Planning and Preparation
Scheduling
your session
We spend about 90 minutes to 2 hours with you and your family
for a typical portrait session. It is important that you schedule
a session that is the optimal time for the people being photographed,
especially if there are young children. We
want to make sure that we take our time and that you receive as
much individual attention as needed to capture this precious time
of life. If your baby needs a break to be fed or changed, we've
got the time for it! Why get stressed out? You should enjoy the
portrait session and have a great memory of it.
Sessions
are $150 during the week and $295 on weekends. TTo reserve a portrait
session a credit card number is required. If the session is cancelled
within 48 hours of the session time we reserve the right to charge
a $50 cancellation fee. To schedule your session please call us
at (408) 998-3342 or email us at info@westfallphoto.com.
Before
Your Session
Make sure that everyone is rested and fed before the session.
I encourage you to bring a snack for children, but please do not
let them know you have it and keep it out of sight until I mention
that it would be a good time for a snack. For older children,
please make sure they are cleaned, dressed, and ready to go when
you arrive.
Scratches,
Blemishes & Illness
Small scratches and bruises are common on small children, and
blemishes on older children and adults. If the scratch or blemish
is reasonably small, we do not need to reschedule the session
- these can easily be retouched out of the final prints, normally
for no additional charge.
If your
child has a cold or ear infection, or is otherwise not feeling
well, please reschedule. 24 hour notice for rescheduling is appreciated,
but if a sudden illness comes up on the day of the session it
is still best to reschedule. We will have much better results
when everyone is feeling their best.
Clothing, Hair,
and Make-up
At your consultation
appointment we will consult about clothing style and colors
in detail. In general, you will want to avoid patterned and
dated clothing. Remember, we want the portrait to be about you,
not your clothes. We will want to match the style of the clothing
to the desired style of the images. For baby sessions, I prefer
minimal clothes, or no clothes for the baby, and bare shoulders
for parents. For shots with clothing, solid darker clothing
is best for black&white prints. Earthtones and pastel colors
can be good choices for color prints. You may bring a few sets
of clothes for a variety of looks.
For hair and make-up,
we recommend that you wear your normal make-up, preferably staying
with "natural" tones. For black & white portraiture,
more make-up on the eyes and lips are recommended. Hair should
be styled loosely, so that it is out of the eyes and face.
Props
We tend to not use
any props in our portraits because we want the focus of the
portrait to be you. However, adding some personal elements that
are siginificant to the portrait can work well.
