Welcome, and thank you for choosing Paperlily Photography for your custom children’s portraiture. I hope you are anticipating your session as much as I am. Each and every session is different, as it is tailored to each of my unique subjects. Childhood is so fleeting, and life is too busy. I find that it is so important to capture the stages that so quickly pass us by. My goal is to create timeless, artistic images that highlight the essence of you and your family. When you look at an image by Paperlily through the years, I want you to cherish not only the beauty and quality of the images, but the memories that will last a lifetime. I have put together some information pertaining to your upcoming portrait session. It is my hope that you find this information helpful as you prepare for our session together. If you have any further questions please feel free to call or email. I look forward to working with you and your family!
Newborns
I’m only half joking when I say “I’ll meet you on the way home from the hospital…” as it is so important to schedule your newborn session within the first week of life, 10 days at the latest. Since babies arrive on their own schedule, I leave mine flexible around your due date to ensure that I am available within the 10 day time period. I advise clients to have dad give me a call, text or email when things settle down at the hospital to let me know when your baby is born. From there we can schedule a firm date for your session. Daytime light is the best for shooting indoors, depending on the season it will be somewhere between 10 am and 3 pm. We will also take your babies longer nap times into consideration.
All newborn sessions are shot on location, in the comfort of your own home, but the last thing I want you to feel is overwhelmed to entertain me or have your house perfectly clean when I arrive. I understand the exhaustion that comes with having a new baby in the house, so I promise not to judge. When I arrive, I first will walk around your home a bit and find the best lighting for our session. I usually have to move some furniture around, but rest assured, your house will be back to normal before I leave.
My style of newborn photography is simple and natural, as you’ve probably noticed, so less clothing, if any is best. Knit or crocheted hats, or any plain cozy blankets, are also a great addition to the images. Feel free to lay out a few things you have in mind, and I will advise you what will photograph best. I love to include mom and dad in the photos, and the same “simple and natural” style applies. Baby on bare skin is so beautiful, so for mom a tube top works well, or I may wrap you in a backdrop or gauze, and for dad’s, bare chest or a plain black or white t-shirt is great.
And finally, there is absolutely no rush with a newborn session. I plan for them to take at least 3-4 hours and I do not mind waiting for you to nurse, change or soothe your baby.
A few helpful tips for the day of the session:
- It helps to keep your home on the warmer side the day of the session, to keep your baby comfortable.
- Before I arrive, undress your baby down to a diaper and swaddle them with a blanket before you feed them, that way they are not too disturbed when I undress them.
- Keep their skin moisturized, as it minimizes the flakiness.
Children & Family
For children and family sessions I would say my style is editorial, real and candid. I also really love adding fashion to my images through clothing, posing and use of location. It is also very important to me that everyone has fun on the photoshoot. It is my goal to capture genuine expression and the true personality of your family or child in the images that I take.
Location: When deciding on a location for your portrait session, I want you to think about your style, and where your family would be most comfortable. Are you looking for a colorful and modern portrait session? i.e. more of a city/urban feel, with brick walls, and colorful doorways, and alley ways? Maybe a county fair or carnival? Or are you looking for a more natural feel? Perhaps a rustic barn, orchards, or open fields of overgrown grass? Many clients like to have a session at their homes, which I love, also! Does your child have a great nursery or bedroom that you’d like to use? Or do you have a large property or stables? I am open to anything, the more creative, the better!
Clothing: The number one question I am asked is about “what should we wear?” Clothing choice if very important in a photograph. I recommend wearing layers as much as possible to add interest and texture. By texture I mean, chunky knit sweaters, or clothing with ruffles, buttons, ribbon, embroidery, etc. Feel free to bring a couple of outfit changes to the sessions. If your child is up for it, we can change as many times as you like. Accessories are my favorite accent to photograph. Hats, scarves, fun necklaces, furry boots, tights, etc, can really make a photograph more interesting.
Choosing clothing for a family session can be really stressful. Try picking a few colors and sticking to them for the entire family. Dark jeans are always a good choice and you can pair it with coordinating colors. Sometimes matching too much can look a little cheesy, so try to keep each person a little unique but styling within the color scheme. I’ve listed some links and names of clothing stores I recommend.
If you are still unsure about anything, or would like more of my input, I am more than happy to help! And when in doubt, bring it all, and we can piece it together at the session….
Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack
Etsy (tons of homemade knit and crocheted hats)
Anthropologie for adults, Lenox and Perimeter Mall
There are also many online boutiques that carry amazing european clothing such as:
Oilily, Cakewalk, Petite Badou, Catimini, Deux par deux.
What to expect at the session:
When we first meet at the session location, I will introduce myself to you and your children without my camera, and then look around for the best lighting and areas to shoot in. We can go through any clothing options at this time as well.
The most important thing for you to do on our session day is relax (i know, that can be hard because you want everything to be perfect) Kids can always sense the tension if everyone is stressing out, though, and it makes it harder to get natural images. It’s ok if your child runs around or gets silly, I really want this to be a fun experience.
When working with younger children, between 3-6, I may ask for a little space from mom and dad if I feel like they are trying to “perform” a bit. When I say space, I mean about 15-20 feet, I might ask if your child will take a little walk with me or go “explore.” When I am one on one with a child, that’s usually when I can get them to open up more and capture their true personality. With babies under 1, it’s typically better to have mom and dad close by to make them laugh.
For families, as I’ve said before, my goal is to capture natural photographs, so I may ask you to interact or tell a joke, or squish close together…show that you love eachother. If you don’t love your family, you probably won’t love my perspective on family photos… (you’d be surprised how often I question the love factor in a family session, lol!)
Sessions can last anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hours, so keep that in mind if you’d like to plan around naps or to bring a snack or drinks during the shoot.
After the session: A few days after our session I will post a “sneak peak” on my blog for you to preview, and within 2 weeks after our shoot together, I will contact you via email to let you know that your full gallery is ready for viewing. You can decide when you’d like me to start your 4 day viewing period and then i will send you a link and a password that you can share with friends and family. All orders must be placed within 4 days of the gallery posting either in person or on our online shopping cart.
*$400 print commitment is required with all booked sessions, although most clients plan to invest between from $800-$2500 in custom albums and artwork for their homes.
*I want all of my clients to have the option to have ALL of the edited images from our session on cd. Every image may not be meant for a large wall portrait, but may be a beautiful image of your child as they are at this phase in their lives. Once $650 has been invested on artwork (preferably in large wall portraits and specialty items) clients may purchase the digital collection that includes every image as you see it in your gallery. Client receives right to all images to do as they wish, printing up to 11×14, scrapbooking, use in digital frames, share on the web, or backup to a hard drive.
*Often order totals can be a combination of client, grandparents, friends and family.
* Custom wall display designs are available at no charge to you! Please have measurements and photos of your walls available if you are interested in creating a gallery of your images.
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