Your Session is ALMOST HERE! 
Don't stress though, I've got you covered with all the things.

I'm looking forward to meeting you and your family soon! I know everyone is buzzing with excitement for their trip, and I'm excited to meet everyone! This guide can be forwarded to the whole family as a simple resource of what to expect for the session before and after. 

Step One: Choose your palette
Hopefully by now the family has decided on what to wear, but if you're still unsure or scrambling the easiest thing to do is to choose one color palette that everyone can stick to. There are lots of examples on Pinterest, but for larger families I usually recommend sticking to a varied palette instead of having everyone match. Another tip I always share is to make sure that the women of the group dress themselves first. We want all the ladies to feel comfortable and confident in what they're wearing. Let's face it, kids and guys are easy to dress. Just make sure that if you're not doing a beach location that everyone dresses from head to toe. We always do full body and headshots in sessions so it's important your shoes are photo-ready also. 

Step two: Make sure everyone knows the DATES
Every client has chosen two dates for their session in case of rain. Make sure everyone in the family is aware of both dates, the starting time frame, and make sure everyone has not scheduled any solid plans for these time frames. Rescheduling due to rain is obviously our last choice, but on rare occasions it does happen so we want to make sure everyone is still available. 

Step Three: Make sure everyone knows the TIME 
It's important also that everyone is ready and ON TIME for our session start. If there are younger kids involved in the session we want to make sure they have had a good nap, a snack or meal, and anything that puts them in their happy space.  

Step Four: We touch base
You should hear from me about 24-48 hours ahead of our session day, sometimes sooner. I will send you an online invoice via Square with a link to this page and my cell number for communication and updates. Final estimates on weather are always changing due to the coastal winds here so in some cases I may not be able to make our weather call until about 2-3 hours prior to the session start time. If your family needs more time to get ready just communicate that ahead of time, I will do what I think is best based on my knowledge and the forecasts given. 

Step Five: Weather watch and go time!
I will be in contact on the day of the session, keeping you informed but also not trying to bug you. Ideally, I want my clients to be able to relax and not stress the day of their session and let me handle the stress of watching the weather. You are on vacation after all! I will let you know when to expect me, when and where to meet me, and anything else you have to know prior to our session start. 

During your session we will capture group shots, grandparents with their grandchildren, grandparents with their adult children, just the grandchildren, individual families, sibling groupings of children and adults, individuals of children and couple's portraits... If there is any other family combination or dynamic we need to include please mention that at the start of your session so we can make sure we capture that!

General Reminders and Notes, Please Read...

Dress from head to toe
Shoes are also important to coordinate with your outfit from top to bottom. For Charleston sessions I recommend shoes, even dress shoes depending on everyone's attire.  If everyone wants to wear flip flops that is fine, but make sure shoes are addressed in your planning since I will shoot full body and headshots.

Empty Pockets, Wrists, and Heads
You will not need anything for your session but yourselves, so leave most everything in your rental or car. This will keep your pockets bulk free and keep your pockets from looking bulky. This includes men's wallets, hats, Apple Watches/FitBits, hair ties and Scrunchies, tablets, cell phones, sunglasses, keys. The only exception here is of course the keys needed for your car or rental and a cell phone in case of an emergency. If you already have things with you I just ask everyone throw everything into someone's bag.

No cellphones or other cameras, please
Part of this experience is for you to actually enjoy it and let someone else do the picture taking. So I just ask that you leave cellphones and other cameras away. We are very limited on time when it comes to the BEST light (and kid's attention spans) so in order to capture everything we need to and want to we need to work without interruption. And the best part is that you get all these fabulous images afterwards, so let me handle it!

Mind the hair
Parts of Charleston can be windy as we are on the coast. As a photographer I am always posing clients with hair blowing behind and out of their faces. If expected to be overly windy I will let you know since for children, often times they don't really understand the directional aspect of the wind and just end up with hair all over the place and in their mouth. I highly recommend pinning hair partially back for children or using some hair spray to keep it in place on exceptionally windy days. 

Have fun, and go with the flow!
No need to stress yourself and the kids out or threaten to ground anyone before my sessions! You can simply tell them that Miss Erin is going to direct us while we get our pictures taken. Maybe you guys will enjoy some ice cream after? The quicker everyone smiles and participates the quicker we are done! 

Step Six: Pay the invoice and play the waiting game
After our session you can pay your invoice if you haven't already. From this point on is when my behind the scenes magic happens. If you'd like to read more about that process and what to expect AFTER your session please follow the link below!