Sometimes when I show clients their portraits, they say something like, “Wow, I can’t believe that shot turned out like that!” or “That pose felt awkward at the time but it looks great on camera!” Trust me, I always have a vision for the image I want to create and a plan for how to make it happen! It’s all about trusting the process and knowing that you’ve hired a professional photographer who has a few tricks up her sleeve. One of the tricks I use for some sessions is composite photography.

As a photographer who captures some of the most special chapters of families’ lives from maternity to newborn portraits to family photos, I get to see the joy photography brings to families on a daily basis. In fact, one of the best parts of my job is seeing the pure happiness and love on clients’ faces when they see their portraits. And you don’t just have to take my word for it - there are numerous scientific studies that have noted how our brains react to sentimental photos. I always find these studies fascinating so let’s explore a few of them together.

When I’m planning a photo session with a client at my Seattle area photography studio, one of the first questions we’ll talk about is whether they want an indoor or outdoor photo shoot. There’s really no right or wrong answer - they each have different styles and aesthetics, and there are pros and cons to each. Outdoor portraits give us the stunning backdrops of beautiful Washington while indoor portraits give us the comfort and convenience of controlling the environment. So, naturally, some clients who can’t decide will ask me, can we do both? Here are my thoughts.

If you’ve been shopping for photographers, you’ve probably seen some photographers advertising mini-sessions. A mini session is a very short photo session - usually 15-20 minutes - that’s just bare bones: you get in front of the camera, get a handful of photos, and that’s it. These sessions are lower-cost than a traditional photo session, and from that standpoint, they might seem like a great deal. But from one parent to another, I advise caution about mini-sessions. Here’s why.

They say that a photo is worth a thousand words, and that can certainly be true, but not all photos are equal. These days, nearly everyone has a smartphone which means that you probably have a camera at your side for almost all of your waking hours. But does that mean that you can use that camera to get all the photos your family will ever want? What role does professional photography have in a world where cameras are everywhere?