FAMILY SESSIONS

SESSION DETAILS

Family Session Instructions

Please review these instructions in its entirety and follow them for a wonderful family session experience.

SESSION TIMES:

All family sessions are done outdoors. In order to get the best light possible, most sessions are shot about 1-1.5 hours after sunrise or 1.5 hours before sunset. Therefore, the session times change based on the time of year and also by locations. Locations with lots of shade can work for longer periods of the day. If you are looking for a studio portrait for your family, we can do a close-up/half body portrait but we only have a few backdrops large enough for a family of 4-6. Those larger backdrops are either black, grey, white, brick or a light blue tile pattern. Inside portraits are taken any time during the day.

In the winter, sessions usually are scheduled for 9am and 4pm. In the summer, sessions are generally scheduled at 8 or 8:30am (it's hot out there) and 6 or 6:30 pm. We will choose the time that works best for both your family, the location and the lighting outside at that time of year.

CLOTHING:

The most popular question we get asked is "What do we wear?" I know it can be a hard decision and frustrating trying to coordinate each family member. But, I will try to help you make this decision easier. So, where do you start? I suggest one of two options.

OPTION 01

Choose a few colors and have everyone wear a sampling of those colors. For example, Let's say you choose red and navy blue as your colors. Use these colors to base your family's outfits from and fill in tops and bottoms with neutrals. So, Let's just say that your daughter has an adorable red dress and you know your husband has a great navy sweater. Start with these items and work around them. Maybe mom wears a cream top with a navy fitted jacket and a red scarf. Son #1 may wear a brown sweater (a neutral) with a red plaid shirt underneath) and son #2 has on a red and white striped shirt with a brown hat. This choice of clothing may not be your style at all but you can see how by choosing two colors and working from that you can coordinate the whole family without making everyone matching identically.

OPTION 02

Some families say they have one hard person to dress. I am one of those families. If this is the case, start by choosing the outfit for that family member and working the rest of the clothes around that one outfit. It may be a child who has a favorite shirt to wear or maybe your daughter just got a new dress. I have a child who has to be comfortable in whatever he wears so I usually start by choosing his clothing first.

Head to the website of one of your favorite retailers and get ideas there. The Gap, J Crew and Old Navy have great links to their new lines where you can see full outfit looks already out together for you. Also, www.polyvore.com is a neat site where you can pull together looks for the whole family based on pictures from various retail stores. You can pull shirts/skirts/pants/dresses that look similar to ones you already own and then figure out how outfits of each family member look together.

THINGS THAT LOOK GREAT IN PHOTOGRAPHS:

Solid shirts
Dark denim
Bright and dark colors

Layered looks look great! It is fun to pair shorts with cute jackets, sweaters, scarves, hats and of course fun jewelry. Layered clothing gives the look a very coordinated feel and it is easy to incorporate accent colors in parts of the outfit without having the colors you chose be so prominent for every person.

THINGS TO AVOID WEARING:

Different washes of jeans (I promise, the one person in the group with the different color jean wash will stick out)

Sparkly eye makeup

Low cut tops

Clothes that don't fit well (Clothes that are too big look saggy and do not show off your form as well. Clothes that are too small will show off more than you want.)

Baby doll tops and dresses (as cute as these are in person, they do not photograph well and make people appear heavier than they are)

Gingham and other small prints (small prints look busy and take over the person in the picture. In addition, they sometimes create a moire pattern which makes the photograph look strange). Larger prints (especially stripes) look better than small prints.

Matching shirts and pants for everyone. After all...when do you ever go anywhere looking the same? A coordinated family looks much better than a matching family.

Everyone always asks what colors to avoid. My least favorite color is white. If I know your child will be wearing white, I will try to choose a location with darker backgrounds (such as the ivy covered walls at All Saints). White and pastel colors tend to wash people out and they are just not my favorite to photograph. I do like light colors for light backgrounds (such as beach photographs).

PROPS & CLOTHING FOR LOAN:

I do have a variety of tutus, lace rompers, chairs, crates, baskets and other props that you are welcome to use for your session. Please let me know a few days in advance which items you would like to use so that I can have it packed and ready for your session. You can make an appointment with our studio assistant to drop in to the studio and view what we have available days before the session if you like. Please note that the larger chairs and couch are available for your session if you have a way to bring them to the session (my vehicle can only hold smaller chairs, crates, etc).

OTHER CLOTHING TIPS:

Please make sure all clothes are clean and free from stains.

It is great to have your child try on their new outfit before the session to make sure that it fits well. We have had many, many session where a new outfit is put on during the session and it is too big and falls off the shoulders or two small and buttons start popping.

Men should be clean shaven (unless they have a beard/mustache) as 5 o'clock shadow will not be photoshopped.

If someone in your family wears glasses, feel free to wear them during your session. We will do our best to minimize glare in your glasses, but it may be seen in the pictures. Some glasses have a glare-free surface and photograph great whereas other glasses have a green tint to them when light hits the surface so glare may or may not occur. You can also opt to not wear your glasses during the session. Another option may be to borrow a pair of glasses without a lens from your optometrist just for the session.

If you have a concern about your appearance or a body part that you would like to minimize, please let us know ahead of time to take this into consideration when posing. Please note that while we try to minimize these things, that does not mean that they can't be seen.

OTHER THINGS TO BRING:

Be sure to bring anything you think you may need during the session.

For children it may be drinks, snacks, special toys, things you want in the photograph, extra clothes, tutus, headbands, wipes for noses and faces, etc. Please do not pull out snacks or candy without consulting Ursula first. We tend to use snacks only as an award or a break.

It is also great to bring a blanket or quilt for your session for the family to sit on. Old quilts tend to work best.

When it is hot outside, bottled water and washcloths for sweaty faces are great additions.

If you have a special toy, blanket or heirloom that your child is attached to, please do not bring the item out until near the end of the session as the child may not want to give the item back and therefore get upset.

You may bring outfit changes if you wish. Please note that outfit changes do take time to multiple outfits work best for smaller groups or single children. Let Ursula see what outfits you have before the session so we can figure out which outfit works best for which part of the location. Please feel free to bring lots of extra clothes and accessories for Ursula to look through and figure out which would work best for your session.

GROUPINGS:

Normally during family sessions we start by taking the full family portrait first and then we break off in groupings. We always try to capture just the children, the children individually, Mom and Dad alone, and any other pairings you wish. If there is a specific picture you want, please let us know at the beginning of the session.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

The average family session takes approximately an hour. Families with older children or only one child may finish in 30-45 minutes and large families may take up to 1 hour. Please try to schedule this session at a time when your children are happy. Some children tend to do better in the morning whereas other children do better in the afternoon.

WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED?

Absolutely no cameras or recording devices of any kind are allowed in the studio. This includes cell phone cameras. Also, please save all lollipops and sticky candies until after the session is completely over.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE SESSION?

Generally, about 1-2 weeks after your session you will receive an email with a link to your family's gallery of pictures. At busier times like the fall and spring, it may be on the longer side whereas in the summer and winter it may only take a few days as it all depends on the current schedule. When sending out the gallery access information to friends and family, please relay to have them create their own accounts and not use your account. It is important for people to set up their own accounts as each person can save pictures as favorites and have their own shopping cart. The access code sent to you is what is needed for your specific gallery and each session with Ursula Page Photography in the future will have a new gallery access code but the email/password account you set up in the beginning will remain the same.

Please note that the gallery stays up for two weeks. If the gallery expires, you must pay another $25 to have the gallery re-hosted for another 2 weeks. There are no exceptions. If you know you prefer an in-person ordering session, please let us schedule this right away. During your session, feel free to look around and ask questions about the various products offered. If you know in advance that you are looking for something very specific, please let Ursula know so that she can tailor the pictures to the item you are looking towards purchasing. Pictures are only kept for 6 months from the date of the session before being deleted.

If you have signed the model release, Ursula may share a picture on Facebook or on the blog as a peek of your session. If this picture is posted on Facebook, you are free to share it on your page or make it your new avatar but you are not allowed crop out the watermark or edit the picture in any way. This picture is a small resolution sized preview and printing this violates the copyright agreement you signed in your session agreement and I take this very seriously.

HEADSWAPS

Sometimes when photographing a family, especially ones with small and wiggly children, we can't always get every person smiling at one time. We can do a head swap from one picture to another picture if the pictures, head/body position and background are similar. Please note that these are sent to a retoucher to get the best result and therefore a fee is charged. Contact Ursula to see if this is possible with the pictures that you want changed. A head swap takes anywhere from one to four business days depending on the season and schedule of the retoucher.

QUESTIONS?

I am happy to discuss with you any questions or additional clothing options so please feel free to call me or e-mail me with any questions. And please check out the family gallery on my website and blog for ideas you may want to incorporate into your session.

CONTACT ME

VIEW FAMILY GALLERY