commonly asked questions about our lovely photography

Hey, I have questions, how do i contact you?

Ah, this one is so easy! Just email jj@belovelyphoto.com!

I want you to photography my event, what now?

Once you know that BLP is available for your event, we send over a contract and an online invoice for the retainer to document your event. Deposits are non-refundable and are only transferable upon a discussion. All the details of your event will be in the contract, a copy is kept in our records.

When are the images available to view?

Great question! In our slow season, galleries can be up as quickly as 2-4 weeks. When we are shooting in peak event season, galleries may take 6-8 weeks. We usually post a few preview pics on our Instagram page to hold you over, and please contact us if you need an image sooner for a card or announcement. We can add a clause in your contract if you wish to have no images on social media or online.

I can't wait to have my photo taken, how long will our session take?

Regular family sessions last about 60 minutes, mini sessions are 30 minutes, senior portraits are 90 minutes and include outfit changes, engagement sessions and maternity sessions are about 45 minutes. Headshots can be as quick as 15 minutes, newborn sessions run 60-90 minutes. Branding sessions depend on the amount of products/people/sets. We try and arrive a few minutes early so we are ready to start when you arrive. If you're going to be late, please text or call so we aren't waiting for you for long. In our busy season, it's common for us to schedule back-to-back sessions, so a late start will effect others.

When is the best time to photograph my family?

Early morning and late afternoon, right before sunset is the best light for photo sessions. Of course, sometimes those times don't work for everyone so we can make it work. But there's a reason the hour before sunset is coined the "magic hour" for beautiful light.

how many images will i receive after my shoot?

It really depends on what shoot you have. Mini sessions result in about 50 final, edited images, full family session can result in 100 images. Newborn, senior, and extended family sessions can have 100 plus. Weddings, B'Nai Mitzvahs, Events generally result in around 80-100 final images per hour of shooting. A print release is provided to you with the gallery.

Do i have to edit my own images?

Hahaha, no. We pride ourselves on editing in a very tasteful and timeless fashion, we don't use a lot of filters or make colors and people look way different than they actually do. We will provide a few images in B&W. We do not give our clients RAW files, as we consider editing to be a major part of our service.

I like to follow the rules, are you properly insured?

What a great thing to ask someone that you will be paying a service for! Yes, we carry business insurance and review our policies with our insurance provider to make sure we are properly covered every year. We avoid photographing events in condemned or illegal places, safety is very important to us.

Can i sell my images to a third party?

Unfortunately, your print release is for personal use only. If you are interested in using our images for commercial use, we have separate rates and contracts for that specific licensing purpose, just email us for details!

We love your work, can we refer you to all our friends and family?

Our business can only stay in business with positive referrals, so YES!

My kid is so challenging, how will we get great shots of them during our session?

Well, that's a great question that no one can really answer. Through experience, we know that kids feed off the energy of others. If everyone around is stressing about a session, the session will probably be stressful. Know that you may not always get the perfect "everyone is in a straight line and smiling with perfect hair and nothing distracting in the background" image every time, but that's not life. If the session is just going horribly awry, we may talk about rescheduling at no additional cost, but that's only happened a few times in 17 years. If your kiddo is sick on the day of the shoot, please text/email to reschedule. 

We hired someone else to take our engagement session photos and hated them, now we want you to photography our wedding, what should we do?

Yes, this has happened. Every photographer wants their client to be happy, and no one wants to start the day with clients that are already frustrated. What we always recommend is that you talk to your photographer, most likely there is a contract and you may lose money for breaking that contract. Email us and we can discuss further.

I want our session to be in an ABANDONED building, is that possible?

We want you to be safe, and though we are properly insured, we strive to keep people from getting injured. Session locations need to be agreed upon in advance between client and photographer, so we will all be on the same page. Since its against the law to break into an abandoned building, we would hate to get arrested during your session. 

Can we post images from our session on social media?

Of course you can, we ask that you give us a photo credit somewhere attached to the image (that's how we stay in business!).

I want to be a photographer like you, how can i do that?

Well, there are many paths to becoming a photographer. Some people go to school/college for it, some people learn/study under another photographer, some people are self-taught. I suggest finding the right path for you and start practicing, but a photo session isn't the right time to learn everything about the trade.

Will i have access to the raw files from my photo shoot?

No, we retain all the raw files when we do photo sessions. Once galleries are edited and backed up, we delete the raw files because we provide the highest jpeg files to our clients for prints. Galleries are stored safely in 2 spots and in online cloud storage for 10 years. Per client contracts, we guarantee storage files for 1 year after your session. Please download your entire session immediately upon receiving the gallery and store on external hard drives and the cloud for save keeping.

Do you bribe kids to get them to smile?

How did you know we had kids! Though we are fans of bribery and will certainly not judge you for bribing your kids during a photoshoot, we generally don't keep any good snacks to give you or your kids. But seriously, feel free to bring some along if that helps! We allow for some warm-up time to get your child used to what’s happening, and that helps a lot. We also encourage some fun play, it makes for great photos and the kids don’t think being photographed is awful!

Dang, you're booked for my event, got anyone else you love to recommend?

Yes! We have an arsenal of friends in the photography business that we enjoy sharing references with. Message us for a list of names!