Family Portraiture

Most of the time I’ll photograph your session personally. Some folks may get to work with my associate of more than 15 years, Felipe. If you have been referred to me by someone who has worked with Felipe in the past, I’m happy to assign your session to him. In either case, you will know who your photographer is when you book your session.

Absolutely. But, be aware that they don’t always want to play along and can eat up a lot of time that we might otherwise use to create images. I recommend bringing a dedicated helper with you so that we can capture a few images with the animal, and then focus on other images. If you’re primarily interested in images of your pet, you might want to consider my Pet Portraiture services instead because the rhythm of those sessions is built around the animal.

I recommend choosing comfortable clothing that makes you feel good, and beyond that, it only depends on the formality of your session. When it comes to color coordination, I’d recommend choosing from a pallet of colors, rather than strictly “matching” colors. For example, shades of blue and green, rather than everyone wearing blue jeans with a green shirt. If you’re looking for more or less formality, think about how you might dress for a comparable event — church picnic, family reunion, or a cousin’s wedding, for example — then apply a color pallet to that.

You bet! I have tons of experience working with children. And, I am an uncle to a small army of nieces and nephews who have put me through the wringer over the last 20 years. I believe it’s important to let children take the lead, and I base sessions with children around playful interactions as much as possible.

Family Portraiture sessions are all-inclusive and you generally won’t be required to spend anything additional after the session. However, if you wish to schedule a session outside of my normal service area you will be required to pay for travel. If applicable, you’ll also pay for parking and event or location admissions during the session, any prints that you choose to buy from me, as well as any advanced retouching you might request.

Traditional family portraiture includes up to 12 people, and one pet. You can always bring additional people with an extra fee. Express Sessions include up to 6 people.

Sure, as long as the group totals fewer than the number of people included in your session. You can always add additional participants a la carte. It’s a great way to spend time with people you care about, and save a little money in the process. It should be noted, however, that I cannot segment the session for each family. The whole group must be present for the session at the same time. If you want segmentation, we can arrange for a private mini-session event where each family can have their own dedicated session.

I’ll make every effort to accommodate changes in schedule. It’s important to keep in mind that I can only reserve one date at a time per booking, so schedules will be based on current availability at the time of rescheduling.

Family Portraiture will last around 90 minutes. Express Sessions are capped at 25 minutes. Under some circumstances, sessions may run a little long and may be cut short if something out of my control ends things early.

Standard turn around time for Family Portraiture is around 2-3 weeks or less, but not guaranteed. If the images need extra time to look their best, I’ll give it to them. I will always keep you in the loop if things are taking a little longer. Guaranteed rush delivery is available at an additional cost.

You can, but it isn’t recommended in most cases, since it will take time we could be using to capture photos. I am also unable to guarantee there will be a suitably private place to change clothes. That said, if you’d like to introduce more variety, I would recommend swapping accessories and outerwear, rather than a full outfit.

As far as portrait sessions are concerned, children are people from the ages of 3 to 15 years old. Ages younger than that are considered babies, and ages older than that are considered adults. Basically, if they’re old enough to “play along”, but probably not old enough to drive themselves to the session, they’re children.

Depending on the context of the image, we will remove some non-permanent blemishes and may slightly soften skin where it looks unnaturally rough. I do not generally perform major cosmetic adjustments on portraits.

Family Portraiture sessions include travel to locations within 35 miles of the 21054 zip code. Travel beyond that will cost a little extra. Express Sessions are limited to locations in Bowie and Crofton, MD.

Family Portraiture will always take place on-location. Depending on what style of images you like, we may shoot in your home, in a local park, a museum, or a downtown area. Any location that appeals to you, and we are legally allowed to photograph in, is a possible candidate. If you’re looking for inspiration, take some time to browse my extensive locations directory. I am also more than happy to offer up some suggestions.