Frequent questions about portrait photography

What should I wear to my portrait sitting?

While there are some basic tips we offer to ensure your clothing doesn't take away from your smiles, everyone who comes in for a portrait session is different. The important thing is that you remain who you are. We find that visual expamples work best for explaining some common rules of thumb, so once your portrait is booked we would be happy to offer you a personal consultation separate from your sitting to go over some ideas.

How do portrait sessions work? What can I expect?

Our number one rule - and this is an important one - is that the people have fun. Stress and worry can show on faces and we want everyone to be relaxed. We understand that some people are painfully shy or fearful of the camera... we will do everything possible to take that fear away.

For children, we never, ever pose. We all know that kids have short attention spans and if they are given too much instruction they will begin to get impatient and irritated. Instead, we encourage children to play and have fun. We have a tickle trunk loaded with goodies - from toys to costumes to props - and we encourage kids to play while we photograph them acting naturally. These candid-inspired photos will show your child's personality more than if we ask them to "sit still and smile."

Rather than asking you to pose, put your hand this way or your feet that way, we will direct you to do things that have you moving naturally. After all, a natural smile photographs far better than a forced one. While we welcome you to bring along a friend or loved one for moral support, we do kindly ask that we conduct the actual portrait session without an audience. People always mean well, but if someone is watching you during our shoot you may begin to worry about them rather than relaxing. This is especially true if you're a little bit camera shy since it's hard to feel comfortable if you have too many distractions. Our sitting room is equipped with a large-screen TV and we have lots of movies and magazines to make sure no one gets bored.

Where do you do your portrait sittings?

We offer both indoor and outdoor portrait sessions. We love to take people to some of our favorite parks and natural areas around Victoria for portrait sessions. We also have a state-of-the-art studio with a variety of different designs to act as backdrops, depending on the mood we're trying to create. Our studio is located in downtown Victoria and there are some really fantastic outdoor urban backdrops right around the corner from us. If you choose an indoor sitting, we can build an urban outdoor session into your sitting time.

Would it be possible for you to photograph us in our home?

Absolutely! After all, this is where you and your family are most comfortable and it's wonderful to incorporate your own belongings in your portraits. We have a package that includes the set-up of our portable studio and an initial "site scouting" to get familiar with our working space. Please let us know if this is your request and we'll be happy to go over your options.

What if we book a session outdoors and it rains?

We are happy to reschedule or to bring you into our studio where we have a natural-looking designs and settings for you to choose. We designed our studio like a home rather than a traditional portrait-studio.

I'd love to have you photograph my newborn? How do newborn sessions work?

We would love to photograph your newborn! As you know, this stage in a baby's life is fleeting so we try to ensure we capture your new baby within two weeks of birth. To ensure we are ready when your baby is born, we ask that you give us a call while you are still expecting with an approximate date range for your due date. We'll mark it in our calendars and make sure one of our photographers is available to celebrate the newest member of your family! We ofen do newborn sessions at your home where you and your newborn are most comfortable, and we suggest that the session be conducted during daylight hours so we have the option of using natural window light.

I've heard you book up months in advance. How soon should I book my appointment?

We find that weekends tend to book up between six to eight weeks in advance because of weddings and family reunions, especially during summer and fall. However, we do have more flexibility on weekdays and we even offer a discount if your book your session between M-F from 10am to 7:00 p.m. If weekends are the only time you can schedule your session, we ask kindly that you book your date as soon as you know that we are the photographers for you.

What is included in our portrait package?

All of our portraits include the creative fee for our photographer, plus an 8x10 enlargement and an online gallery. We also offer a number of portrait packages with framed enlargements, custom-written story albums by our in-house writer, day-in-the-life or year-in-the-life albums, and DVD slideshows set to music. Feel free to drop us a line and we would be happy to go over your options with you.

Can you do both a family portrait session and a child portrait session all at once?

We have several portrait packages for different sizes of groups and we would be happy to go over your options with you. While we do spend some time during family portrait sessions taking candid photos of your children playing for about 15 minutes. We advise that if you would like a creative portrait session with costumes or props and backgrounds, it is better to book a separate portrait session for your children. These creative sessions will take quite a bit longer we'll be able to give you better results if all of our attention is on your child. If you book a family portrait session with us, you will receive a discount off of your next sitting that can be applied towards a one-on-one session for your children.

Do you have a special package for maternity portraits plus newborn or baby portraits?

Absolutely! We would love to work with you from your pregnancy through to the celebration of your child's first-year milestones. We have several packges that include both a maternity portrait and baby portrait session, plus we have a year-in-the-life package that covers your pregnancy through each month of your baby's first year of life. All of our year-in-the-life packages include a storybook keepsake album. We'd love to tell you more about how these packages work the next time you're in the studio.

How do your custom-written storybook albums work?

We have an award-winning, professional in-house writer who will create a special story about your child that is unique to the series of photographs we've taken during the portrait session. We will then craft a beautiful storybook coffee table album with the pictures printed directly on the page. The next time you're in the studio we'd love to show you some examples and tell you more about how this works.

How do your portrait parties work?

Portrait parties are a great way to get you and your friends together to enjoy some muncies while your kids get to play. We set up one or two portable studios both indoors and outdoors, and we work with each of your children one at a time. Everyone receives a discounted rate and the host of the party receives a gift certificate to cover one sitting. There is a five-child minimum and a 12-child maximum for portrait parties.

How do your day-at-the-park sessions work?

During the spring, summer and fall months, we offer popular day-in-the-park sessions for child portraits. Our entire team works together to create a series of props and sets in a park or natural area. We then schedule sessions every 30 minutes throughout the day. Partipants receive a gift certificate that can apply to your session or to future enlargements. Check our blog or join our mailing list to find out the dates of our next session.

How do your fashion-for-fun portraits work?

You don't have to be a fashion model to walk our runway! We'll work with you to create a magazine-inspired look to your session. We have several in-house fashion photographers who always have a blast turning you into a fashion diva! We'll work with you to show you some great trips for looking and feeling like a New York fashion god or goddess. For that extra edge, you also have the option of working with our makeup artist and hair designer. These fashion-for-fun sessions are a popular way to mark a graduation or a milestone birthday.

How do your boudior sessions work?

We have a boudoir photography specialist who will work with you to find out the mood or atmosphere you'd like in your photograph. We generally do these sessions in the privacy of our studio and we have a variety of styles and backdrops for you to choose. Our boudior photographer and photo retouching artists are masters at creating photographs that show you at your most beautiful. These sessions make a great gift for an engagement or anniversary... and they are also a wonderful way to mark a milestone birthday.

When can we expect to see our pictures?

We schedule viewings within three weeks of your portrait sitting, which allows enough time for our creative team to ensure the pictures are close perfect before you see them. Once your prints are ordered, our digital retouching artist will put great care and attention towards inspecting each image to make sure it will print its very best.

When do you suggest we book our portrait session if we want prints in time for Christmas?

We know it's early to be thinking about Christmas in the fall; however, to allow enough time for our creative editing team to work on your pictures, we work back six weeks from Christmas day, which is around November 20, 2008 this year. Albums can take longer and our album vendors also have Christmas deadlines imposed on us, so we ask that you work back at least eight weeks from Christmas day to place any album orders before November 1, if not earlier. With this in mind, most people book sessions in September or early October to ensure there is enough time to order framed enlargements or albums for the Christmas holidays.

I have some old family photos that I would love to have retouched. Do you offer retouching services?

Absolutely. We have digital retouching artists on hand to scan in your cherished photographs and retouch them so they will print their best. We can also create custom-designed coffee table albums for your family memories.