About our Family Sessions ...

Our Family sessions are relaxed and fun. We keep things light and try to keep them interesting for everyone.

While photographing a family, just as in our Senior portraits, it isn't a "shoot and go" scenario. We are happy to take more than one family grouping and change things up so that you have plenty of images to choose from. Likewise, we know that as families grow and change, it is not uncommon to want pictures of the entire family group and of each individual family as well.

We're happy to accomodate. We want to create pictures you will love.

How long is a session?

Typically family portraits last an hour or so, depending on the size of the family. Sometimes they are longer, sometimes shorter, but an hour is a pretty safe figure to think with.

When photographing a larger family (grandparents with all of their children, grandchildren and even perhaps great-grandchildren), in the interest of making this as easy as possible on the youngest and most elderly family members, we try to photograph the entire family group first and then photograph the oldest and youngest arrangements. From there we move on to photographing the rest of the group.

How much does a family session cost?

Our family sessions are $150. This session fee pays for the photographer and time involved in proofing and preparing your images for viewing.

Sessions are paid for at the time they are scheduled.

Session fees will be refunded if they are cancelled no less than 48 hours from the session appointment.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express for session reservations.

What is a good location for a session?

We are often asked if we photograph outdoors - of course! (You won't find an image photographed in a studio anywhere on this site).

Depending on the location, the family home can be great for a portrait, but most often we photograph in a nearby park or a park located centrally enough that families can gather there.

There are many parks in the area - if you know of one in your area that you like, we would be happy to work there.

However, we are just as happy to work at the beach - have you ever been to Bodega Bay? What about Baker Beach with the Golden Gate bridge in the background?

We're not picky - we'll photograph pretty much anywhere we can make a great image.

What time of day is good for a session?

We often recommend late afternoon and evening for sessions. This time of day provides gorgeous golden light, and the angle of the sun is much more flattering than early afternoon when light is directly overhead.

However, we can photograph earlier in the day - the shade of trees in a park provides many options and we are used to working in all kinds of light.

Do you photograph on the weekends?

We are often asked if we photograph on the weekend - however that is the busiest time for us to work. We know that everyone has a busy schedule during the week and do our best to accomodate weekend photography requests, but that is when we have them most, so that is when we are the least available.

If at all possible, we recommend a weekday evening - that's the perfect time of day for pictures.

What about clothing? What sould we wear?

Clothing is definitely an item of individual expression.

As we want this portrait to reflect your family, not a cookie cutter idea of what a family SHOULD look like, we won't try and dictate what you wear.

However, from a photography standpoint, we can offer some recommendations.

As a portrait, really loud colors or patterns can be a great distraction to the image. It can sometimes be difficult to look past the clothing and see the people wearing the clothes. For this reason, more muted solid colors often work well.

Our relaxed style of portrait works equally well for shorts, t-shirts and sandals as it does for more formal attire.

As families often pose in a very relaxed fashion - sitting together on the ground and such - keep in mind the length of skirts and shorts and the tightness of clothing. It can sometimes be uncomfortable or difficult to relax with the group when your clothing would reveal too too much or prevents you from moving easily!

Please be well rested ... and ready to have fun!

To make the portrait experience as pleasant as possible, we recommend that all members of the portrait be well fed and rested when you arrive for the session. We know how it feels to be tired or hungry and this can greatly affect your portrait experience.

Particularly for young children - we recommend non-sugary snacks, plenty of liquids and good rest. We want them alert and happy and interested in what is going on.

Not only be well rested, but ready to have fun. We want this to be more than just an, 'OK, everyone gather right here ... now look at the camera and smile!' experience.