A Guide To Making Family Portraits That Touch The Heart

Casual family portrait

Initial Consultation

Creating a heart-warming family portrait begins with an initial conversation that lets us get to know each other. We'd like to find out about your lifestyle, the personalities of everyone to be photographed, and the styles of images that most attract you. This is done at our location, and is essential in helping you, as well as us, visualize your portrait before we begin work. At the end of the Initial Consultation we schedule your Photography Session and the Image Selection appointment. We require a non-refundable retainer of $75 at the time we schedule your Photography Session. This holds the date and allows us to begin the work of planning your portrait. (We will cheerfully reschedule if the weather is uncooperative or other circumstances require).

Please visit out family portrait gallery to see sample family portraits

Your Portrait Session

We suggest you schedule the session on a day when you are not overly busy. That way everyone will arrive for the session looking their best and feeling refreshed and relaxed. Your family's portrait is going to be very special!

The length of the session depends on the number of people involved, the complexity of the set, and the location. We suggest you bring not only the clothing you've selected for your portrait, but an alternate clothing change as well. For more formal portraits, bring several selections of jewelry or accessories. If very young children are going to be photographed, don't forget to bring a toy, some books, or other fun distractions for them. Please visit our Preparing for Your Session web page

Choosing Your Images

Choosing just the right image is a fun experience! Be sure everyone who is a part of the decision making process is at the Image Selection appointment and is prepared to make a decision. Determine ahead of time where you'd like to display your portrait and the dimensions of the space in which you 'ld like to hang it. That way we can help you determine the best size for your portrait. (Helpful hint: look at our web page, Displaying Your Portraits for tips on choosing sizes and locations.) Also, don't forget the desk sets for your offices and gift sets for relatives.

You will have so many beautiful and touching images to choose from, that if you are like most people, you'll want them all! But don't worry, we'll help you narrow the field and pick the perfect ones for you!

Framing Your Images

All of Blue Moon Photography's wall portraits (sizes 11x14 and larger) are presented to you framed and ready to be proudly displayed in your home. When your portrait is finished, we help you select just the right frame to enhance your family portrait and fit with your home decor. We have many styles to choose from. Choosing a frame usually takes about half an hour. Please visit the Displaying Your Portraits section of our web site for more ideas and suggestions.