Booking
When booking your session, keep in mind the best time of day for you and/or your children. You all should be well rested and fed! Also remember that outdoor photography is usually best in the morning or the early evening. When you call, we will talk about the location that is best for you, as well as the style of portraits you are looking for and what picture you ‘have’ to have.
Session Atmosphere
Number one, don’t stress out! This will be fun! My desire is to make your experience relaxing and enjoyable. I encourage parents to tell me how they feel about a particular ‘pose’ or location, but please don’t tell your children to smile! We will get those smiles naturally and hopefully get some classic, beautiful portraits without smiles too. And although parents love to watch what is happening (speaking from experience here), I may occasionally ask them to back away a little, so I can have the child’s full attention.
Clothing
I prefer to babies to be nude and children to be barefoot (weather permitting for outdoor, of course)!
Most importantly, dress to reflect your style. Within that style, solid colored or classic clothing will almost always look better in your portraits. I want your face and your children’s faces to take all the attention and clothing with bold patterns often distract from that (but not always, we can discuss this if you’d like to go with patterns). Families do not need to dress all the same, but will look best coordinating in value (i.e. all lightly colored clothing) and color. Fun hats are encouraged for some of the pictures!
Newborns
Your newborn’s portrait should be in the first two weeks after he/she/they are born, preferably around 6 days old. Expect your session to take a while! I like babies to be nude almost exclusively but fun hats, bows and head bands are encouraged. I also like to take newborn portraits in your home when possible. I will rearrange your furniture and spot clean (don’t worry about having a clean house- you just had a baby) to set up some photos and use items from your home to make your portraits unique. If you prefer the studio, be sure to bring extra clothes for mom and dad, burp cloths, and extra diapers.
Proofs and Ordering
About 2 weeks after your session you will receive a link and password to a personal online gallery of your proofs. This gallery remains active for 3 months. Included in your session fee is an appointment to go through the pictures and your order together, scheduled to be about 3-4 weeks after your session. If you choose to order custom cards or storyboards, we will discuss them in our ordering appointment and proofs will be sent to you via email.
All ordered images are archived after the 3 month time period, non-ordered images will not be saved. Please allow up to 4 weeks to receive your prints. This ensures that your images are of the highest quality. Custom orders and framed portraits may take up to 8 weeks. I accept cash, check, and credit cards via PayPal. Session fees are due prior to the shoot in order to hold your session. Payment is due when the order is placed. All sales are final.
Copyright
Charissa Hanson retains the copyright on all images and reserves the right to use images for personal advertisement, web, publication and display. It is illegal to scan, copy or reproduce my images in any manner. If you would like to use an image on your website or for your own announcements, you must purchase a copyright release. Thank you for respecting my artistic property.
