What to Expect

My goal is to create art for your home that will remain displayed for generations, that tell a story of relationships and life.

Your images will be a combination of beautiful color and timeless black & white. Warm, antique toning, custom cropping and retouching are included on all professionally finished products that we deliver.

Serendipity is a full service boutique studio, which means that we guide you through every step of the process, from planning your session style, to helping you choose your images, to making recommendations for your home and gift giving. We then perfect and retouch the chosen images and create heirloom pieces for you and your family.

You will not be abandoned with a folder of image files or online gallery, and left to figure out what to do with them.

I hope to create meaningful and long standing relationships with our clients. For many clients, I have been there for weddings, births, milestones, reunions, telling the story of their family all along the way.

This guide will give you tips on how to get the best photo session possible.

I look forward to getting to know you and your family!

Plan your colors around the colors in the shooting location and/or seasons.

You want to choose the OPPOSITE COLOR of your backgrounds, in general, IF they look good on you.

Warm tones and bright colors are going to look great against water and greenery, and cool tones will look best with fall colors. Fall is my busiest time. Crimson, plum, navy, teal, charcoal...great colors for fall!

Coordinate, rather than exactly matching, your outfits.

Summer: Bright colors (as long as they look good on you!)

This is a great, high-contrast example.

Spring: gray/neutrals, pastels, a pop of color

Winter: Add some color to a wintery snowscape! Almost any color will do. Winter is not the time for pastels.

WHAT TO AVOID

Avoid wearing white or loose-fitting clothing. Both of those things can make you look big and shapeless. Nobody wants that.

Avoid logos and too many patterns. A little pattern is fine. Too much pattern will draw the eye away from the subjects (you) and to itself.

Avoid discomfort, especially with little ones. You can try the flower headband on the baby, but if she hates it, she will not pretend otherwise. The same goes for dressing for the weather. Little kids CANNOT pretend to be warm and comfortable if they aren't.

Avoid nap time. A sleepy child is a cranky child, and it will show, even when they're "being good." Plan your shoot for the happiest time of day for your children, when bellies are full and they are well rested. Often this means first thing in the morning.

Props

It is best to engage children in an activity, ANY activity besides looking at the camera. It can be as simple as a balloon, bubbles, a favorite stuffed animal or toy, fishing poles, flowers or dandelions.

Don't let this stress you out. Don't go on a panicked shopping spree, looking for the perfect props. DO tell me if you have ideas you want to run by me, or if you need help.

Other stuff to have handy:

Water, a hairbrush & spray, a towel (just trust me,) wipes, quick snacks, a change of clothes

I've got candy.

...and your kids will love me for it! I will bring something small like Smarties or gummies (nut-free.) Please let me know if you have objections or allergies to discuss with me.

Interact.

You will like the "smile at the camera" photos just fine, but you will LOVE and TREASURE the images that show your relationships. Interact with them, and with each other.

Let them play.

You want genuine joy in your photographs, right? Then, let them go. I get the results I do, by playing with your kids. Sometimes, your favorite images, the ones that tug at your heart the most, won't show their faces.

These are the portraits that will be more valued every year, that you will never take off the wall, that will make you feel something when you look at them.

Please do not ask them to stop what they are doing to smile and look at me. It will give you the opposite of what we're going for. It will squash the connection and "spark" I'm capturing.

Trust me to get genuine smiles out of them.

If all else fails....

You're smiling right now, aren't you?

The Milestones Album

Our albums are designed in-house, completely retouched and professionally printed on archival, fine art gallery paper. The result is a book that is richer in depth than you ever imagined.

The best feature of this particular album is the lay-flat binding, which means each spread can be laid out as a full canvas, with no interruption of the image in the middle. Your best images can be gloriously displayed across the entire spread.

The value of your album will be based on your choices; size, quantity of images, and cover style.

11x14 with 60 images $1995

9x12 with 50 images: $1795

8x8 with 30 images $1195

You will also receive a copy of each retouched album image in a digital jpeg for gift printing and safe keeping.*

Duplicate books of the same size are 50% off when ordered together.

Additional images may be added at $35 each.

Canvas Wall Art

Canvas gallery wraps are professionally printed on canvas and wrapped on a stretcher frame, ready to hang.

Small $399 | Medium $499 | Showcase $650

Displays of 3 or more canvas gallery wraps receive a 20% discount. You will receive the digital file(s) corresponding to your wall art.

The Portfolio Box

It looks like an album...

But you can frame and display the images inside.

You can switch out the pictures in your frames.

And when it’s full, you will have up to 18 of your very favorite images of your family’s life, protected in a beautiful, custom made, archival box.

THIS is the ultimate heirloom for growing families.

8x10 Box with 10 prints $755

11x14 Box with 10 prints $955

Additional prints $50 each, box will hold 18 prints.

You will also receive a copy of each retouched album image in a digital jpeg for gift printing and safe keeping.

Gifts and other options

Gift prints (any size up to 8x10) $45 print only / $195 print + retouched digital file with print release.

Greeting cards and announcements $100 for 1st set of 25, includes design fee. Additional sets are $68.75

Digital files only (strongly discouraged but still an option) $195 for one image, $475 for 5 images, $750 for 10 images. Includes print release for any size.

Digital proof files of entire session $250. These are proofs. They are not retouched. They are printable up to 5x7 size; I do not allow display sized prints to be made of my unfinished work. This option is appropriate for scrapbooking, small gifts, and general archiving. These files are free with a $2000 order.