Portrait Sessions
Shooting Location: Sessions can be done either at your home, or an outdoor locatio of your choice. We travel throughout the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.
Our specialty is Studio-on-Wheel! We are available and ready to travel to any destination within California to take your photograph. Whether it is in-home, nearby scenic California coast or mountains in Eastern Sierra, we'll be there.
A small travel fee may apply for sessions located beyond more than 40 miles from Fremont, CA.
Time of Session: We recommend morning sessions since people are the most fresh at that time - though some location sessions need to be scheduled two hours before sunset for best light.
Your Session Fee is due in full at the time of booking your session. Please note that your date will not be held if we have not received payment. If you need to cancel our session due to illness or other emergency circumstances, we will be happy to apply the fee to a rescheduled session date. To reschedule the sessions, call our studio 510-870-0800. Cancellation and rescheduling must be arranged at least 1 week prior to the session.
Same day cancellations for any reason will be responsible of the entire session fee. Our availability is limited and appointments tend to be fully booked up ahead of time. We appreciate your understanding.
Please note: All clients are required to sign a Portrait Contract and Model Release prior to their session. All images remain the copyright of the respective photographers, unless an Exclusive Copyright Release is purchased. It is illegal to scan, copy, or reproduce our work in any manner without written permission from the photographer.
Generally we provide 72 dpi digital files for email, personal and social networking web site usage.
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Planning Your Portrait Session
Once session is booked with us, we will provide FREE consultation session to plan your session, and will go over topics such as style of photography, personalities, portrait goals, clothing, hair, make-up, location options, etc.
We will make every effort to make you look beyond your expectation!
Prep Suggestions
Here are few helpful hints and suggestions on how to feel very best for this exciting experience:
- Eat healthy 1 week before your shoot.
- 3 days before your shoot avoid salt and carbohydrates.
- Waxing should take place no less than 2 days before your session: legs, underarms, nose, ear and anywhere else you choose (unless of course you prefer not to).
- Exfoliate your face and body 1 day before your shoot to moisturize your skin. Some like to have a little sunglow on their skin to even out skin tone and give an over all healthy look.
- Manicures and pedicures 1 day before your shoot.
- Teeth whitening.
- For women - please keep a pair of nude stockings.
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Before Your Session
Make sure that everyone is rested and fed before the session. For older children, please make sure they are cleaned, dressed, and ready to go - no stamps, tattoos (use baby oil to remove), half worn off nail polish (unless you like it!), dirty nails, etc.
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Scratches, Blemishes & Illness
Small scratches and bruises are common on small children, and blemishes on older children and adults. If the scratch or blemish is reasonably small, we do not need to re-schedule the session - these can easily be retouched out of the final prints, normally for no additional charge.
If your child has a cold or ear infection, or is otherwise not feeling well, please reschedule. 24 hours notice for re-scheduling is appreciated, but if a sudden illness comes up on the day of the session it is still best to re-schedule. We will have much better results when everyone is feeling their best.
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Clothing. Hair and Make-up
Clothing can either enhance or distracts mood of the images. The best bet is to keep it simple, yet a bit stylish. Just keep in mind that clothing should compliment rather than take away from the natural beauty of the subject. We want to match the style of the clothing to the desired style of the images.
We make the highest quality portraiture that touch the heart and decorate the home. After booking it is the session with us, we provide following FREE educationl materials:
- Creating a Timeless Portrait: a guide on Clothing, Color, Tone & Style and designing a successful portrait.
- Decorating with Portraiture: a guide to enhance your home and office with photographic portraiture.
For children, no make-up is needed, but we do recommend keeping along Chap Stick for lips. Hair should be styled for children in a way that keeps it out of their eyes and face, unless you are OK with it being there.
For make-up for adults, you should wear about 10% more than you normally wear - staying with "natural" tones. If you like black and white pictures go with a bit more dramatic on the eyes and lip color - while still feeling like you.
If you have long hair, we recommend wearing it away from the face for location sessions as late afternoon sessions can be windy, and we often struggle with hair in the face throughout the session if it is let loose. For in-home sessions, it is best to put a clip if long hair is worn loose, in case we need to bring it back from your face for certain shots.
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Props
Our style of photography uses very few props, but adding in some personal elements that are significant to the portrait can work well. If your child has a favorite toy that brings big smiles, please keep it handy, but keep it hidden until we are into the session. Hats, special blankets, favorite dress-up clothes, and balls can be good additions. Any props should be "classic" in the sense that when you look at the photograph 10 years from now, it should not feel dated or embarrassing.
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Images Presentation Session
We will schedule an Image Presentation Session after about 2 weeks from your studio session. During this time, our portrait artist will select their favorite images that will be displayed with custom artwork and will illustrate some of our product lines. We will help you with your investment choice. It is important that we have minimum 1 hour of your time without children present (newborns are the exception) for your consultation, so that you are not rushed or distracted.
We will explore ideas for cropping, black & white, color or sepia toned versions, and retouching of the images. Fine art photography can be a sizable investment and we are committed to helping you make the right decisions. Please plan ahead and be prepared with any necessary information for your portrait goals - such as wall measurements for wall portraits, lists of relatives for gift portraits, your text for hard bound coffee table books, note cards, etc.
Please invite anyone who is a key decision maker and anyone else who may want to order portraits from your image presentation session. We no longer provide an image CD or proof printouts. So it is important that anyone involved in the decision making process is present.
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FAQ
How long does a typical session last?
There is no time limit. We will provide as much time as needed, but we have found on average that a session can last as little as 30 minutes or as long as 4 hours depending on the circumstances. We understand that babies need to be fed and changed, and children need snacks and time to warm up. The session should be fun for everyone involved, and we do whatever it takes to make that happen.
When do I get to see my proofs?
We will schedule an Image Presentation Session after about 2 weeks from your studio session.
Is it okay/legal for me or anyone else to print, scan or email the images I am shown, or decide to buy?
As per the US Copyright Law, the copyright remains with the photographer, unless client explicitly buys the copyright from the photographer. So the answer is simple, it is completely illegal to copy, scan, email, or print any images captured by Fine Arts Imagery without written consent.
However, When you place an order for large prints, we normally provide low resolution images in CD / DVD, so you can email those to your friends and family or upload onto personal / social networking website. We will work with you, if you any have special requirements.
I love your style of photography, but may not feel comfortable with male photographer during Boudoir / Pregnancy session. What should I do?
We maintain professional ethics and will be more than happy to provide past client's reference. Also, we can go as husband - wife team for your comfort level. In addition, we can offer you the service of one of our associate female photographer. However her style and technique could be very different than ours.
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