Booking a photo session is the easy part. Showing up feeling relaxed, ready, and actually excited is where a little preparation goes a long way. Here is everything I wish every client knew before we meet.
Start with a conversation
Every session I book starts with a conversation before we ever pick up a camera. We talk about what you are hoping to feel in your photos, what locations feel right, what time of year works best, and what you are nervous about. That last one matters most. If you have never loved photos of yourself, if you feel awkward in front of a camera, if your kids have a meltdown at precisely the wrong moment, I want to know all of it. The more I understand going in the better I can set us up for a session that actually feels good.
Choose your location with intention
Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains offer an embarrassment of riches when it comes to shooting locations. The Biltmore Estate gardens, the Botanical Garden at Asheville, Hominy Creek Greenway, Montford, the Blue Ridge Parkway. Each one has its own character and its own quality of light. We will talk through the options together and find the spot that fits your vision, your family, and the season we are shooting in.
If you have a dream location in mind, tell me. If you have no idea, trust me. Finding the right spot is genuinely one of my favorite parts of the process.
Timing is everything and also flexible
The quality of light in the mountains changes constantly and it changes fast. I will recommend a start time based on the location, the season, and what kind of light I think will serve us best that day. What I can promise is that we will not be fighting terrible light if I have anything to say about it.
Give yourself extra time on the day of the session. Do not schedule anything stressful beforehand. Arrive a few minutes early so you have time to settle in, look around, and let the kids burn off any nervous energy before we start shooting.
Feed the kids and let them play
This sounds obvious but it is the thing most families forget. Hungry or over-tired children do not cooperate in photos. A small snack right before the session can make an enormous difference. Let them run around the location for a few minutes before we start. Let them explore. The best family photos I have ever taken happened when the kids forgot I was there and started doing their own thing. We are not trying to manufacture a perfect posed moment. We are waiting for the real one.
Bring what you need, leave the rest
A small bag with outfit options, a hairbrush, a small mirror, anything you need to feel refreshed between looks. Snacks for the kids. Water. Comfortable shoes for walking if the location requires it. Do not over-pack. The lighter you travel the more relaxed the whole session feels.
Lower your expectations to raise the outcome
The sessions that go best are almost never the ones where everyone performed perfectly. They are the ones where something spontaneous happened, where someone said something funny, where a kid did exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right moment and I happened to catch it. The goal is not a perfect photo. The goal is a true one.
Come ready to laugh, ready to be a little bit uncomfortable, and ready to let go of the vision in your head. What actually happens is usually better anyway.
Trust the process
I give specific, warm direction throughout every session. You will never be left standing there wondering what to do with your hands or where to look. I notice things. I almost see the moment before it happens. And I will be paying far more attention to the light on your face than you will.
Your only job is to show up and be present. I will handle the rest.
