Take time to harmonize the right tones and styles. This will create a portrait that's pleasing to the eye.

If you are scheduling a session for a family group or a children's group, coordinate your colors. Choose colors that are in the same tonal range. If you do this, no one person will stand out from the others. Don't forget to coordinate your shoes and socks with your clothing.

When picking out your clothing try to find clothing with textures. Like thick sweaters, corduroy, lace and chiffon to name a few. Avoid clothing that has patterns (for example, squares, checks, stripes, paisley, etc)

First, if this is a family session, avoid standing out from the rest of the family members by wearing coordinated clothing. Wearing darker clothing can help slenderize your problem area. Hair pulled back will reveal too much of the face and should be avoided. You want your hair to frame your face. Avoid scoop and boat neck style tops.

If your problem area is a double chin, avoid tight collars that squeeze the skin. Sitting straight using your back muscles and leaning forward while pulling your chin out will help to eliminate a double chin.

• For me, the most important thing to avoid is busy patterns in clothing (horizontal or vertical strips, plaids, paisleys, appliqués, floral patterns, etc). These can be a major distraction to your photograph.
• Avoid tented eye glasses. When doing an outdoor session, it makes it difficult to see the eyes.
• Too much make-up
• Too tight or too loose clothing
• Short sleeves and short pants/skirts. Instead, wear long sleeves and long pants/skirts.

Remember, you want your portrait to be focused on you and not your clothing. You want to wear something that will not go out of style and make your portrait dated.

Not everyone wants their photo retouched. I am capable of doing detail retouching like lines and circles under eyes, noticeable blemishes on skin, stray hairs, etc. All of my prints include basic retouching (unless otherwise noted) like color correcting, smoothing of skin, etc.

Well, sometimes you just have to be patient. Trying to have control of the moods and reactions of your child is usually ineffective and simply makes the situation worse. So parents will have to be patient and allow the children to answer their own questions and not instruct them to "smile" or say "cheese." In all efforts it may take a longer time to get the results that I want, but I don't mind as I know that sometimes it takes children a little while for me to gain their trust.