Tips for your family portrait experience:

Follow our check-in instructions once you arrive on the Outer Banks. See your email for details.

• If you arrive on the Outer Banks and notice that there are low or no sand dunes at your location, please contact us to discuss changing your location. The reason this makes a difference is that we count on having the sand dunes to block the light for the first half of the session. When there are small sand dunes, we can’t block the light and there is often sun flare in the images. Sun flare is that little reflecting glow that you see in the corner of some photos that have the sun in the background. It’s generally not very attractive unless it’s a specialty shot.
• In all cases, please do not worry about the long-range weather forecast unless there is a major weather event such as a tropical storm or hurricane. 90% or more of our sessions have always worked out with a little tweaking of the session time or a simple reschedule.
• 24 hours before your session, if the weather report is showing a 50% chance of precipitation or more, please feel free to contact us and discuss the weather. We see rain predictions at 40-60% all season and historically, we end up shooting the session successfully.
• OBP generally arrives 10-15 minutes early to set up and acclimate our cameras on hot days. In most cases, there is no need to rush if you see us pulling up and you are not ready yet. Once we have our equipment set up, we will then come to the door and let you know we will meet you at the beach. If you are not on a beachfront property, please tell us in advance and we will make the proper arrangements.
• Please read our, “What to wear” page for the latest tips in attire.
• Always consider the wind in terms of clothing that blows around or hair. Having hair scrunchies and really intense hairspray is never a bad idea.
• Consider bringing water, sunblock and face towels for everyone. Especially if it’s going to be hot. Bring toys, snacks, and blankets for smaller children.
• Parents of children, please avoid looking at your children if at all possible during group shots. Many times the child is looking at the ground or not at the camera and then the parent looks at the child only to have the child to look at the camera. The result is 2 shots with the child looking at the camera and parent looking at the child and then the opposite. We end up giving you both shots but unfortunately neither are perfect. We have literally taken 25 or 30 shots in a row where this just goes back and forth. So have everyone that is mature enough to know what’s going on, look at the camera for each shot unless there is a situation and help us improve the chance of having the children AND parents both looking at the camera together.
• Bring props if needed (ex. The opportunity for pictures of the small children playing with colorful beach ball or toy on a blanket is a lot of fun and makes great photos. Also, buckets and shovels are great also.
• Please consider bringing a chair for the elderly. They will gratefully appreciate it for when they are not in the photos.
• If bringing pets, please consider having a favorite squeak toy and treats to help maintain and get the attention of them, for the photos.
• Feel free to make a list of the images that are important to capture and supply this to us before the session. Keep in mind of how long your session is when making your list and create a reasonable list for your session time.
• Sometimes we use the shadow of a nearby house to help with squinting. Please trust your photographer about any lighting issues. We’ve been doing this since 2007 🙂
• Have someone available to help with little children and pets.
• Tips are not expected or built into your package but are always greatly appreciated.
• HAVE FUN!!!

 

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