Ok, wow, what to tell a new client...

So we've been doing this for a really long time, and ultimately we'd love for every new client to walk in with the comfort of having been through a JP session before.  Most often because, sometimes a session is chaotic and crazy or the texture that will become a beautiful background is really random rusty junk, but if you've experienced it before, you have a trust in our "eye", in our expertise, and you can relax knowing that we really want to create a great art piece as much as you want it.  

In-Home Consultations:  Ultimately, we would love to visit every client's home before the first session.  A casual quick meeting helps give us better insight into your current living style, helps us assist you in suggestions for wall art, and it can be helpful to peek in your closets for clothing selections.

Clothing:  There is a lot of chatter out there about "wear what ever you want" or "my family is not matchy-matchy" or "over-planning clothing squashes our personalities", but as you can see we dedicated a whole section of our website to clothing tips (you can read the details there) and we believe it it pretty important.  One reason we are different, part of our professionalism, is our attention to the details you may never notice or understand - clothing included.  We are not photojournalists, taking candid, unimpeded, un-enhanced snapshots.  We specialize in portraiture that is orchestrated and finished to produce high quality, natural feeling artwork.  

Kiddos:  Often the most unpredictable element of a session is the mood of a baby or child.  Fortunately, we are experts at photographing children of all personalities and temperaments.  Jackie has been professionally recognized at a national level for her incredible abilities in bringing out the best in children for over 30 years, but we are specifically most awed by her amazing and captivating sounds (that work equally well on pets).  Cari attributes all her kid-capturing skills to her mother's teaching including "baby-whispering", however she claims she did not get the sound effect gene.  We would be happy to chat in more detail about children, but basically, trust is key - let the photographer take the lead and frame the session as a fun time for kids (not painful - we have ponds with fish and frogs, and lots of other excitement).  Bonus Kid Tips: 1. let the photographer take the lead in getting the kids attention (they will ask you to help if needed and let you know where to stand)  2. in group poses, when the photographer is getting the kids attention, and she tells you to look at the camera, don't look at the kids3. sometimes it is helpful to give a child some space alone with the photographer, step behind the reflector, or enjoy the chance to take a break in another room (you can always watch from a distance) 4. we don't want all smiles, when we capture that natural solemn look, the eyes open up and we can capture some amazing images  5. save the bribes until the end, and consult with the photographer where the child cannot hear, this may be the best way to squeeze out just a couple more frames and lets us try some other things first 6. keep it positive, oh do we know how stressful it can be to get ready for portraits (or get out the door in general), most often though, parent discipline does not get us the expressions we are looking for, when your little one is testing you, step back and let us try (we do this with our own little ones) 

Investment:  Hopefully you have gotten the sense by now that we are very passionate about what we do.  We invest an incredible amount of time and energy into our portraiture for each client, from set design and landscaping to post-production retouching and design therefore it is necessary to require an investment in return.  We are confident that your investment with us in your family’s portraiture will be worth every penny.