FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Click on my contact page and fill out the quick form - I will get back to you within 24 hrs and we can start planning your portrait experience.

It is completely up to you if you’d like to use a make-up artist for your portrait session. Although this is not included in my session fees, I have recommendations and rates for very talented artists. If you prefer to do your own make-up, I ask you come to your session with your cosmetic bag and very natural, light make up already applied (it’s much easier to add some make up than remove), and your hair camera ready. I’m very happy to discuss hair and make-up with you before our shoot if you have any questions.

Before the day of our shoot, if you request this, I will send you a mood board that we can discuss to make sure I’m going in the right creative direction for your portrait. This mood board will often show lighting, posing and wardrobe ideas  (colours, textures and shapes), to give you an idea what I feel will work best to create your portraits. It’s very helpful if you can send me a few images of some of the clothing you are planning to bring - options are always great to have so we can try different things and see what works the best in front of the camera. My portraits are generally on the moody and dramatic side and I often suggest neutral/dark tones, good textures and clean lines…but I want you to be comfortable and the wardrobe still needs to be ‘you’. If possible, I ask if you could bring your clothes pressed and on hangers, although I do have a steamer in my studio. To read a little more about what to wear, I wrote about this in a recent blog post…check it out!

I would love to see and hear your ideas! We can discuss everything during our consultation call and then you are welcome to share reference images with me and we can work together creatively. Often clients choose a few images from my portfolio on my website to start the process - I like to see which images attracted you to coming to me for your portrait session in the first place. If you have any other images you would like to send to me, that would be helpful for our discussions.

I completely understand as I’ve never been that comfortable on the other side of the camera! This is completely normal and most people arrive nervous, but I always make sure my sessions are low stress and as relaxed as possible - once we get some music playing, chat a bit and start clicking some test shots, your nerves will start to disappear. I’m never in a rush to get through a session…once we get going, it always becomes a good time.

When you arrive at my home your dog will be extremely excited and need to sniff it out. I encourage the dog to run free in my studio space so he/she can start to feel more comfortable. You and I will casually chat until the dog starts to relax, I am never in a hurry, it takes as long as it takes. I introduce my strobe lights to your dog then once I feel your dog is not overly excited, I begin taking pictures. I use noisemakers, toys and balls to get reactions from the dogs, but the best reaction is often to the offer of hotdogs. If your dog has any food allergies, I will ask you to bring your own treats.

For most dogs, obeying commands at a photoshoot is a big ask …don’t worry about this. Even dogs that are trained often have trouble holding a sit or a stay. I only need a split second to get the perfect shot…sometimes it is in the first few shots, and other times it’s toward the end of the session when your pup has ‘caught on’ to the game.

If your dog is not well or just aging and you would like to book a session, we will have a phone consult to determine what you feel your dog can manage, and also if you would like to be in images with your dog. Every session has its own special requirements and I can adapt to the dogs’ needs. I give these sessions priority in my schedule.

Absolutely, I offer 2 different sessions, one that features only your dog, and the other session offers the classic portrait of your dog on his/her own and also with you.

Item deBring along your dog’s favourite squeaker toys, balls and treats. That’s really all you need as I rarely work with props…even their collars come off.  I prefer to photograph dogs in the buff. Having said that, if your dog has a beautiful dress collar, bow tie, or even an outfit that you love on him/her, bring it along and we’ll incorporate that into our session.scription

Wardrobe choice will depend on several things - who you are and what you feel good in, what colour your dog is and the feeling that you are wanting to portray in your portraits. I go into much more detail about wardrobe once we start the process, and I’ll share my input on your clothing choices as much or as little as you like.

Please book your dog’s portrait session AFTER he/she has had their groom, that way if the groomer is over zealous and you are shocked, there is no need to panic, just wait until you are happy with the growth and I will fit you in within the next 2-3 weeks. I don’t know about you, but I do love a scruffy dog - or at least ‘au natural’. If you have a dog with longer fur/hair around its eyes (I’m looking at you Doodles and Shih Tzu’s), I do recommend getting their ‘bangs’ and some of the fur/hair on their snout trimmed so my camera can see his/her beautiful peepers. If your groomer is doing this for you, I recommend it’s well before the shoot, as they might can get a bit heavy handed with the scissors. My recommendation is to plan ahead for this, or do it yourself at home. I prefer not to have to re-schedule due to your dog seeing an over anxious groomer before our session!

I offer both print product, wall art and digital files.  Each printed image you purchase includes a matching digital file that is perfect for your social media and saving to all your devices. High resolution digital packages are also available if you’d like to handle your own printing - once you reach out to me with your first inquiry from my contact page, I will share my a la carte price list with you once we’ve had a chance to communicate with each other. As a portrait photographer I do encourage you to print your images. We all have the best intentions, but often these important images live in our computers and phones, rarely to be seen by anyone. I can help you get your images ready to hang on your wall or sit on a table to be seen every single day!  I have incredible resources, from my Canadian print lab to an incredible product house in ITALY. As I mentioned, each printed product you purchase includes a matching digital file, so I encourage you to let me ease your burden and handle the printing for you. You can read my blog post with my thoughts on printing your images.

RE-SCHEDULE: Things come up in our lives and there are times we need to re-schedule things in our calendar. I ask for 7 days notice to re-schedule your sessional at no charge - you are able to re-schedule only once. The new date must be scheduled within 3 months of your original session date. Re-scheduling your session with fewer than 7 days notice, will require an additional payment of 50% of your session fee. If you are rescheduling due to illness, there will be no additional charge and your session will need to be re-booked within 30 days.

CANCELLATIONS: Cancelling your session will result in the loss of your session booking fee, although the amount becomes a studio credit and can be applied to any type of future portrait session, booked within 6 months of the date of cancellation.

Your session fee is due upon booking to reserve your session date. This can be paid via e-transfer to: jane@janethomsonphotography.com.

Yes, I have liability insurance and equipment insurance.

Your initial order must be placed within 30 days of your portrait session. Your purchased, edited images will be stored for one year. Unedited/unpurchased images will be deleted one month after your session. If there are portraits you are considering purchasing at a later date, please indicate those and I would be happt to archive those for you for up to one year.