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Family Portraits

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a family portrait session?

Standard Portrait Session- $500
45 minute portrait session for up to eight people in studio or on location. Includes five retouched digital images (printable up to 8×10).
Saturday availability: $50 in addition to session fee.

​Upgraded Portrait Session- $1000
One hour portrait session for up to 12 people in studio or on location. Includes ten retouched digital images (printable up to 8×10).
Saturday availability: $50 in addition to session fee.

​Premium Portrait Session- $1500

Two hour portrait session for up to 15 people in studio or on location. Includes 30 retouched digital images (printable up to 8×10).
Saturday availability: $50 in addition to session fee.

 We have you come back to the studio (or meet on Zoom) the week following your portrait session to review the images and help make your selections.  If you like, additional digital images are available for $50 each, or you can choose to invest in wall portraits, albums, etc.

Where does the portrait session take place?

You can also choose to have your portrait session in our studio or on location in the Tallahassee area. Popular Tallahassee locations include Maclay Gardens, Dorothy B. Oven Park, downtown Tallahassee, FSU and Railroad Square Art Park.

Can we do the session outside of Tallahassee?

We do quite a few children and family portrait sessions outside Tallahassee and at the nearby beaches for a nominal travel fee. Email or call the studio to find out about specific travel fees.

What time of day should we schedule for the session?

Timing of your portrait session is critical to getting the best images possible. Location sessions in Tallahassee are best early and later in the day, while studio sessions can be scheduled any time. The exact location can also play a part in this decision, so consult the studio about the best possible time for any location you have in mind. Also consider your subject’s schedule when booking your session– we STRONGLY encourage ALL children and baby sessions to be scheduled as early in the day as possible to ensure they are in the best mood! Scheduling a portrait session late in the day or during a child’s naptime may be the most convenient, but it often leads to a less than ideal portrait session.

How far in advance should we schedule our session?

If you are looking for portraits on a specific date or time, it is best to contact the studio as soon as possible to ensure you can reserve that time before anyone else does. If you have a more flexible schedule, we can generally get you on the calendar within two weeks of contacting the studio. In busier times of year such as Spring or Christmas, it is best to plan your session 4-5 weeks in advance.

How long does the session take?

This largely depends on the type of session. Newborn sessions in the studio can last up to two hours, while older baby sessions can take as little as 30 or 45 minutes. Location portrait sessions in Tallahassee generally last about an hour. We recommend blocking off 1 1/2 hours for a child’s portrait session to ensure you are not rushed and 2 1/2 hours for a newborn portrait session.

How should we dress for the portrait session?

Clothing choice is a very personal decision, but we do have some general guidelines that can help.

Solid colors photograph much better than patterns, but if you are looking to have a pattern, try to find a very simple design, or keep the busier pattern away from the face, or in small quantity.

Everyone in the family does not need to wear identical outfits (unless you want to).  It works best to choose a color palette and dress everyone in those coordinating colors (think browns and natural colors, or everyone in shades of blue). Do not have one person in a very light color and the other in a dark color.

Choose clothes that are well fitting, shirts with sleeves and nothing that needs a lot of attention or fussing to lay properly, so we can focus on having fun and getting great portraits, rather than fighting with an outfit. Definitely try all their clothing on before the session to ensure a good fit!

What should we bring to the portrait session?

For children, it really depends on their age. For babies and toddlers, bring some of their favorite toys, snacks, bottles, pacifiers, etc. For older children, you are welcome to bring any toy or special item to include in the images or a reward for when the session is finished. For a child’s portrait session, we can do up to three outfits, so you may wish to bring a variety of outfits with you so we can match them up with backgrounds and props and allow you to choose when you are at the studio. If there is a prop you have seen in our portfolio, please contact us to ensure availability and sizing.

What if one of us has a blemish?

Small blemishes, bruises and scratches should not be cause for worry. We retouch all of your images before you ever see them and these minor imperfections are not a problem. With more significant issues such as large scratches, black eyes, etc. you should contact the studio immediately to consult about rescheduling the portrait session.

What if we get sick or the weather is bad?

Sick children are not fun, they are not happy and they do not make for good photographs. They also expose us and our other clients to illness, so we ask that you reschedule your session if your child is not well. Please be courteous to both us and our other clients and notify us as soon as your child becomes ill, so that we may reschedule your session and offer the original time to another client.

For outdoor sessions, we closely monitor the weather and we will notify you if we need to reschedule due to bad weather.  Tallahassee is notorious for quick storms where only small parts of town are affected, but certain locations get muddy and unusable with even a small amount of rain.  

When do we see the images and order?

About a week after your portrait session, we have you come into the studio for your order session. At this session we show you all the final images and show you a variety of products including designed pieces, wall portraits, frames, canvases, storyboards, etc. It is best that anyone involved in making the purchase is present at this session, as many of the products are only available at this time and this session gives you the best pricing for all of our products. Orders are sent for retouching immediately after the order session and most orders are ready for pickup in three to four weeks.

Want More?

The gallery above shows some favorite images from countless portrait sessions over the years!  The blog posts below show our recent work with kids in our Tallahassee studio or on location! You can also use the search bar below to find specific things on the blog!

 

Tallahassee park mini-sessions

Tallahassee park mini-sessions

Just in time for the holidays, we have two days of Mini-Sessions in some of Tallahassee's most popular park locations. Nov 4th- Dorothy B. Oven Park Nov 11th- Maclay Gardens Each mini-session is $250 and includes five digital images, printable up to 8x10. Additional...

The Belton Family

The Belton Family

Its always such an honor to create a family's first portrait.  I loved getting to meet the Belton family and capture these first moments with their little girl.  At a month old, she was older than most of my newborns, but we still managed to get her to sleep and give...

Ruby

Ruby

Welcome to the world baby Ruby!!  You are such a loved little girl- with two big brothers who absolutely adore you already!! Its really the most fun seeing these two guys grow from tiny babies into some of the coolest dudes in town and now watching them become big...

Little Lamb Portraits

Little Lamb Portraits

Little Lamb Sessions- Coming in 2024! At the last possible moment I had an idea to create a studio mini-session option with a little baby lamb.  We were able to call in some of our favorite clients to create some model images to promote it for next year, but they were...

Location

702 W Tharpe St

Tallahassee, FL 32303

E-mail

Linda@LongsPhotography.com

Phone

(call or text)

850.339.5799

All images and content copyright Long's Photography