Frame Your Vision: Planning For Your Photography Session

Planning for your photography session is the most important piece of the entire process. It’s where we figure out what looks you want, what you’ll wear, where we’ll shoot, and even what products you’re considering. A well planned photoshoot will make your shoot day a breeze. But the biggest question you might have during your initial consultation might be “how do I even begin planning for my photography shoot?”. No worries, I’ve got you!

It’s wonderful when you come into your consultation already knowing the key parts of what you want out of your photoshoot. I’ll help you build the details, but if you can tell me what you’re looking for, I can help you achieve your goals. To help you get started, here’s some of my favorite planning resources so you can start our conversation with a confident idea of what your goals are. Let’s dive in!

Where do you start with planning for your photography session?

Three words, “think big picture”. When you imagine your final images, what comes to mind? Perhaps you see certain colors. What season are you? It’s helpful to know if you feel like your best self in purple, or maybe yellow has deep meaning to you.

What vibes do you see and feel? Do you simply love all things mermaid, want to feel like a warrior goddess, or is a sleekly modern session more of your vibe? Visualizing your future photos can help drop clues as to what you may want to include. Maybe your pets, family members, or a certain piece of jewelry have a lot of meaning to you and you want to memorialize them. It may be helpful to sit down with a notebook, or start a Pinterest board. I find my notes app on my phone is a great place to jot down ideas that come at the spur of the moment.

Where can you get inspiration while planning your photoshoot?

There’s so many resources available to help you find inspiration for your session. You may be a more literal person and find searching for photos of exactly what you want is helpful. Or perhaps you’re more of an abstract person and you can gather inspiration by taking a walk through the forest and enjoying the surroundings of nature. Whichever your flavor, here’s a few resources that may help you.

Look at my past work

Look at my past work

If you’re considering (or already have) reaching out to me, that means you’ve connected with my work in some way. What particular images or style did you connect with? Screenshot or bookmark them and add them to your inspiration board or folder. Every session is fully customizable, so if you like some aspects of an image but want to change others, let me know and we’ll find the right combination for you.

Look at other photographer or artist works

Look at other photographer or artist works

While the goal is never to directly copy or steal another artist’s work, you can certainly garner inspiration from it. Maybe it’s just a small element of an image, or maybe it’s the vibe or feelings you get when you look at it. Is it the pose, the light, or maybe the style that you’re connecting with? Save the image and show me and together we can pick it apart and see how we can use elements in your custom shoot. The best places to find other’s work is Instagram or Pinterest.

AI applications

AI applications

AI programs have become incredibly powerful and you can use them to help you build your visions into written or visual mockups. If you’re looking for ideas, elements to add, vibes, or even colors, ChatGPT is great at giving you lists. You can even tweak them by asking for the same list but in a different style, tone, attitude, etc.

AI image creators are excellent at putting your ideas into a visual concept. While they generally can’t nail it on the head like we can in the studio, they can help you visualize our ideas together. You can describe a scene in as little or as much detail as you want. While AI is a great visual planning tool, it works by taking elements of other works across the internet. It can come up with some absolutely crazy things sometimes. It’s best to try to keep it rooted in reality and tweak the images into something we can actually create in the studio (I unfortunately don’t have the ceiling height for a 20 foot fire-breathing dragon, sorry).

Planning the location of your photography shoot doesn't have to be complicated

Now that you have your big picture idea, and a list of the important details, where do you envision your photoshoot taking place? Wherever that is, the goal is that the background compliments, or adds to, your big picture idea, but doesn’t distract or take away from it. Harmony is key.

If you envision a flower-drenched magical maternity session with golden light you’re probably considering an outdoor location, and not something in the studio. If you want a clean, modern maternity look in neutral colors to fit your home aesthetic (fellow millennial gray lover here too), then the studio would be the logical choice over a busy botanical garden. The best part about choosing a location is you’re not locked into one look. There’s several different styles or plays on your big picture concept we can do at the location of the shoot. Sometimes it means moving 10 feet to the left, or dropping a different backdrop.

Look at my list of Florida locations and studio/pool specific sets

Look at my list of Florida locations and studio/pool specific sets

I keep a gallery showing many of the potential locations in and around North Central Florida. From botanical gardens, to former rock quarries, waterfalls, and trees. Chances are, I know a spot. When you reach out for your consultation, I can send you a link to the gallery. If you want something you don’t see in my gallery, don’t hesitate to ask! I’m here to help you plan, even if that means we need to travel to find the perfect setting.

Do some Google research for shoot locations

Do some Google research for shoot locations

Google is a fantastic resource place to research shoot locations. With the integration of Google AI, Gemini, you can get a quick list of excellent location options straight from the search bar. Try entering phrases like, “botanical gardens Miami” or “top outdoor places to visit in Orlando” and see what you come up with. Google’s image search is also great at giving you a visual idea of what a place may look like, but be wary of older, out-of-date, images.

Check out Facebook travel or geographic location based groups for ideas

Check out Facebook travel or geographic location based groups for ideas

Facebook may be more popular for the older generations, but it’s still a fantastic resource for doing shoot location research. There are a ton of local and travel based groups that can give you ideas on locations or specific spots for an amazing photoshoot. This can be a great way to find places off the beaten path!

Choosing what to wear can be a big challenge when planning for your photography session

Planning what you’ll want to wear during your shoot takes not only finding something gorgeous, but also finding something that compliments you. The last thing you want is an outfit that isn’t flattering, or is overpowering. Do you envision a redo in your wedding dress? Or perhaps there’s an awesome thrift shop find you have stashed away in the back of your closet. If that’s what you’re thinking, grab it, and we’ll see how you can incorporate it. If you don’t have any pieces you want to use, I have an entire closet of stunning gowns that’ll look fantastic on you!

Check out what's in your closet

Check out what's in your closet

Start by seeing what you already have and love. Chances are, there’s some gems in there! When in doubt, pack it and bring it along to your design consultation or even your shoot day. You’ll be glad to have a lot of options than not enough.

Explore my extensive gown closet

Explore my extensive gown closet

My studio gown list is larger than my closet currently holds. There are a lot of dress, skirt, and accessory options for you to explore at the studio. Currently, I have everything from a size 0-22 and am constantly adding new pieces. Maybe there’s something unique in there that strikes your heartstrings!

Let's go shopping!

Let's go shopping!

Sometimes you just don’t see what you’re looking for in your closet or mine. That’s ok, I’m happy to help you by providing some ideas of new places to look. Whether you’re trying to find some basic essentials, gorgeous lingerie, or a glam gown, I know a lot of designers and shops we can search at.

Knowing what's most important to you will bring your planning all together

At the end of the day, the images from your photoshoot should be like the ending of a good book. It all comes together. So ask yourself, “What’s the most important thing that we capture at this session?” This should probably be the first thing you figure out when you plan. If you build the rest from there, everything will come together. Maybe your goal is a stunning boudoir shoot, but while planning, you remember you need a new headshot. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on things that take away from your overall goal, but we can certainly carve out a few minutes for a quick headshot.

If you have a list of things that are important to you, consider making a list and prioritizing them. Bring this to your consultation and share it. This will give us a great jumping off point to not only keep your goals in mind, but plan out the order in which we do your photoshoot. If you’re time limited, we’ll need to be efficient and well organized to make sure we get everything you want.

Sometimes you still feel lost and need a bit of help

Even if you’ve gone through the steps here and still feel a bit lost, that’s ok! Some of my best sessions have happened simply from showing up and taking our time to experiment. We can always try out different looks in the studio and see how they’re sitting with you. However, it really helps to know where to start. If you can, give me some ideas and I’ll do my best to help you narrow it down from there!