Photographers: planning portrait sessions around light
Outdoor portraits depend on light and weather, studio ones on your editing load. How to time sessions by season, plan for rain and protect editing days.
7 min read
Plan outdoor portrait sessions around the light, not the clock. Open outdoor slots at the times of day when the light suits your style, and move them as the seasons change sunrise and sunset. Keep studio sessions for the hours when outdoor light isn't useful, agree in advance what happens if it rains, and block editing time in your week before you open any slots. Tell clients how to prepare in the service description, so each session starts on time and ready to shoot.
Light decides the outdoor timetable
A family session at noon in summer and the same session two hours before sunset won't give the same pictures. If you work with natural light, the best hours for outdoor portraits move through the year: later in summer evenings, much earlier in winter afternoons. A fixed 17:00 slot that works in June may be in the dark in December.
So outdoor slots should follow the light. Review them at the start of each season, or each month if you want to be precise, and shift them with sunset. On Book, each type of session is a service with its own price and optional description, and you open slots for each at the length it takes. When you create slots, you can repeat them weekly on the days you choose until an end date; set that end date at the end of the season, then open the next series at the new times.
| Session type | Where | When to open slots |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor family session | Park, beach, countryside | The hours before sunset, adjusted by season |
| Outdoor portrait | Location of your choice | Soft light in morning or late afternoon |
| Studio portrait | Your studio | Midday and winter evenings, when outdoor light is poor |
| Headshot | Studio or client's office | Any time, back to back |
| Newborn at home | Client's home | Mornings, around the baby's routine |
Studio and location as separate services
A studio session and an outdoor session differ in length, price and preparation. Make them separate services, and say in each description where it happens. For location sessions, include the travel in the slot, or state that the location must be within a certain distance. If you shoot in several regular spots, name them in the description so clients can choose.
Slots of different services can overlap, and a booking on one doesn't block another service's slot at the same time. Since you can't be in the studio and in a park at once, open studio and outdoor slots in separate periods.
Agree a rain plan before the day
Weather is the main risk for outdoor sessions. Say in the service description what happens if it rains: move to the studio, move to another date, or shoot anyway with umbrellas if the client wants. Decide who makes the call and when, for example the evening before, so no one travels for nothing.
If you move a session, reschedule it from your bookings list and tell the client yourself; Book doesn't email clients when you change a booking. Keep a few free slots in the following weeks as a buffer for weather postponements, especially in seasons when rain is frequent.
Protect editing time first
Each session creates hours of work afterwards: selecting, editing, delivering. If you open slots every day, editing ends up at night. Decide which days are for shooting and which for editing, and only open slots on shooting days. You set the start and end of every slot, so a day without slots simply isn't bookable.
State your delivery time in the service description, for example the number of weeks for the edited gallery. It sets expectations and reminds you to keep enough editing time for each session you accept.
Prepare clients in the description
- Where to meet, parking, how to find you on location.
- What to wear: colours, patterns to avoid, a change of outfit if included.
- For families with small children: nap and meal times to keep in mind.
- What's included: number of edited images, delivery time, prints if any.
- The rain plan.
The booking form includes an optional note. Ask clients to use it for the number of people, ages of children, or ideas for the session. Clients book without an account and receive a confirmation email; you receive an email for each new booking. Book doesn't take deposits or payments, so say in the description how and when clients pay.