Your "Petite" Photography session 2023

Thank You for booking your "Petite" Photography session. We look forward to creating some beautiful images of you all, that You will treasure!

Here are some hints & tips to help You :-)

Please share this email with your partner, so they are aware too.

Should the weather be wet or otherwise unsuitable, we will be in touch to re-arrange your session.

Please let me know if you are at all unwell, so we can reschedule.

Please can you bring (or have handy) ...

• Your own neutral coloured picnic rug for use during the session, sitting on the ground
• Drinks or snacks for young children
• Any extra clothing or accessories you would like to include

So you know what will happen, here is an outline of your experience with us …

Your session will be confirmed by SMS and will last up to 30 minutes

This is a great length to suit young children and to give you a family photography update for your immediate family- but it will go fast!
We will take a variety of images and expressions of you all and your only task is just to enjoy yourselves!

Clothing for your photography: We recommend you and your family wear similar co-ordinated clothing – but not matching!
This makes your images easy on the eye with no colour clashes. Ultimately, pick items of clothing that make you feel good! We tend to find that neutral to mid-tone clothing works well. This may include mid-blue to navy on the upper body with denim jeans. Earthy toned clothing looks especially beautiful in outdoor photography :-)

If you are including your pets, please consider their colour, when choosing your clothing - so it is complimentary to them too.

Based on our experience …

Please avoid the colour red, because it is so bold. Stripes, big patterns and logos really can be very distracting and make the images more about what you are wearing than you yourselves. For the ladies, please consider choosing a top with either full or three-quarter length
sleeves – for most, it is a little more flattering in photography

Also for the ladies, be aware of those annoying bra straps and select one based on the colour to suit the outer clothing, so it is
less visible. Low slung on the hip jeans, can also cause issues with undergarments becoming visible, so care in type & colour selection is
recommended ;-)

For the adult guys & girls … please wear full length jeans or similar – bare legs can take the focus away from your faces. However in the height of summer, don’t worry so much

For the little Kids, just put them in comfortable clothing that is super cute :-) and suits the rest of the family, whilst avoiding bold patterns as above. Cute hats or accessories can be fun for them in their session.

Please remove any labels that you don’t want to appear in your images. This especially applies to the underneath of the little kids shoes. Additional costs may apply to remove these later

If your session includes your fur-kids, then bear in mind that you may get slightly dirty when sitting or laying on the ground snuggled up to them! So choose clothing that you are comfy doing this in :-)

For all on-location sessions, please choose comfortable footwear that suits slightly uneven ground. At home, bare feet (especially on the kids) looks good. All an individual choice of course ;-)

If you have any queries about clothing choices – please feel free to SMS photos of clothing ideas and I can help you work out what is
best for you

Sunglasses are best put away for your session, so we can see your eyes in the images. Please also choose untinted prescription lenses, if essential. If you do wear ordinary prescription lenses, please nudge the bridge of your glasses to the upper part of your nose, to minimise light-flare on the lenses, which will show in your images. Its always great to see your gorgeous eyes! Otherwise consider if you want to include your glasses or even remove them for your session

Make-up: For the girls … we recommend you apply your make-up in the style that you normally would, if you were going out to lunch with friends … ie nothing too heavy. If you wear foundation cream, please take care to blend this along the hair-line and jaw, so that there are no ‘tide’ marks. As a minimum, a little definition to the eyes & lips is good in photographs, eg eye-line/mascara and for the lips (mid-tone shade). If you do not normally wear makeup, then just a mid-tone coloured lip-gloss is recommended … please do not feel that you have to radically change!

If you are bringing your family dog, please also have with you …

• any favourite toys
• any treats they love! We recommend you bring a bit of choice and ensure that treats are in small bite-sized quantities, so they are not gobbled too quickly. If necessary, break up pieces at home, before your session

Extra tips include ..

• Your dog may also benefit from a little grooming beforehand – so they feel & look extra special! If they have a cute fringe around their eyes,
  they may even need a little fringe trim, so we can see their gorgeous eyes in the images!
• Check their eyes are clean at their edges
• Collar / Lead: Try to choose a colour similar/complimentary to your dogs colouring. If the collar has name tags or council registration tags – please consider if you want these to show in your images. If not, take the tags off for the session and pop them back onto the collar afterwards! Also, it's good to remove the poop bag holder from the lead, despite its importance!
• Collar: if your session is at home … consider if you would like your pet to wear its collar in the photographs or not. If it
  is brightly coloured or has the council registration tags on it, then it can look better to remove it before the session and smooth their fur down around the neck. If you do take their collar off, please remember to pop it back on after the photography session.
• Walkies: for younger or energetic dogs, we recommend you take them for a walk, just to take the edge off their energy before their session. Of course a walk in a non-muddy place is probably the best bet though, so as not to undo your good work of grooming them as above ;-)

Photo Tips - to ensure we can create the best images for you

• No "Cheese" … Although it must be so tempting, please don’t ask your kids to ‘smile for the camera’. This creates rather artificial expressions. We will be ‘working them’ gently to smile naturally, if at all possible! However you can help by having a few silly jokes at the ready to coax a few extra giggles!
• Did we say ‘Treats’ ?! … Have lots of treats handy for your pets as above! :-)
• ‘Too many Cooks’ … Please refrain from telling your kids what to do during the photo session – we want them to relax and it can otherwise result in information overload for the kids. Before the session its worth just telling the kids this is all going to be fun … ‘do what the lady says’. It also helps if you have a treat lined up, for afterwards to reward your ‘littlies’ good behaviour e.g. ice-cream. Unless they are about to cause pain to themselves or a sibling, this is the best advice ;-)
• No ‘Snap … Snap … Snap’ … Please enjoy the session you have booked with us. To do so, put your own cameras and phone cameras away. The kids do not know which camera to look at and it spoils the flow of your session. You can relax and let us create some beautiful imagery of you all together :-)

Viewing your images

A couple of weeks after your photography session (after the festive season), we will provide you with an online gallery from which you will be able to make your selections.

Your session includes your photography and the print as per your booking - this is designed to start your image collection.

Special pricing for our petite sessions will be sent to you by SMS and will be in your gallery

We look forward to meeting you and creating some stunning images for you :-)
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on 0419 526 442.

Kind regards

Vanessa Davis
Duet Images