**This post is not sponsored by Shoott. I just had such a good time with them that I decided to blog about it!
Y’all so going back to my love/hate relationship with fall, right? So, I do love some fall fashion! And you already know that I love Cato Fashions (more on that here) so when I did my first photography session outside of school pictures, I had to get dressed in my Cato attire! The blouse, pants, and boots are all from their Fall 2020 collection.
Shoott was running a special last fall where you got a free, 30 minute session with one of their excellent photographers and you only had to pay for the photos you liked! I decided to get some pro pictures done for the blog, but I didn’t expect to enjoy the session so much!
Here are my tips for making sure that your session goes well!
- Have a vision for the session. Chile, I just wanted the man to take pretty pictures of me that I could use for the blog. What would have been helpful would have been to bring props such as books, accessories, travel gear…anything that would have gone with blog post topics or themes so that I got the most out of the session.
- Make a pack list of all of the props, outfits, makeup, and accessories you want to bring. I have a pack list on my phone of my travel items so that I [almost] never forget anything important that I want to take with me. I didn’t do this for my session and had forgotten the earring backs to the fabulous earrings that I wanted to wear! Now how in the world…?
- Look online for inspiration. Had I just taken 5 minutes to look at Pinterest, Instagram, a magazine…anything…to get fall photo ideas, I’m sure I would have loved my pictures even more than I did!
- Pick a good location. Now, bay-beee, that’s one thing I DID do well! Mainly because they had a set list of locations to choose from (lol but still!). I ended up at the Inniswood Metro Gardens in Westerville, Ohio, and boy, did it not disappoint! Scenery were IG ready as soon as I stepped out of the car!
- Talk to your photographer ahead of time. This way, you can share your vision and inspiration and be on the same page. You’ll only have a fixed amount of time for your session (especially if you paid for the session) and you’ll want to maximize your time. You’ll also want to make sure that your photographer can deliver what you’re looking for before you book. Look at their photo reel from other sessions as well so that you know whether or not you need to choose someone else.
- Enjoy the session! Honey, my mama loves pictures of her babies so she was all into it…I knew she would be…so thinking of her future excitement about the photos helped me to enjoy the session so that my personality would shine through!