More than hour on a beach
What Goes Into Your Photography Session
When you book a photography session, the part you see is our time together: walking along the beach, gathering your family, helping everyone feel comfortable, and capturing those little moments in between the poses.
What you don’t see is everything that happens before and afterward.
I want to share a little of that process, along with how my packages, gallery downloads, and Print Shop work. My goal is to make beautiful family photography accessible while running a business that allows me to give every client the time and attention they deserve.
Your Session Is Only the Beginning
For a beach session, I drive approximately 40 miles each way. That means about 80 miles of travel before I begin the work that follows your shoot.
Although many of my packages are booked as one-hour sessions, I frequently spend an additional 30–60 minutes photographing my clients. Children sometimes need time to warm up. A baby needs a feeding break. We may walk to another spot, wait for softer light, or take a little extra time to capture individual family combinations.
I care about those moments, and I often stay longer because I want to create a gallery you will love. That extra time is something I give when circumstances allow; it isn’t a guaranteed extension of every package.
Once I get home, the work continues.
My workflow includes transferring and backing up your photographs, reviewing the images, selecting the photographs for your gallery, editing them individually, exporting the finished files, and uploading them to your online gallery.
The transfer, backup, export, and upload stages can span a day of that process. Editing a gallery typically takes me four to six days to work through, depending on its size and the attention the photographs need. That describes the process across those days, rather than continuous editing every hour.
When I share a session on my blog and social media, preparing the photographs and writing the accompanying posts adds approximately another hour.
The time we spend together is only one part of the work involved in delivering your finished photographs.
Why I Give You So Many Photographs to Choose From
Many of my packages include **60 file downloads**. Your individual package and contract specify your exact allowance.
However, I often deliver a viewing gallery containing **200–400 edited photographs**.
Why provide so many choices when the package includes fewer downloads?
Because you know your family better than I do.
The photograph I would choose may be completely different from the one you love most. I might notice beautiful light and a lovely composition, while you recognize your daughter’s familiar expression, your son’s mischievous smile, or the way your parents always hold hands.
I don’t want to make every one of those decisions for you.
A larger gallery gives you room to choose between expressions, poses, family combinations, and spontaneous moments. It also lets different family members find photographs that feel meaningful to them.
**The gallery is your collection to choose from; the download allowance is the number of files included in your purchase.**
Providing extra choices is part of how I care for my clients. It does not automatically expand the number of downloads included in the package.
What Does “60 File Downloads” Mean?
This is an important detail, and I want it to be easy to understand.
Under my current gallery setup, a package with 60 file downloads allows you to download 60 files. You can choose high-resolution files, social media files, or a combination of the two.
The two sizes serve different purposes:
- **High-resolution files** contain more pixels and are intended for printing and keeping as your full-size digital photographs. The appropriate print size depends on the image dimensions, cropping, and the printer’s requirements.
- **Social media files** are smaller versions prepared for convenient online sharing. They are not intended for large prints or wall art.
**Downloading the same photograph in both sizes uses two file downloads under my current setup.** For example, downloading 30 photographs in both high-resolution and social media sizes uses all 60 file downloads.
Before you begin downloading, I recommend creating a favorites list and deciding how you plan to use your photographs. If printing is your priority, select the high-resolution files for the images you want to print. A tutorial is given to you before you enter the gallery, please watch it closely.
If anything is unclear, please contact me before downloading. I would much rather help you plan your selections than have you use your allowance on a file size that doesn’t meet your needs.
What the Print Shop Offers
The Print Shop is available within your gallery and gives you a convenient way to turn your photographs into something you can enjoy at home.
Depending on the products available, you can order prints, canvases, albums, cards, calendars, and other photo products directly from your gallery.
The Print Shop uses the full-resolution photographs I have uploaded for printing. You do not need to download an image to your phone or computer first, and it does not rely on a smaller social media copy you may have saved.
This also means you can order a print of a photograph you love without using one of your included digital downloads. Print purchases are separate from your digital download allowance.
**You do not need to purchase the full-gallery digital upgrade simply to order prints.** You can purchase individual products through the Print Shop.
You can also use your included high-resolution downloads to order prints elsewhere, subject to your print release. When doing so, use the actual downloaded file rather than a screenshot or a copy saved from social media.
The Print Shop is an option designed to make ordering easier and provide access to professional printing. It is there whether you want one framed family portrait or a collection for your walls.
Why the Entire Gallery Isn’t Included Automatically
Digital photographs may not be physical objects, but creating and delivering them involves real work and ongoing expenses.
Professional camera bodies and lenses represent thousands of dollars in equipment. Memory cards, batteries, backup equipment, computers, external drives, and equipment maintenance all support the work behind each session.
There are also recurring costs for editing software, gallery delivery, storage, backups, website hosting, and maintaining the website where clients find my work and package information.
Travel adds fuel costs and wear on my vehicle. And throughout the process, there is my time: planning, communicating, photographing, editing, organizing, and delivering your images.
The price of a photography package supports all of that work.
A download limit is part of how I structure my pricing. It allows me to offer a lower starting price while giving clients the choice to purchase more if they want it.
If every package included every photograph in every size, I would need to price those packages differently.
Why I Offer a Full-Gallery Upgrade
Some clients are happy choosing their favorite 60 files. Others want every expression, every family combination, and every little moment.
For those clients, I offer a **$199 full-gallery upgrade**.
The upgrade provides a 30-day period to download the entire gallery in both high-resolution and social media sizes.
It gives clients who want the complete digital collection a way to purchase it, while allowing those who need fewer files to stay with their original package.
Your standard gallery remains available for six months, but the upgrade’s unlimited download window lasts 30 days. Those are separate time periods, so please plan your downloads accordingly.
Whatever option you choose, I encourage you to save your photographs in more than one place. And remember, you have six months to choose an upgrade!
How I Chose My Packages
Photographers structure their businesses in many different ways. Some include a small digital collection. Some focus on printed artwork. Others include a complete gallery at a higher session price.
I spent a great deal of time considering my own packages, looking at the market, and drawing on my years of experience.
I chose to offer a generous selection of edited photographs, a defined number of included downloads, access to a Print Shop, and an optional full-gallery upgrade.
I believe this gives my clients meaningful choices while keeping my starting prices fair.
You don’t have to purchase every photograph to have a beautiful collection of family memories. And if you do want the entire gallery, that option is available.
Clear Expectations Make for a Better Experience
You should feel comfortable asking what a package includes before you book. Please review the session details, download allowance, file-size options, and gallery instructions, and ask me about anything that feels unclear.
My responsibility is to explain my services clearly and deliver the work we agreed upon. I ask clients to take the time to understand those details, too.
I welcome questions and respectful feedback. Additional files and services, however, remain separate purchases when they fall outside the booked package.
I put care into the photographs I create, the choices I provide, and the time I spend with each family. My pricing and package boundaries allow me to continue offering that level of care.
My hope is that you leave with photographs you love, a clear understanding of your options, and memories you will be happy to revisit for years to come.
