Three Magical Sessions By The Lake

I always love creating something original and one of a kind, so I was so excited when my client contacted asking me to create a special family session for them.

It would consist of three parts: Beauty And The Beast, glamorous Christmas Family, and A Little Girl with her dolly. The Beauty dress and the doll were specially ordered from costume designers and they were amazing!

Before anything I met with a client at a coffee shop where we discussed everything from possible locations to outfits. I prepared three different locations that I thought would work best for this type of session. And then we've discussed best dresses and colors.

During the session everything was going so well. The light was perfect, and so was the weather. The little girl looked absolutely darling in her custom made dress. She looked like an absolute dolly. I got so many beautiful images of her with her dad for the Beauty and the Beast session.

Than when it came to do the Christmas family session, the unthinkable happened. It began pouring rain. And not just a sprinkle, I mean full on hard rain, that gets you instantly soaked.

We waited about twenty minutes until we've decided to go to a different location, because I was worried about loosing light, then all of the sudden the rain completely stopped.

Just then we rushed back to the lake got our set up going and I was able to take magical family pictures that came out absolutely fantastic.

Contact me today to schedule your magical session today. CONTACT ARINA SIZEMORE

When planning a family session you should always consider three things, outfits, location, and where will your picture be displayed.

Time and time again I say that outfits will make or break a picture. You can have the best photographer in the world and the best location, but if your outfit is off, the rest will not look good. No matter how hard your photographer works at it.

What I mean by outfits, I mean type of clothing, casual, vintage, dressy, etc. But, besides type of clothing color of your outfit is just as important. Consider the location you will be shooting in, and try to figure out colors that will go good with that location.

For instance if you're thinking of having your pictures taken at a forest, then brown, beige, white, pink even black are a good choice. Pretty much any color will look good in a forest. I would stay away from bold patterns though as they would distract from the whole feel of the picture. If it's the beach, then whites, sparkly pastel colors look really pretty. I would stay away from black when doing a beach session as it creates a dark feel for the image.

Right outfits and location are all important, but what's even more important is figuring out on what do you plan to do with your pictures. Do you plan on hanging them on a wall? Putting them in an album or sharing on social media?

The more you figure out before the session takes place the better. You will be able to communicate your needs in a much better way and this will effect the way your photographer takes your pictures.

Which brings me to another point. How do you find a good photographer that will understand your needs and be able to deliver your vision to life?

Well first thing first, you have to check out each photographer's portfolio. This could be easily done by going to their website and taking a look at their images. You should be able to tell right away if that is something you would be interested in or not.

Each photographer is an artist and brings their own unique style that is apparent in their portfolio. If you are not completely satisfied with what you see, then move on to the next one. Eventually you'll be able to find one that reflects you sense of style.

For instance I love creating images that bring an essence of magic and fairy tale to it. All my clients hire me because they want that magic shown in their images. But very often I get inquiries from people that just want a good photographer asking me to do something that doesn't reflect in my portfolio at all. I always say not to those people, because I understand that in the end they will not be happy with results.

So, what does it all mean? Let's say you love how adventurous and fun your family is, and you want that reflected in your images. Then you would look for a photographer that specializes in a Life Style Photography. Their portfolio would be full of pictures filled with families, in action, smiles, doing silly things and so forth.

But let's say that you are a very traditional person. You like all things traditional. I like to call it timeless. Then you would want a photographer that specializes in a traditional type of photography. The portraits will be more posed and structured.

There are so many photographers out there that you should have no problem finding one that fits your style.