Having your portrait taken is something different and unique. It isn’t an experience that most people are used to regularly. It is alright to be nervous and a little hesitant. After all, most people don’t know what to expect. Here’s the things we can do to get you and your family ready for your time in front of the camera. We want you to feel comfortable and safe when you are in our studio. We want it to be a place where you enjoy the experience and we can create some wonderful photographic memories together that you will cherish for years to come. To help achieve that, we know that as individuals, we are all different. That is the most wonderful thing about being human – that we are all our own individual persons with different needs and personal requirements. To make the experience as simple and enjoyable for everyone, we have recently looked at the way we do things and outlined below how we can be more inclusive and ensure that everyone is as happy as possible. We may have the experience, but we want you to have a great experience.

 

We can make sure we are quieter

A good part of having your portrait taken, is the excitement. Excited people show this in the photos we take of them. Excitement shows itself in different ways with different people. However, we understand that it can be easy for excitement to become stressful. To maintain the level of excitement at something that will get the best results for your session, if we are aware, we can make sure that our speech volume is reduced, our excitement levels adjusted, and our physical gestures muted to get the very best of of the people being photographed.

 

We can turn the music off, or on

Some people like the distraction of music, other’s like the calm serenity of quiet. We can turn our music off, down or if you have your own music that makes you feel comfortable, we can play that over our speaker system. If you find that ambient noise helps, we can also play noises such as the rain, the sea or even the Starship Enterprise Bridge!

 

We can dim the lights

Photography is all about light. But we understand, that some people prefer a darker more subdued environment. We can dim the ambient lighting to provide a more relaxed environment if required.

 

Visit our studio, virtually.

On our website you will find a complete virtual tour of our studio. You can have a nosey around all our rooms from the comfort of your home. See where you will have your photos taken, peek around our props store at all our wonderful props and chairs and look at our beautiful framed products on our walls – all before you’ve even been out to visit. The virtual tour is detailed and allows you to get uesd to the surroundings before coming out. You can also use a virtual reality headset to explore the studio, as if you were sitting in it!

Click here to visit our Virtual Studio Tour (opens a new window)

 

Visit our studio, in real life

We find, quite often it can be beneficial for those being photographed to come and visit our studio several days before the shoot to explore the surroundings in person. This can be beneficial to everyone, not just children, and can also really help nervous pets to get a feel… or a sniff for the place. If you would like to do this, please just give us a call and we can help arrange this for you.

 

Chat to us beforehand on the phone or Zoom

Before your session, we can give you a call to have a chat about what to expect on the day. This conversation can be handy for also talking you through the different types of products that we offer. We usually at the end of your session take you in to our sales room to show you the different products and arrange a date for you to come back to see your pictures – but we can also do this at the start of the session instead, or even before the session takes place to reduce the stress on others, if required.

 

We’ve a video, so you can meet Graham before hand

It can be quite daunting for adults and children alike, to have to sit in front of the camera. But we aim to make it a fun and relaxing experience. We’ve put together a video that will guide you through how it all works and you can hear Graham talk about the experience so you are used to listening to his voice and seeing who he is.

 

Meet Glyn the Dog, or not.

Lots of people find that pets can bring a calming (and pleasantly distracting) effect to a session. Our little dog, Glyn is a Lhasa Apso. He looks like a teddy bear. He is very popular among young children… and those who love dogs. He is usually to be found upstairs in our office during the day, but if you like, we can bring him downstairs to meet your gang – or if you prefer, we can leave him at home. He is a very easy going, friendly, loving dog.

Remember, you, like us, are people. We don’t treat you like a number, we treat you like a person. We’d rather we get your experience right, than cram more people through our doors. If you need to chat to us, or make us aware of your own unique situation – we are here to listen.