2023 closed out my 7th year of offering sessions in the Charleston area. I had the pleasure of visiting Historic Charleston 91 times for Client Sessions! I photographed everything from senior portraits to a family of over 20, and everything in between!  Another year of beautiful faces in gorgeous places, and I'm looking forward to all the families booking for 2024!

Below I will go over everything you need to know about booking your downtown session and what to expect from start to finish. I'll answer questions about the importance of time, location, weather factors, what to wear and more!

When is the best time to book?

If you live here...

If you live in the Charleston area full time you may be asking yourself when the best time of year is for a downtown session, but really the best part is that downtown Charleston is great ANY time of year! The ideal months for downtown are between March and May when the temperatures are cooler and there are some great blooms and flower boxes. But Fall and Winter are definitely great times as well, starting around October you'll start to see the fall and Halloween decor, and around Christmas you'll see lots of homes decorated for the holiday.

If you're visiting...

If you have specific vacation dates just mention those when inquiring, I'll let you know what I have available during your stay but there is always great nooks any time of year around the Historic area.

What days and what time do you take sessions?

Unlike the beach my downtown sessions are much more flexible with timing, for locations closer to the water like The Battery and Pineapple Fountain we stick to sunrise and sunset for the softer lighting. For everything else we typically stick to early and mid-morning and early evening since certain parts of the city are a bit more shaded than others. If you have a particular spot in mind I can give you my recommendation on the best timeframe for lighting there.

I shoot sessions every day of the week downtown, but Friday through Sunday I specifically only shoot morning hours. Our downtown areas are very busy everyday of the week with the many walking tours and wandering tourists. It's usually best to get our session done in the early morning hours before we have lots of people in the small areas crowding the background of your images.

Where do you take sessions?

Downtown has some amazing nooks from the southern most point of the peninsula to the French Quarters just north of Broad St. When you inquire I will likely be sending you a link to my Charleston Routes Page unless you already have given me a specific location you have in mind. Having walked the streets of Historic Charleston for 7 years I obviously have LOTS of favorite spots as you can tell by my portfolio, but occasionally I find some new ones too. 

I have spots like Hampton Park for clients that want a bit more greenery in their sessions, seasonal flowers, or spanish moss.
White Point Garden is great if you'd like the look of the large oaks but also want a hint of Historic architecture. This is also a great starting point for my larger groups. 
South of Broad is a great area for more neutral tones, textures of brick, iron gates and green shade.
Rainbow Row is iconic and colorful.
French Quarters are colorful, textural, and have some greenery available at Washington Square.

What do you recommend for children?

Kids are usually in the best mood when they're well rested from a good night's sleep or a good long nap. Often times when you're here on vacation you cram so many things into your day that by the afternoon and evening the kids are DONE and are ready for bed. Who could blame them? With sunset being as late as 8:30pm here during the summer months, they rarely make it. It's meltdown mode. This is why morning hours are HIGHLY recommended for children under 3 years of age. Timing is key when planning for your session, I will trust you as the parent to know their sleep schedule and happiest times, so just keep the little ones in mind when you're choosing.

What do you recommend for larger groups?

My answer: It depends.
I know that planning for a entire group portrait is a feat in its-self. We want to make sure that everyone has time to prepare and look their best. So it might be hard to fathom an entire group to be ready at the crack of dawn, but if you're the type of family that has A LOT planned on your vacation or lots of young ones- it really might be worth it to have ONE early wake up call once during the week. Remember, adults can nap too so don't let the early alarm deter you. In general the Historic areas are much less crowded in the morning hours and there is way more parking available. If you head downtown in the morning you can also plan the rest of your day exploring the Historic Market area, book a brunch, or even schedule a tour or museum visit. 

On the flip side, if you have a house full of night owls then morning is likely not for you! Evening times can vary based on the weather and time of year as we get many of our summer showers in the afternoons and early evenings. Remember too, that I may need to move your session up by as much as 2 hours if it's overcast or there is an impending storm. This could mean much hotter temps and humidity in the summer months. But in general, you'll have the whole day to plan out the evening and to get yourselves ready. And for some, this is definitely the best option.

What do we wear?

I get this question a lot and its a great one, but loaded! For starters, I always recommend choosing a cohesive palette of 3-4 colors max and dressing all the women FIRST. It's usually harder for women/Mom/Grandma to find something that she is completely comfortable and confident in- so start with all the women first. As a general preference I usually recommend at least 1-2 colors in your palette be neutral such as white, grey or beige.

Downtown areas vary from being very bright and pastel to being neutral and textural, so the area of your session may also influence my recommendation...

Rainbow Row and colorful areas: Stick to neutrals, coastal colors, and pastels to avoid clashing with the backdrops.

South of Broad, White Point Garden: You can go either the same as above or bold jewel tones, or fall colors work well here.

Patterns can be tricky and I have some basic rules for those- For example, for a single family I would recommend only one person wearing something with a pattern or floral. For an extended family I would only recommend one person within each family group to wear a pattern. This will make your portraits easier on the eye as a whole, no matter how many people you have.

Once the woman have found their look you can build the additional family members based around what she has found and what falls within the chosen palette. Choosing colors that are within a mom's or floral dress are a great way to create a cohesive look within the individual family.

Next I would say that I don't usually recommend anything too bold, unless that's absolutely your style. Avoid loud clashing colors such as orange, red, even sometimes kelly green can be a bit contrasty for the tones we have downtown. Avoid t-shirts with giant logos or cartoons for kids, stick to as basic and timeless as possible.

Below are some images from my favorite sessions with outfit pairings. Pinterest is a great resource to find color palettes and what tones and colors work well together. 

Here is a great Pinterest resource for coordinating outfits: https://pin.it/gqldzjy6fxxlnh

What should I expect for our session from start to finish?

In general, I try to take every session through a step by step routine of posing and natural moments while exploring the great nooks of the location. I do this because after many years of working with children and families of all sizes I know what works and I know what is able to be accomplished in the time frame I have to create a cohesive gallery for you. I do leave some time for any special requests or poses, so if you have a few of those in mind please don't hesitate to ask!

Before your session you'll receive a prep guide entitled "Last Minute Reminders" and please make sure all participating parties have a chance to look this over for some tips on how to prepare for your session.

During your session we're always going to do the full family, just the kids, just mom and dad, kids individually and mom with the kids and dad with the kids. For extended families or sessions with grandparents we always do generational shots of grandchildren with grandparents, cousins, adult siblings and any other special requests you have. If we're at a spot I love for the whole group we will do ALL those family subgroups and individuals here because that will add greatly to your gallery. Where as there may be spots that aren't great for the whole group but are perfect for individual families and small subgroups. I will give your family an outline of our expected route at the start of your session, always feel free to ask questions or make requests! 

What if it rains?

I always tell my clients not to stress too much about the weather. If you're from this area or the Florida coast you already know it rains here every day, but for my clients from the north or west, it's harder to explain. Charleston sits in a very peculiar place when it comes to winds, trade winds, and storm systems. It's very likely that when you look at the weather report during your visit that there will be at least 50% chance of storms EVERY day. That's totally normal, and correct. It most likely will rain every day that you're here but the difference is that not all rain lasts very long. Using my experience and a number of reliable weather apps I am able to determine the best case scenario for our session and advise you. And if it does indeed rain ALL DAY, this is why every client books TWO dates in my schedule. 

What I look at is the hourly report, wind speeds, wind direction and the radar as it leads up to the timing of your session. This is where I will need you to trust me. I'm not a meteorologist, obviously, but I have been living and working here for almost 10 years and I know that things can change hour to hour. I always follow weather reports for hours leading up to a session and will be able to make the best call about 2 hours prior to the session. There are some storm systems that just "pop-up" within the hour that can't really be predicted either. So just trust that I am making the best call for you and your family. A rain out is typically the only thing we will reschedule for since the weather changes hourly and daily. If there is an opportunity of no rain to take your session the day we initially planned, we will do so. Often times we adjust our start time to take advantage of the better radar and beating a storm. Just know that my goal is to get your family's session in as we planned, and that I can't control any elements of the weather.