A Portrait Experience Designed Around Your Family
Last week, we talked about the difference between a Mini Session and a Custom Portrait Session. This week, I want to take you behind the scenes of what makes a Custom Portrait Session at Specialty Photography so special.
A Custom Portrait Session is more than simply choosing a date and showing up for photographs.
It's a session designed around you.
Whether you're welcoming a newborn, celebrating a milestone, documenting your maternity journey, gathering your family together, or preparing to send your high school senior off into the next chapter of life, your session is created to capture your family's unique story.
And no two sessions are ever exactly alike.
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It Starts Before You Arrive
One of my favorite parts of a Custom Portrait Session is the planning that happens before your session day.
Once you book, you'll receive a digital Product Guide along with a planning guide specific to your type of session. Newborns, families, babies, and seniors all have different needs, so I want you to have the information that is most helpful for your experience.
You'll also complete a client questionnaire that helps me get to know you and your vision.
We'll talk about things like:
- Colors you love
- Themes or ideas you're considering
- What you're celebrating
- Who will be included
- What you want to remember about this season
- Any special details you'd like incorporated
This information allows us to work together to create a session that feels personal to your family.
Your Session Is Prepared Just for You
Most Custom Portrait Sessions take place here at the Specialty Photography studio, either inside, outside in one of our many outdoor sets, or a combination of both.
Once I know what you're looking for, I can begin preparing your session.
Colors, themes, props, backgrounds, and other details can all be thoughtfully planned to create a setting that feels uniquely yours.
My goal is for you to arrive and feel like everything is ready for your family.
You shouldn't have to figure it all out when you walk through the door. We've already done the planning together.
We Have Time to Slow Down
Custom Portrait Sessions are longer sessions, which gives us something incredibly important when photographing families:
Time.
Time for children to warm up.
Time for everyone to relax.
Time for different family combinations.
Time for individual portraits.
Time for those genuine moments that happen in between the poses.
We can photograph the entire family, siblings together, parents with the children, Mom and Dad, individual children, grandparents, and other groupings that are meaningful to you.
And sometimes, the portraits we didn't plan become the ones you love the most.
A laugh.
A little hand reaching for Mom.
Siblings being silly together.
A quiet moment between a parent and child.
Those are the pieces of your story that make your photographs truly yours.
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More Than Just Digital Images
After your session, your professionally edited images are placed into a private online gallery.
Your images are carefully finished and ready to purchase and enjoy.
Whether you choose to display them in your home, create an album, give photographs to grandparents, or simply preserve them digitally, these portraits are meant to become part of your family's story.
Because someday, these photographs won't just show you what your family looked like.
They'll remind you of who you were together.
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Is a Custom Portrait Session Right for You?
A Custom Portrait Session may be the perfect fit if you want:
✨ A personalized experience designed around your family
✨ Time to relax and enjoy the session
✨ Multiple family groupings
✨ Individual portraits of your children or family members
✨ A customized studio or outdoor setting
✨ Planning and guidance before your session
✨ Portraits that tell the story of this season in your life
You don't have to know exactly what you want before you book.
That's part of what I'm here for. Â
If you have a vision, we'll build it together.
If you're not sure where to begin, we'll figure it out together.
That's the beauty of a Custom Portrait Session. Â
Coming Up Next...
Next week, we'll talk about the other side of the portrait experience:
Why Families Love Mini Sessions
We'll look at what makes Mini Sessions so much fun, why they're perfect for certain seasons and milestones, and how to make the most of a shorter portrait experience.
Whether you choose a Custom Portrait Session or a Mini Session, my goal is always the same:
To capture your family as you are right now—and preserve the memories you'll treasure for years to come.
I'd love to help you plan your next chapter of memories.
Love & Laughter,
Deanna
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