Hooray! You’ve booked a sitter session with Liz Viernes Photography! I’m so excited to meet you and my goal is for you to be 100% satisfied with your decision to hire me. In order to prepare for baby’s sitter session, you’ve got some decisions to make!
During our consult call, we’ll talk about a number of different things, including what a session with Liz Viernes Photography is like, what you get for your money, what steps you need to complete in order to book, outfits, locations, etc. My goal in discussing these topics is to get to know you, first of all, and to help you prepare for the session so that you’re ready and excited for our time together!
Prepare For Baby’s Sitter Session – What Will the Session Be Like?
We’re going to capture some awesome memories together and I am absolutely thrilled about it! A sitter session with Liz Viernes Photography is fun, easy, and stress-free. My goal is to capture the fleeting moments that seem to be passing by more quickly that you realized they would. I want to get that gummy grin that you adore. I want to freeze that adorable expression that he gets from his daddy. I want to see her wiggle to her favorite song and clap her chubby hands together – something she wasn’t doing last month and maybe will have moved on to something new next month. These types of shots are what a sitter session with Liz Viernes Photography is all about.
One of the best parts about photographing a baby this age is that stranger danger typically hasn’t set in yet so big smiles and adorable giggles are the norm. I just love photographing sitter sessions!
Prepare For Baby’s Sitter Session – What Do You Get For Your Money?
I collect a non-refundable session fee and ask you to sign a contract in order to hold your slot on my calendar. I deliver your gallery to you in the form of a slideshow set to music (make sure to cast it on the largest screen you own and have tissues close by!!). At that point, you’ll be able to choose from three Collections, which we go over fully during your consult call. Each Collection contains digital files as well as a print credit so you can have tangible memories of your sweet baby in the form of products such as an album or a stunning metal print.
I do it this way because I want to rescue your images from the purgatory of your computer’s hard drive. I want you to be able to enjoy your photos daily. I want your children to have physical albums to page through and printed photos on the wall to see their growth through the years. I also want to provide you with beautiful, archival, professionally printed products that will last a lifetime – as opposed to sending you on your way with a print release and no direction (which often results in clients choosing a one-hour place without calibrated machines which results in wildly inaccurate colors and a generally poor product).
The session fee includes photos of the baby only. The reason for this is because baby’s attention span is relatively short and I like to use the entire 45 minutes to focus on your little love.
I always suggest that clients save their downloaded files in at least two different locations in case, God forbid, you lose one set of the files (say your hard drive goes bad) and have to rely on the back-up set. I will save your files for a period of at least one year but may then delete after that point in order to save space on my own hard drive. I would absolutely hate it if you came to me crying seven years after your session, begging to get another copy of your images, and I had to tell you that I don’t have them. Back-up your files PLEASE.
Prepare For Baby’s Sitter Session – Steps for Booking
In order to book a session with Liz Viernes Photography, I will have you sign a contract and submit payment of the session fee. Your time slot on my calendar is only secured once I have both of these items returned to me. Everything is done digitally so it’s all very easy.
Prepare For Baby’s Sitter Session – Outfits
Outfit changes, if your baby tolerates them, can provide variety to your gallery. We don’t have a ton of time so plan on outfits that are easy to switch out.
As a light and airy photographer, I recommend light, neutral, solid colors for any outfit chosen. This will lend a timeless, classic feel to your photos and ensure that you will love your images for years to come, rather than be distracted by some loud, crazy pattern that happened to be in vogue that year. Patterns are out, solids are in. Loud, dark colors are out, soft, light colors are in.
Hats, headbands, and bubbles are all cute additions. I typically discourage toys though because, at this age, everything goes in the mouth which partially obscures the adorable face you hired me to photograph!
Prepare For Baby’s Sitter Session – Location and Timing
I always like to say that location isn’t as important as light when choosing a spot to take your photos – but it’s still pretty important. I’m always happy to suggest a spot (check out this blog post here for inspiration) or take a suggestion from you. Just let me know what you’re thinking!
Outdoor sitter sessions may be scheduled from April/May-ish to October. No outdoor baby sessions will be scheduled during the winter months. Due to the early sunrise/late sunset times during the summer months, morning sessions are best for the average babe (Trust. Me.). This means that a summer sitter session will be Very Early in the Morning – we can discuss this more in our consult call but just be prepared to somewhat hate life that day when the alarm goes off. You’ll love the cooler morning temps, though, and baby typically does so much better in the morning than the evening.
Please consider whether you are willing to commit to such an early time for an outdoor session. If you are not willing to commit to an early time, indoor studio sessions are held all year round. Timing for a baby session is typically 9am. Easy Peasy. Whatever works best for your family is what we’ll do. Your 100% satisfaction is my goal ❤️
Liz Viernes Photography is based near Laurel, Maryland, and specializes in maternity, fresh 48, posed and lifestyle newborns and first year milestone portraits.
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