SESSION GUIDE

Congrats on snapping up a Motherhood Mini session!

This handy dandy session guide will tell you everything you need to know about how to best prepare for your session, ensuring that both you and your little one have a great time.

Your session will take place at my home studio at 626 Springs Road, Prebbleton.

However, please note that the entrance is on Trents Road. We have a wooden sign on the corner to signal where to turn, plus a wee swing sign on the entrance. When you arrive, you can drive right up onto the property as there is plenty of parking. The entrance to the studio is through the glass sliding door on the front right-hand side of the building.

Make sure to have a good read through this session guide, and feel free to email me at cassandra@hazelandcass.co.nz if you have any questions!

WHAT TO EXPECT

Before the session, have a think about which backdrop you would prefer out of the three backdrop options pictured: Stone white, signature cream or dark brown. You’ll need to let us know once you arrive, or if you’re not sure we can always choose for you based on what you’re wearing.
Because these session are scheduled back-to-back, I’m not able to make up the extra time if we are late, so please make sure to be on time!
If you arrive early, please wait in the car and do not come in any earlier than your session start time as it can be distracting for the kids in the session before you.
Make sure to have a nice relaxing morning - things like going swimming right before your session don’t put them in the best mood for photos. For little ones, see if you can even get them down for a nap before their session to make them extra happy.
A week or 2 after your session you will be sent an online gallery of the best unedited photos from your session. From here you can choose the photos that you would like to be edited. Extra photos can be added on top of what you’ve already ordered for $50 each.
Your chosen images will then be fully edited and sent to you to download in full resolution when they are done, roughly 2 weeks later.
If you’d prefer to skip the unedited gallery and have us choose the images for you, please let us know before your session. If you would prefer not to have the online viewing, please let us know before or at your session, and we will make a note to choose the photos for you.

HAIR & MAKEUP

If you haven’t booked Hair & Makeup, skip down to the styling section below!

Unless otherwise specified over email, your Hair & Makeup appointment will be 90 minutes before your session start time. So if you are booked in for an 11:30am session, your Hair&Makeup appointment will be at 10am. And if you are booked in for a 1pm session, you Hair&Makeup will be at 11:30am.

Ideally wash your hair the day before the session for best results. If you wash your hair the day of, make sure that it is fully dry when you arrive.

Make sure to arrive with a nice clean face. Only apply your usual skincare (eg. plain moisturiser) in the morning, but no foundation or the makeup products.

Jess will be all setup and ready for you in our waiting area in the studio. So just come on in the usual entrance.

If you have young kids, we highly recommend having someone else drop them off at your photoshoot start time. This way you can have a nice relaxing experience, and it also means that the kids will arrive fresh & excited for the photoshoot. But if this is not possible for you, make sure to bring along a screen or something for them to watch so they don’t get too bored. Kids over 5 should be fine with this, but do keep in mind that kids under 5 might not be as enthusiastic for the photos if they’re already been sitting here for over an hour, so it is ideal to get someone to drop them off for best results.

SELF-STYLING

If you have booked in self-styled session, you and your little one will need to come along all dressed and photo-ready, so we can get straight into the photos as soon as you arrive.

Wear something nice and fairly neutral, with no logos or crazy patterns.

Avoid too much fake-tanning before the session.

While you don’t have to be perfectly matching, you ideally want to be in a similar style (eg. both in cozy jumpers or both in pretty dresses) and complimentary colours (eg. both in either lights or darks, warm tones or cool tones, earthy colours or bright colours)

Take into consideration which colour backdrop you prefer. Whites and cool-toned colours look best on the white backdrop. Cream and warm-toned colours look best on the cream backdrop. Darks and rich warm-toned colours look best on dark brown backdrop.

Scroll through the gallery below to see some great examples of self-styling!

STUDIO WARDROBE

If you have booked in a ‘Styled’ session you’ll have access to our full studio wardrobe - You can either bring along in your own favourite outfit, or borrow something from our wardrobe, then we’ll dress the kids to match! If you’re planning on borrowing something for yourself from the wardrobe, wear nude undies and a nude bra. And if you have any other bra options (such as plunge or strapless) bring those along too! They might come in handy depending on which dress you choose.

For the kids, we have a large selection of beautiful dresses for girls (up to 12 years old), shorts/tops for boys (up to 6 years old) and baby rompers.

For little ones between 12-24 months old, we strongly recommend bring them along dressed in their own outfit for the photos. As sometimes kids this age will refuse to get changed in a strange new environment, and with the mini sessions we unfortunately just don’t have much time to warm them up. So better to play it safe and bring them along in something that you’re happy for them to be photographed in, just in case!

Have a look through the dress options below to start thinking about which dress you would like to wear. As if you arrive at your session with an idea of what you’d like, it means we can get dressed quicker and have more time for the photos!