Why choose Julie the Photographer?
I love photographing people. It’s my favorite. I love watching for those genuine moments where your eyes crinkle up and you blurt out a belly laugh—CLICK! I love capturing you with your loved ones—not posed and stiff, but having fun and interacting with each other. When you are happy, you’re beautiful, and that’s what I want to capture for you. In our session, we’ll capture those meaningful and/or silly moments that represent who you are right now. In twenty years when you look back at your photographs, you’ll see the love, the connection, and you’ll smile all over again.
Every session is my favorite session. At the end of a photo shoot, I’m practically bouncing. I have so much fun photographing people and just love working with people to capture exactly who they are.
In addition to all the love, I’m also a licensed and insured member of the Professional Photographers of America, and I guarantee my work. I want you to feel joy and happiness from your photos–and you should be able to trust your photographer.
What do you photograph?
People! 🙂
I like photographing families because we get to showcase the beautiful relationships between all of you. There aren’t rules for what makes a family session; babies and kids of all ages are welcome! They grow and change SO fast–let’s capture this time right now. I’m a former middle school teacher, and I have twin toddlers. So whatever your kids do will not faze me–we’ll get great shots no matter what. 🙂
I love photographing individuals as well – for headshots, bio photos, social media photos, before/after photos, or anything else.
What about pets?
Yes–I’d love to include your furry family members in your session!
What is your shooting style?
I do lifestyle portraits, which means I shoot on location (not in a studio). That could mean at your home, or at a park, or somewhere else. I will shoot you doing your own thing, and I may direct you, or pose you, and let you personalize it. My goal is for the session itself and the photographs to be genuine, natural, and easygoing. Read more about me and take a look at the gallery to see if you like my style!
When is a good time for a photo session with your loved ones?
Truly—any time is a good time! Maybe it’s your anniversary. Maybe your last baby just started crawling. Maybe your first baby is about to start school. Maybe you want to celebrate the season. Or maybe it’s just been awhile since you’ve gotten a quality family photo. It doesn’t have to be a holiday or special occasion–no matter the reason, we’ll create beautiful, REAL portraits that you’ll love.
What are your prices?
Portrait sessions for all family-related sessions are the same. You can see that information on the main family photography page here. I charge a session fee and offer packages of prints and digital images.
Business-related sessions have their own pricing. Find what you need on this page and each one will list its pricing.
When and where do you offer sessions?
I’m available for sessions on weekdays and weekends! Mornings and mid/late afternoons are best for light–but of course I completely understand the need to work around feeding and nap schedules.
I’m based in Portland, Oregon, so most of my sessions are in the greater Portland metro area. I’m also happy to travel to another location, like the Oregon coast, Mt Hood, the Seattle area, or anywhere else. Sessions located more than 20 miles away from the 97206 zip code will incur a travel fee. Just contact me with your ideas and we’ll make it work!
What happens before the session?
Ideally we will meet in person a few weeks before your session for a consultation. (If you can’t meet in person, we’ll chat by phone.) We will talk a bit so we won’t feel like strangers. 🙂 You’ll tell me about your family, and your visions and ideas about the session. I’ll ask you questions about your preferences and styles, and what you’d like to do with your beautiful photos. We’ll decide on a location(s) for the session, and a date/time that works for your family (if we haven’t already). We’ll talk about session types and package/product options so we can figure out what will work best for your needs and budget. (You won’t need to make any commitments for ordering.)
We will go over the contract right there so you can sign it and have a copy. Any deposits will be collected (via cash, check, or PayPal). You’ll have my email address and phone number so that you can keep in touch with any questions that come up.
What should we wear for our session???
The eternal question! In short, I’d suggest dressy casual. Something you’re comfortable in, that’s also flattering. Generally, classic colors are best – we want to avoid any busy patterns or super bright colors that will distract from your lovely faces. We can talk more at the pre-session consultation or over email. In the meantime, you can read this post for more visual examples.
What should we expect at our photo session?
I know you might be nervous about Doing Your Family Photos. You hope your kids will behave and say cheese and Look Perfect. But hey–take a deep breath. I want you all to relax; we’re going to have a good time together. You don’t want perfect pictures of fake-smiling robots; you want genuine, beautiful photos of your family being *yourselves.* And that’s my job–I will chat, chase, make silly faces, or whatever it takes. I’m there to capture you as YOU. So again, relax, and have some fun. 🙂
There won’t be a schedule, agenda, or any “rules” at our session. We will meet at the appointed time and location, and begin wandering. We won’t be looking at the clock; we’ll take our time exploring our surroundings for different kinds of photos. This could mean we hang out in your living room for awhile, or it could mean we make a loop through a park.
I will direct and suggest things as we go–I may walk behind you, I may walk backward in front of you, I may ask you to sit or climb on something. I will keep shooting as much as I can. I may ask you to do something again. If you need to take a break, that’s cool. (I may still grab some shots of you!) We’ll get individual shots of all family members, the whole family together, and different combinations of family members (mama and child, daddy and child, mama and daddy, etc). You’ll notice I won’t always ask you to look at the camera–many of my favorite shots are those with people looking at each other, because that’s where you really get to see the connection and relationship between them.
What happens after our session?
You’ll probably see a sneak peek on my Facebook page in a few days. The photos will be ready in about two weeks, and that’s we will meet at your home (or another location convenient for you) for the ordering session. You’ll see all the image proofs and you’ll be able to sort through to find your favorites, and then we’ll figure out what packages and products will be best for you–I’ll bring some samples for you to look at.
You took a lot of photos! Why doesn’t the gallery include all of those photos?
Do you remember those ‘outtake’ photos of Beyonce’s Superbowl performance? Where Beyonce, a seriously stunning woman, looked incredibly ugly, awkward, and even troll-like? That’s why you let your trusted photographer (that’s me!) cull down all the images from your session to ONLY the best images. No trolls allowed–or other weird expressions, blinks, flying hair, mid-word, etc. You will look your best in all the photos you receive!