Groups & Families

My two family packages are $350 for the 30-minute Celebration and $600 for the one-hour Unity. Both include all editing, an online gallery delivered within two to three weeks, and high-resolution downloads for printing — holiday cards, framed wall pieces, gifts for the grandparents. Travel within ten miles of Crosby is included. Locations beyond that carry a small travel fee starting at $20.

The fall window in Houston runs roughly mid-October through early December, when temperatures finally cool and the light goes warm. If you need photos in time for holiday cards mailed in early-to-mid December, I recommend booking by the first week of November at the latest, and ideally by mid-September if you want flexibility on date and location. Weekend slots in October and November book out first.

Either 30 minutes (the Celebration) or one full hour (the Unity). Thirty minutes is plenty for a small family who knows what they want and stays focused. One hour gives us room to break into smaller groups, change outfits or locations, and let the kids reset between bursts of attention. For groups larger than ten, I recommend the Unity for breathing room.

The sixty to ninety minutes before sunset — what photographers call golden hour — is when Houston light goes soft, warm, and forgiving on skin tones. For families with very young children, an early-morning session about an hour after sunrise can work just as well and avoids late-day meltdowns. We will plan around your kids' nap or feeding schedule so the session lands when everyone is at their best.

It can be, especially July through early September. We have a few options. First, schedule for early morning or the very last hour before sunset when the heat is manageable. Second, choose a shaded location like Mercer Botanic Gardens or a tree-lined stretch of Kingwood Greenway. Third, do an indoor or in-home lifestyle session — your living room, a sunny window, the kids in their natural environment. None of those compromise the look; they just respect the climate.

Houston weather is what it is. If your session date is threatened by rain, a tropical storm, or a hurricane warning, we reschedule at no additional cost — your deposit carries forward to the new date. I would much rather move us by a week than push through bad light, soaked outfits, or unsafe driving. I monitor the forecast in the days leading up to every outdoor session and reach out proactively if it looks marginal.

Yes — extended families are some of my favorite sessions to shoot. The Unity package is built for larger groups (one hour, two locations, three outfits), and there is no per-person upcharge for typical extended-family sizes. If your group is unusually large — twenty people or more, multiple generations across multiple families — let me know in your inquiry and we will plan an appropriate timeframe so nobody is rushed and everyone gets photographed together and in smaller combinations.

Once we book, I will send a styling guide with everything I have learned about what photographs beautifully in Houston light. The short version is to coordinate rather than match — pick a soft palette of two or three complementary colors and let everyone stay in their own style within it. Solid colors over busy patterns or large logos. Textures like linen, knit, and lace photograph beautifully. Avoid fluorescent neons, which can cast color onto faces.

Almost every session with kids under five has at least one stretch where someone is melting down — that is part of the deal, and I plan for it. We will start with the most cooperative shots while everyone is fresh, take breaks when needed, and lean on prompts that get kids playing rather than posing. Bring a small snack, a favorite stuffed animal, and a change of clothes for spills. The photos that families love most are almost always the candid ones in between the formal poses.

Yes — I am a licensed cosmetologist as well as a photographer, trained at the Aveda Arts and Sciences Institute of Houston. Many moms book a soft glam or polished hair style with me before their family session so they can be in the photos confidently rather than running last-minute through a Sephora. One artist, one cohesive look, no juggling vendors. See the hair and makeup pages for pricing.