There are many details that go into creating your perfect portrait. We will touch on many of them either on the phone or during your pre-session consultation. In the mean time, please read through some of the common details people have questions about!
What Can I Expect During My Session?
Many people ask me what to expect from their session. For the most part you can expect to have fun! If you look through my galleries and have seen my art around town or in your friend’s homes you will notice a definite relaxed feel to the portraits. This is because I feel that people look better when they feel comfortable. This goes for both kids and adults!
How does this translate into preparing for your session? First off … don’t go out and buy clothes because you saw them in someone else’s portrait if the clothes don’t represent you! I am often asked about wearing white and khaki. Of course this is easy to purchase and does often look good, but not everyone looks good in white! Be creative! This is your session, choose clothes that are uniquely you! I love colors, but not necessarily patterns for groups.
We will go over all the clothing details during your pre-session consultation. As you can see, properly preparing for your portrait is almost as important as the session itself!
What Should I Wear?
As I mentioned above, depending on your session will truly determine what you should wear. We will go over this with you before the session. However, I can tell you what you shouldn’t wear to your portrait session:
- Don’t force your daughter to wear a hair bows if she doesn’t like them! Nothing will ruin a session faster than if you have to constantly be running over to her fixing her hair as she pulls out the bow.
- Don’t put complicated outfits on your newborns! The clothes get bunchy, don’t look good and distract from the essence of the newborn baby portrait. Stick with a diaper cover and save the outfits for later in the year! See our Preparing for your Newborn Session for more details
- Don’t wear bright white shoes with dark clothes! Unless we are doing an ad for a shoe catalog, this is a definite No No! All you will see are the shoes!
- Don’t wear loud patterns when we are photographing a large group. The simpleness in the clothing is what draws your attention to the people and the relationships.
I LOVE Jeanine’s Newborn Portraits – How Do I Get One?
All of the newborn portraits you see on our website are babies less than 2 weeks old. This is critical to achieve the fresh baby look that people love. They are still all curled up and most importantly, they SLEEP through ANYTHING! Since our schedule typically books up 2 to 3 weeks out, it is important to call the studio while you are still expecting so we can mark your due date on our calendar. We then recommend you have a designated person call us when the baby is born to reserve your appointment.
Our newborn sessions typically last for 2 hours. We don’t photograph for the long, but as you will soon find out, newborns eat and poop a lot! We schedule plenty of time to allow for nursing, bottles, changes and mood swings (for the baby and parents). I never want anyone to stress during a newborn session! This will be one of the many new bonding experiences you will have with your little bundle and we do everything in our power to ensure it is an amazing experience.
Once you reserve your Newborn Portrait please read our Preparing for your Newborn Session article. This will help you achieve a stress free newborn session.
I don’t see a lot of Maternity Portraits on your website, do you do them?
Yes! In fact we do many maternity portraits in the studio. One of our most popular session packages includes a maternity and newborn session!
Here is the thing …. We consider maternity portraits to be a very personal and intimate experience. The portraits I create for my moms and dads are for them and their families. We put a few of them on the website to give some ideas of what we do, but for the most part the intimacy experienced in the portrait is for the family and not for the public. If you would like to see a wider selection of our maternity portraits, please make an appointment to come by the studio.
If you are considering a maternity portrait, but aren’t sure if it is for you, please come talk with us. This is such a magical and beautiful time in a woman’s life and we seek to create artistic portraits that capture this moment. Since Cloud 9 Studios is owned and photographed by a woman (that would be me, Jeanine) you can feel comfortable and at ease during the session. Each session is completely private and we try to minimize the traffic in the studio while your session is taking place. In fact we don’t even let David go to the bathroom! No men allowed! Well, except for the dads of course.
Do you photograph on location?
Yes! We love to photograph outside and would love to chat with you about your ideas. Many clients request we photograph at their home or at a location that has special meaning to them. If you just want to go outside, but don’t know where …. we can suggest some amazing locations for you!
Who should come to a session?
We recommend that only those being photographed come to the sessions. Many of us are already uncomfortable with the idea of being photographed and having extra eyes “watching” can make some uneasy.
Also, with young children we find that the distractions of other people (siblings, adults, friends, etc.) can lead to a child who doesn’t interact with Jeanine and the camera during the session.
The one exception to this rule is when we are photographing multiples. If we are photographing twins or triplets, we recommend you bring an extra set of hands to help.
Can you retouch wrinkles, boo boos and other of life’s imperfections?
Yes! In fact I wouldn’t imagine letting an image out my door without being perfect! This service is included in the purchase of all your portraits.
Do you have other questions?
Please send us an email! We want to hear from you. We will return your inquiry within 24 hours.
