It’s important to be prepared for your portrait session to make sure you have photos you love. If you leave everything up to chance or don’t give certain parts of your session enough consideration, you might be disappointed with the results.
Portrait sessions are not just a financial investment, but an investment of time and energy. There’s an emotional labor component that goes into selecting your photographer, so you want to make sure you’re happy with all the parts of your portrait session experience.
It’s not as simple as just hiring the right photographer though. There is a bit of responsibility on your part to make sure you’ve fully considered all of your options.
Choose the Time of Year for Your Portrait Session
If you’re planning an outdoor session, you’ll want to consider the time of year for your session. For fall photos, you’ll want to schedule your session for projected peak fall color. You’ll likely need to plan ahead and book a session date several months in advance as photographers’ fall calendars fill up quickly! My fall calendar is usually fully booked by July or August at the latest.
Consider the Weather
When choosing a time of year, you’ll want to consider the weather. While yes, everything is beautiful and green in the summer, it’s also swampy and mosquito swarm-y (at least here in the Midwest) in the summer. What that means for you: you’re going to be sweaty in your photos. If you’re doing family photos, your little ones will have red, ruddy faces and damp hair. They’ll be crabby about being really hot. You’ll probably have sweat stains if you’re someone who sweats a lot. If that’s not something you care about, that’s okay; if it is, you’ll want to make that a consideration.
In the late fall, early spring, and winter, there’s a high probability that it’s going to be cold. If you’re doing family photos, your little ones will have red noses. You might have a red nose. They might be crabby about being cold. Your fingers might be numb, and your ears might be red. If you feel cold, you probably look cold, and if you’re okay with that, I’m okay with that; but if you’re not okay with that, then you’ll want to take that into consideration.
Something else to think about: the wind. There is absolutely nothing we photographers can do about the wind. You just have to embrace it. If messy wind-blown hair isn’t something you can handle, then you should probably consider an indoor portrait session location.
Choose Your Session Location
Missouri has so many different options for portrait session locations. The St. Louis metro area has some amazing architecture on both sides of the river, and not only that, but we also have phenomenal parks, and gorgeous rivers and lakes. We have rolling hills, cliffs, pine forests, white sand beaches, giant rocks that are reminiscent of Joshua Tree National Park, castle ruins, and waterfalls.
If you’re not sure what location you’d like for your portrait session, think about the type of background you’d like. Do you want a grungy / urban area? Or do you want something more architectural? Would you like something manicured and park-like, similar to Lafayette Park, Tower Grove Park, or the Missouri Botanical Gardens? Do you want something more nature-y?
Or do you want to document your life at home? In-home lifestyle sessions are a fantastic way to include pets in your session without the stress of bringing them along. If you have cats, we all know cats don’t normally travel. The only way to include them in your portrait session is to bring the portrait session to them.
In-Studio Portrait Sessions
Another option for your portrait session location is in-studio. I have a gorgeous natural light studio located in the metro St. Louis area. My studio is in an old schoolhouse that was built in 1903. The brick walls are painted a crisp shade of white. The floors are gorgeous dark, aged oak (and it’s legitimately natural!). The giant black metal windows span one entire wall of the space. The entire space has calming, chill vibe.
The benefit of shooting in a studio is that you don’t have to worry about the weather. My studio is climate controlled, so you’ll always be comfortable in your session attire. If you spend the extra money to have your hair and makeup professionally done for your portrait session, you don’t have to worry about it melting.
My studio is perfect for family sessions, headshots, branding sessions, boudoir sessions, engagements, and lifestyle sessions.
I always have multiple set-ups in my studio, and I frequently change things out to keep it interesting and exciting.
Choose What to Wear for Your Portrait Session
Pinterest is a great resource for figuring out what to wear for your session. You can search for mood boards, and many times there will be links to outfits. You can also browse Instagram and LikeToKnowIt. As a courtesy to my clients, everyone who books a session with me gets a link to my What to Wear Guide with outfit inspiration and helpful tips.
When looking for outfits for your portrait session, choose something that makes you look good and feel good. Don’t wear something that you’re going to feel self-conscious about, or something that you continuously have to adjust or rearrange or tug on.
If you really don’t know what to wear, you can try StitchFix and have a personal shopper select an outfit for you. Or you be all 90s and go to the mall. Head to a cute boutique. Boutiques usually have great sales people who will help you find something that fits well and looks great. I can’t even begin to tell you what a difference it makes when you know you look good, and the boost of confidence you’ll get is priceless!
My Top Tips for Choosing an Outfit for Your Portrait Session
- Choose the outfit for the hardest to shop for person first, then plan the rest of the outfits around that one.
- Don’t forget about shoes! Your shoes will be in the photos as well. Make sure you can walk in the shoes, and that everyone’s shoes fit the outfits they’re wearing.
- Make sure you can move in your outfit and don’t have to make adjustments. You’ll be moving during your session. You are not a statue.
- Do not all match each other, unless you’re trying to be Awkward Family Photos.
- Avoid pinstripes and tiny prints (they don’t photograph well).
- Avoid neon colors as they have a tendency to reflect the color back onto the people around you.
- If you hate your arms, don’t wear something sleeveless.
- Golf shirts are only appropriate attire for a golf course.
Dress Appropriately for the Weather!
Don’t wear summer clothes in the winter or winter clothes in the summer. This seems like common sense, but it happens a lot in the fall and spring when we have wild temperature swings. If you feel uncomfortable, you’ll look uncomfortable. Kids in particular cannot hide it if they’re feeling uncomfortable.
If you have your session scheduled during a time of the year when the weather is notorious for being a swinging pendulum, then you might want to have outfits that have addable or subtractable layers.
Hair and Makeup for Your Portrait Session
It’s a great idea to consider having your hair and makeup professionally done for your portrait session. If you’re doing an engagement session, you can do your hair and makeup trial on the day of your engagement session. That way you’ll get to see what the makeup looks like in photos. If you don’t want your partner to see your exact hair and makeup look, your makeup artist should be able to change things around for you a bit.
You can also watch hair and makeup tutorials and practice them a few times before your photos. If you have a friend that’s great at doing hair or makeup, enlist their help!
So you’ve had an amazing portrait session, now what?
You didn’t go through all that trouble just have those photos live and die on a hard drive somewhere. Photos should be printed so they can be held.
Now you’ll need to decide how you want to display your photos. I like to select a handful of my favorites to print in a 4×6 size and add to my daughter’s photo shoe box. (Yes, just like I had when I was growing up!) Then I select 2-3 to print at a larger size and display on the walls in my home. I also make a 6×6 album with all of my favorite images from the session.
If you need help deciding what to do with the images from your portrait session, that’s what I’m here for! I can help you narrow down your favorite images, and if you’d like an album, I’ll design it for you.
Need more help?
You might find these helpful: Family Photos 101: The Complete Guide for Stress-Free Photos and 5 Great Tips for a Stress-Free Engagement Session
Jaimie Nicole Krause is a St. Louis wedding & portrait photographer. You can contact her at hello@jaimienicolekrause.com
