When a couple is interested in booking a session, many times they haven’t done it before — and have no idea where to even start or know what to ask. I’ve taken the guesswork out of all of it, and in this post am answering the biggest questions about photo sessions you probably have!

How far in advance should we book you?

I recommend booking a session no earlier than 6-8 months in advance. Since these are short, 60 minute adventures, they’re much more likely to fluctuate based on small things like weather, scheduling conflicts, and other preferences. Because of that, I prefer that couples book within that timeframe. On the other end, you’re welcome to book a session as late as the week before! Provided I have availability of course. (In case you didn’t know, I’m not a wizard: I can’t just snap my fingers and make more hours in the day to fit in a last minute session. Bummer, right?!) Anyway, as long as I have availability, I’m totally down to make a last minute session happen.

How do we choose a location?

I have a blog post alllll about that!

What do we wear?

Man, have I got you COVERED with this! A couple weeks in advance of your session, I send all of my couples a long email with a boatload of advice and guidelines. But for brevity, I’ll give you the Cliffs notes here. The main guideline is to focus on clothes without too much going on. In order to achieve a more timeless look, you’ll want to avoid neon and primary colors, and outfits with clashing patterns. I recommend sticking to smaller patterns that don’t overwhelm you, and also neutral colors. Hold on, before I lose you: colors besides black and white have neutrals! Maroon, rust, forest green, navy, tan, etc. are all neutral colors! These colors look great on everyone, and they complement each other so well too between the two of your outfits. If you want some visual inspo, head over here to my Pinterest board!

What is your gallery turnaround? Do you offer sneak peeks?

Heck yessss I offer sneak peeks!! 99% of the time, I make sure to send off a handful to you the same day of your session. I know you’re absolutely dying to see them! (side note, in real time I’m writing this two days after my own engagement session, and cannot WAIT to see those photos — so I completely understand your desire for the same!)

As for the entire gallery, my turnaround is 10 days. The industry standard is usually around 15-40 days and I pride myself on being able to deliver it speedy fast!

What time of day should we choose?

This is completely up to you! There’s a preconceived notion that the “best” light is the very end of the day at sunset, but to be completely honest: I do not have much of a preference. It’s my job to be able to understand and work with any lighting; because of that, I’m able to produce gorgeous images at any time of day!

Want photo proof? I thought you’d never ask. 😉 Here are a couple images to feast your eyes on, all taken in very different lighting situations!

#1: Taken at 3:30pm in full, harsh sunlight.

#2: Taken at 6:30pm, moments before actual sunset, severely backlit.

#3: Taken at 4:30pm on a partially overcast day, in the dim forest.

#4: Taken at 4:00pm indoors, under artificial light.

With all that said, there is a very real draw to wanting sun-soaked photos during golden hour (the 75 ish minutes before the sun goes down, or after it comes up), but that is not anywhere close to the only time we’ll be able to create beautiful images together! So in the end, I usually defer to my couple and their schedule, and let that dictate when our session takes place. If it’s relevant, I’m more than happy to give you my professional opinion about specific times for the specific location you’ve chosen. Sometimes there ARE better times of day than others, depending on the location!

That’s all for today! Hopefully I answered your biggest questions about photo sessions. They can feel intimidating at first, but when you break it all down into manageable bites, it’ll feel like no biggie at all. If you have a question about sessions that I didn’t answer, leave it in a comment below. You never know, I might just add it to a future blog post. 😉