Choosing
which one is yours
Which Session Is Right for You?
Four kinds of session, and the honest answer to which one you actually want — by what is happening in your life, not by what each one costs.
Most people arrive at a photographer's site already knowing roughly what they want and unsure which thing it is called. This page is the translation.
Start with what is happening, not with the list
| What is going on | The session | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pregnant, 28–34 weeks | Maternity | Late enough to show, early enough to be comfortable standing for an hour |
| Baby is days old | Newborn | First five to fourteen days, while they still curl and sleep through it |
| Kids, parents, the whole household | Family | Two hours, everyone together and separately |
| Relatives in town, grandparents, cousins | Extended family | Same session, but group size decides the location |
| Just the two of you | Couples | Engagement, anniversary, or no occasion at all |
The three questions that actually decide it
Who is in the photographs? This settles it more often than anything else. If children are in frame, it is a family session. If the answer is only the two of you, it is couples. If it is a bump, it is maternity, and a partner or an older sibling in a few of the frames does not change that.
When is it happening? Maternity and newborn are the two with real deadlines, and they are tighter than people expect. Maternity wants 28 to 34 weeks. Newborn wants the first two weeks, ideally the first one. Family and couples have no window at all — they are about light and weather, which means spring and fall evenings go first.
Where do you want to be standing? Outdoors across the valley, in your own home, or in the studio. Maternity, newborn and couples can all happen in the studio; family cannot, because the room is small. The setting costs nothing either way, so choose it on how you want the photographs to feel rather than on budget.
Two things people get wrong
Booking newborn without maternity. They feel like alternatives and they are not — they are two months apart and photograph two entirely different things. People who skip the maternity session are the ones who mention it afterward.
Treating an extended family session as a bigger family session. The price is identical and the planning is not. Group size determines which locations are legally and physically available before anything else gets decided, which is why extended family has its own page.
What every session includes
Whichever one you land on: a wardrobe style guide once you book, location recommendations, full direction on the day so nobody has to know what to do with their hands, professional editing, and a private online gallery of high-resolution images you own outright, delivered in one to two weeks.
A 50% deposit reserves the date and comes off the total. The rest is due at the session. The terms spell out rescheduling.
Still unsure?
Tell me who is coming, how old they are, and roughly when — the contact form is the fastest route to a straight answer. Prices for each session are on its own page, and the cost guide lays all four out side by side with what drives the differences.
“Amazing services and affordability! Keen eye for the details and very easy to navigate with. I highly recommend for any photo shoot needs!”
Questions
About pricing and booking
Usually both, and in that order. Maternity sits best between 28 and 34 weeks; newborn works best in the first five to fourteen days. They are two different sessions a couple of months apart, not a choice between two options.
One. A family session is two hours and covers everyone together, each child alone, and the two of you — there is time for all three. A couples session is for when the photographs are about the two of you specifically, with no children in them.
Maternity, newborn and couples. Family sessions are outdoors — [the studio](/studio/) is a small room and a whole family does not fit in it. There is no price difference between a studio session and the same session outdoors.
Yes, and the price is the same — a family session includes unlimited family members. The planning is different enough that it has [its own page](/extended-family/), mostly because group size decides which locations are even possible.
Say what is going on — who is coming, how old they are, roughly when — on [the contact form](/contact/), and you will get a straight recommendation rather than a menu. There is no wrong answer that cannot be sorted out before you pay anything.
On each session page, and all four are listed together on the [session pricing guide](/blog/how-much-do-family-photos-cost-in-las-vegas/) along with what drives the differences. This page is about choosing; those are about cost.
Ready when you are
Let's make something you'll still love in twenty years
Tell me a little about your family and what you're hoping to hold onto. I answer every message myself, usually within a day.
Monday – Sunday, 9am – 7pm