*Disclaimer - this is crazy long, but PLEASEEEEEEEEE read it all*

 The location is at Graham's U-Pick Peaches. Click here for their location info!  

I am so excited that you chose me to photograph your kid(s)! I am humbled and thrilled to capture these precious memories for you. Please know that my approach is very unscripted, sometimes a bit of high energy, and usually a tad goofy. I am not a huge fan of too posed images. I will try to get a few good smiling at the camera shots, but I love to also capture emotion, laughter, details, and playing. The session will last about 10 minutes. So how do we get a happy kiddo in that short amount of time? Well, we don't always! If you have a shy child, it is perfectly fine. We don't want forced smiles, and we definitely don't want an upset child, so please relax. I know it can be stressful getting ready for photos, but if you're stressed, your kid(s) will sense that and they won't want to cooperate. Start preparing your kid(s) now. Let them know how fun this will be. Let them know that it will be an adventure and they will get to see beautiful flowers and can even walk carefully through them. I am usually not a fan of bribery, but for mini sessions - go for it! You can have a little treat for after the session. Another huge thing, make sure your child eats before the session. Hungry kids are grumpy kids. I have 4 kids myself, and totally have been through this! Also, please make sure you arrive a little early. If you are late, you will miss your spot. I have sessions booked back to back until sunset, so there's no room to move anyone around. If you are uncertain where the location is, check it out prior to your session. One more important thing. It's spring and we'll be outdoors in Florida. This means all of Florida's creatures, critters, and pesky pests can appear. I have only encountered mosquitoes and fire ants at this location, but always keep in mind that we'll be in the great outdoors. The owners have dogs that sometimes visit the children. Please put closed toed shoes on your child(ren). There are fire ants and stinging nettle in some areas. I will do my best to look for them, but if a kiddo is walking quickly, they might encounter some. The mosquitoes can get very bad at this hour of the day. 

Every session is a bit different, depending on each child and how they like being photographed. I get a feel for each child’s personality and then will work off of their behavior. Some will be more shy and reserved, and others will be a little more on the wild side.

I want to capture your child being....well.... them! Please don't expect a gazillion of perfectly posed images. I love to capture kids being kids. If your child has a complete meltdown, it's okay. Don't fret. This has happened before, so don't feel like it's the end of the world. Kids are unpredictable even when we do everything we can to make it amazing. If your kid has the meltdown of 2023, I will do my best to get detail shots, wide angles of them walking, and so forth. It will work out. The key is to NOT STRESS.  Just hang out, enjoy yourself, and let me have a blast with your little one(s). Prep them so much up prior to the session, so they look forward to it, rather than them being confused as to why they are in a field of flowers with a crazy woman taking pictures! I want the kiddos to have a great time, because that’s when the best images are captured. Stay clear from saying, “cheese”. I will probably make toot noises and say some off the wall things, so just roll with it.

My mind is usually scattered, so when your session is done, I will probably fail to tell you the procedure from there on out. Here it is! Within 1-2 days of your session, I will message/email you and ask if you want a sneak peek posted. Your images will be edited in order of the sessions I have photographed that month. I will have the final edits to you within 4 weeks for proofing. You will be able to pick which images you want to keep, and decide if you want to purchase more at that time.

As for what to wear .... Here's my advice ... Soft colors are perfect. I do NOT recommend fluorescent or bright colors, as they cast colors on the skin that I do not edit out. Do NOT wear thin stripes or thin plaid because it does wonky stuff camera-wise. Try not to be too matchy matchy, but instead, coordinate. Pastels, cream/white, chambray, khaki, all look amazing!  I love H&M, especially for boys. For girls, anything with texture (lace especially) is perfect. A jacket with a dress, dainty headband are really cute for girls. For boys, rolled jeans/pants, suspenders/overalls, all super cute.  Bold and bright colors can be distracting. Please stay away from words on clothes. Please stay away from mesh headbands with flowers bigger than your daughter's head. Small, timeless, non distracting headbands are the way to go... And the main thing, make sure they are comfortable. These are all my styling opinions. Of course, you don't have to follow any of them, because these are your images and I want you to love them, so please dress them comfortably, but please also keep in mind that wardrobe can greatly affect the look of your images. Timeless and classic are, well, timeless and classic.

Wardrobe inspiration board here

If you have any questions prior to your session, please email or text me: 352-455-8015. I look forward to this session and thank you for taking the time to read through what makes these minis so magical!