorgeous!
The most economical route for printing every single image from your session. Proof prints are delicately placed in a glass box for a beautiful presentation that can be set out for everyone to enjoy on a daily basis.
Perfect for those who value legacy, heirloom albums are a great way to house a large number of images in a beautiful way. You can even personalize these albums with predesigned cover art to truly make it your own.
fine art
prints
Heirloom
Albums
Proof Prints
& Glass box
I'm a big believer that images aren't meant to only exist in a digital space. Computer drives fail, files get lost in the mix of a million others and over the years your images can get lost or even deleted. The best bet that your memories will be kept safe and not lost are the ones you have physically printed. The prints, that you can actually hold in your hand, will be the best way to remember and cherish the precious moments we capture.
Think about this fact: twenty years ago, if I had delivered you digital images, they would have been on a floppy disk. With the fast updates to technology, you would be hard pressed to access those images today.
But prints? Those last. I bet your family still has images from your grandparents (maybe even great grandparents.) Let's make sure your sweet memories aren't ever lost but preserved for many generations to enjoy!
bring your images to life
I know that this guide is long but hopefully it covers everything you need to know in order to prepare for your newborn session. If there is something I missed, or you have any questions/need recommendations please feel free to email me. I want to help you feel fully prepared for our time together. I'm so excited to work with you!
hello@laurengrigg.com
