Portrait Photo Shoot FAQ

To get started with your portrait session, contact me here and tell me a little bit about your intended session. I’ll respond to your email within 24hrs to set up a planning call so we can talk details about your intended session. 
Planning Call: This phone or video call helps me better understand your intended session so I can plan accordingly and offer suggestions on how to make things better. 
Booking your session: At the end of your style consultation if you’re ready to book your session, you can submit your session deposit to reserve your photoshoot date with me.
Photo Shoot: This is the day where you will be made over by my hair and makeup artist and I will capture your portraits. Most sessions with me take up a good part of the day so prepare accordingly.
Image Reveal: Roughly 2-3 weeks after your portrait session is when we’ll schedule a time for your photo reveal. This is when you’ll see all of your images for the first time and purchase only the images you absolutely love from your photo shoot.

For more information you can check out this overview to learn more details about a portrait session with me.

I’m based in Sonoma, California, and I offer on-location sessions anywhere within about an hour of my location at no extra charge. Areas I regularly serve include:
Belvedere, Benicia, Bodega, Calistoga, Cloverdale, Concord, Cotati, Fairfax, Forestville, Glen Ellen, Guerneville, Healdsburg, Hercules, Inverness, Jenner, Kenwood, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Napa, Nicks Cove, Novato, Oakmont, Occidental, Penngrove, Petaluma, Point Reyes Station, Rohnert Park, Saint Helena, San Anselmo, San Pablo, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, Sausalito, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Suisun City, Vallejo, Walnut Creek, Windsor, and Yountville.

If you’re unsure whether or not I can accommodate your location, check my service area page for the full list and more details.
For sessions beyond this region, I’m happy to travel. Travel sessions typically require coverage for airfare or mileage, lodging and a rental car. Let me know what you’re planning and I’ll get you a quote.

Stylized portrait sessions start at $1952.00. This includes your photo shoot, professional hair and makeup, and 6 fully retouched images delivered both digitally and as prints or in a folio collection.
Most clients spend between $2,000 and $6,000 on their final collection, depending on how many images they choose in the final collection. Some spend more, some spend less—it’s entirely up to you. These fully retouched portraits are featured on my portrait gallery page.

If you’re booking a family or children’s portraits, pricing is different:
These sessions are $300/hour with a 2-hour minimum. These sessions include all images from the day, globally edited (Lightroom only, no Photoshop), delivered as web-optimized JPEGs at 2000px on the long side. High-res files and hand retouching are available at the same rates as my stylized portrait sessions.

For a full breakdown of options, visit my portrait price menu.

Start by thinking about where your session will take place. Your outfit should complement the location. For example, you’d likely wear something different for a black studio backdrop than you would for a beach shoot or forest setting.
Once you’ve chosen a location, pay attention to its color palette. Is it mostly earth tones, neutrals, or dark backgrounds?
-To blend in harmoniously, choose outfits with similar (analogous) tones.
-To stand out, pick something from a contrasting color group.

It might sound complicated but I promise it isn’t. For a more detailed guide with visual examples, check out my post on how to color coordinate outfits for photos.

Absolutely, I’ll guide you into poses that best suit your body type and the environment. It’s honestly one of the biggest reasons my clients hire me. If you’re not sure what to do with your hands, best angles for photographs or anything like that, don’t worry! If you like the photos on this site you’ll likely love the images we’ll create together!

My main workhorse right now is the Canon R5 mirror-less system. I also use all professional lenses to make sure the hardware I use is capturing the highest quality files for you.

For portrait sessions I do not charge you for how long your session is or how many outfits you change into. The price I charge will be based on how good of a job I do, and the number of photos you choose to take home. Most people only get to about 2-3 outfits for their session, but still make sure to bring more than you think you’ll need in case something doesn’t work out!

I use both and sometimes neither. I use everything I have around me like if MacGyver was a photographer.

Feel free to bring me any images so we can look at them together during your planning call. In general, I don’t accept shot requests where I copy other peoples work but I’m happy to look at them for style inspiration.

Part of what you see in my portfolio is spontaneity as I interact with the person I’m photographing. It’s also reading a space in real time and directing people into great light as I see it which can also be happenstance.

It’s for these among other reasons I try to keep shot requests to a minimum as I think it leads to superior final images you’ll ultimately be happier with.

Of course! But please make sure to only invite people who will be super positive contributors! Although the right people can definitely make your session better, poor choices can literally compromise the quality of your final photos. Choose the people you bring to your session wisely!!!

It depends on the type of session and the level of styling you want:
-A simple on-location headshot (no hair and makeup) usually takes about an hour.
-A fully stylized portrait session with professional hair and makeup is a full-day experience, typically 6–8 hours.

Family and event-style sessions fall somewhere in between. Once I know what kind of portraits you’re looking for, I can give you a more accurate estimate.