Every time someone reaches out to me about a photography session, I get excited.
Every. Single. Time.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a family session, senior portraits, a new baby, a couple, a pet, or someone simply wanting photographs because this season of life deserves to be remembered. When that first message comes in, there’s a little spark for me.
Someone looked at my work and thought, I want her to photograph this for me.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop appreciating that.
It Starts With the Inquiry
The inquiry stage is one of my favorite parts because this is where we get to start being creative together.
What are we celebrating? What makes you happy? What do you envision when you think about these photographs? Do you want a beautiful park at golden hour? Something fun and urban? Something quiet and meaningful? Is there a hobby, relationship, location, pet, or little piece of your life that we can incorporate?
This is also when I start getting to know you.
I’m a naturally nurturing person, and one of the things I love about photography is helping people create these moments for themselves and the people they love. Sometimes you already know exactly what you want. Sometimes you just know you want photographs and need a little help figuring out the rest.
I genuinely enjoy helping with that part.
Then You Book—and It Gets Real
I’m not going to pretend I don’t get a little thrill when someone officially books a session with me.
I do.
My day job pays the bills. My camera job pays the soul.
Once the agreement is signed and the session is on my calendar, all of those ideas we’ve talked about aren’t just ideas anymore.
We’re actually going to do this.
The location we’ve discussed, the outfits, the little details, the things that matter specifically to you—now I get to start thinking about how to bring all of it together.
Your session isn’t just another spot on my calendar. There’s a real person, family or story attached to it, and I get excited about what’s coming.
Session Day
And then comes the really good part.
I finally get to meet you!
I’m a people person, so I truly enjoy this part. I get to talk with you, laugh with you, learn a little more about you and, hopefully, help you forget there’s a camera pointed at you.
But I’ll tell you a secret: I’m usually a little nervous, too.
It’s not because I don’t know how to use my camera.
It’s because my heart and soul go into this work, and I care about getting it right. I don’t want to miss that expression. That interaction. That tiny moment that happens for half a second and turns out to be the photograph you love most.
So while we’re talking and laughing and you’re wondering what I’m doing behind that camera, there’s a little voice in my head saying, Don’t miss it. Watch the light. Watch their hands. Look at that expression. Get that shot!
And I love it.
Then I Get to See What We Made
After the session, I get home, load your images and start going through them.
This is another kind of excitement.
Now I get to see what we created together.
I find the moments I knew I captured—and sometimes discover ones I didn’t even realize I caught.
Then comes editing, where I put on the final touches. Some photographs call for a beautiful, traditional edit. Others give me an opportunity to be a little more creative. My goal isn’t to turn you into someone else.
It’s to make you shine.
You on a really good day, in really beautiful light, during a moment worth remembering.
And Then…Gallery Delivery
You’d think this would be the easy part.
Nope.
I’m excited. I’m proud. And I’m nervous.
I hit that button to send your gallery and immediately wonder:
Will they love them?
Did I capture what they envisioned?
Did I give them something that feels like them?
Did I get the photograph they didn’t even know they wanted?
I think every photographer who truly cares about their work feels some version of this.
Because by the time I deliver your gallery, I’ve been invested in your photographs for a while. I’ve planned with you, photographed you, looked closely at your expressions, edited your images one by one and imagined you seeing them for the first time.
And then I hand them over to you.
That’s a vulnerable little moment for a photographer.
But it’s also one of the best ones.
Because when someone tells me they love their photographs—or that I captured their child exactly as they are, or gave them a photograph of someone they love that they know they’ll treasure someday—that’s when all of it comes full circle.
That’s Why I Do This
Yes, photography is a business for me.
There are contracts and invoices and equipment and expenses and calendars and all of the behind-the-scenes things that come with running one.
But that’s not why I get excited when an inquiry pops up.
I get excited because someone is trusting me with a little piece of their life.
Maybe it’s a milestone. Maybe it’s a new beginning. Maybe it’s a family that is changing faster than they realize. Maybe it’s simply an ordinary season of life that won’t seem nearly as ordinary someday.
Whatever it is, I get to help preserve it.
And I still can’t believe sometimes that people choose me to do that.
Photographs become memories the moment the shutter clicks.
-Janice
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