My family and I are building a house. It’s exciting, and terrifying, and actually, we’re not building a house at all. We’re hiring someone to build a house for us. Building gives us the opportunity to include things we wished we had in this house, like a basement, and solar panels. I started doing a search for solar, talked to a consultant, and she sent me back an email with a one-line price on it as an estimate. That one little line paralyzed me, and I didn’t respond to her for six weeks. Her email didn’t talk about what exactly was included. It didn’t discuss how to integrate the installation process into the building process, or give me any next steps. It didn’t include any testimonials from former clients to show how happy they were with their choice to hire her company. Just, here’s the price.

Teen boy holds his infant baby brother and they both smile at the camera. They are standing in front of a wood door and rock wall at Pumphouse Park in Richmond.

Solar is not inexpensive. It’s also still pretty new to our community, and the long-term effects of it (does it have longevity?) are rather unknown in the residential application. I do know that in my past work experience, we installed solar on the roof of a residence hall and it took approximately 3 years for Maintenance to disconnect it from the building because it became more trouble than it was worth. So, my experience tells me I need more than a 5-digit estimate to reassure me that I’m making a good choice. I need to know this is a good thing for my family.

There’s nothing worse than putting down a lot of money for a not-quite-sure thing, and having your worst fears come true. You’re basically just closing your eyes, throwing your money into the air, and hoping some of it lands back in your lap.

Infant baby boy relaxes in his dad's arms and chews on a finger. His clearly-slobbery other hand is resting on his dad's arm.

That’s part of the reason why I made the move last fall to separate my photo session fee from the actual photos. The session fee covers all the work we’re doing together: the real, tangible help with session preparations, the session itself, and then the editing of all those photos that we create together during a session (I do the editing, you just have to wait in anticipation). You can see the results of that session fee investment as soon as you make it, and it carries through our session and during the two weeks of editing afterwards. I like to send one little sneak peek photo so you can see that investment at work in real time.

After I’m done with my editing, I present the photos to you so you can see them before you buy them. I put them in a slideshow that you can watch over and over with your family, with or without popcorn, before deciding how many digital photos are the perfect number of digital photos for you. You get to see them all before you make any decisions. You know exactly what you’re getting.

Family of four stands together among green trees and laughs toward the camera. Teen boy leans his head against his stepmom's head while she laughs, and dad holds baby boy who is chewing on two fingers. It's a hot summer day in Richmond.

And of course, each of the three digital collection options I offer include a complimentary print credit, to help ensure that the photos that you’ve invested in don’t stay on your computer. You want your kids to get the best deal out of all of this, after all.

Separating out the session fee from the actual photos means that you have options. It’s not all or nothing. And knowing that you have options opens you up during your session, because you don’t have the pressure of making every picture perfect, since you haven’t paid for any of them yet. You can just be yourself and enjoy your time with your family. And if in the very worst case scenario, you hate every picture we took together, you have options there too. We can reshoot your session if your toddler was extraordinarily fussy or the baby cried through the whole thing. Or, I’ll give you your session fee back if it’s just not going to work out. (Note: that’s never happened before, but it is an option if needed.)

I can’t guarantee that the solar panels quoted to me in that email will be around in 10 years. But I can guarantee that the photos we make together will last far longer and bring you more joy. Want to learn more about how family or newborn photography works, when you work with me? Click on through and find out.

A mixed race married couple stand with their arms around each other in front of the pump house at Pump House Park. He is white and she is Black.

I Don’t Include Digital Photos in the Session Fee. Here’s Why.

What a Mom Wants, What a Mom Needs

Why I Do What I Do