What to Expect

Please feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 336-829-5642

For our children and family portraits, we require that all children be at least seven months in age. We want them to be able to sit up, smile and be truly visible in the portrait. If they are younger than seven months, they will be swaddled and NOT be seen in their portrait.
Plan your session during a time that corresponds with your smallest child’s ‘best time.’ Children and families with children under 5 years in age must be photographed in the morning to assure that everyone is pleasant and at their very best. We KNOW that you want a beautiful portrait and our experience shows that children under five years don’t do well in the afternoons and evenings, even if they are rested.

We have two clothing guides (one formal and one casual) that give great suggestions for the type of clothing you might consider for your session. Our goal is to create a timeless portrait that looks beautiful and stylish for years. We suggest avoiding trendy clothes that might date your portrait and instead selecting a darker-toned color palate that coordinates (no need to match exactly). When you get your confirmation email, there will be a link to our portrait guides there. For children, we do stock black suits in boys sizes 2T-14 that may be borrowed for your session. You will need to supply black dress shoes. For girls, we have a beautiful array of long gowns in many colors and sizes between 2T-14. Again, we are happy to let your daughter wear one for your family or children’s session.

Make sure clothing is fresh (no holes or wear), clean and pressed. Details like this will take your portrait to the next level. Remember, that shoes often show in our portraits. Don’t ignore them when you are preparing!

We will be reaching out to you about a week before your session to confirm your appointment and provide a lot of helpful information. But here are some helpful tips.

• Prepare everyone’s outfits, jewelry, hair, make-up, and fine details a few days before your session. Make sure to gather shoes, jewelry and undergarments, ties, cufflinks, socks. Hang and pack it all up and have it ready to go. Be sure to hang any clothing so that it’s not wrinkled.
• If you must cut your child’s hair, do so a week or two before the session.
• We know it can be exciting for the little ones, so ensure you all get a good night’s rest the day before!
• Plan your travel to our studio well before your session day to avoid any problems on the way. Plan plenty of time to get dressed and ready. If you need to do a quick change of clothes, please arrive 15 minutes early. Come ready with hair and make-up so that you only need to do little touch-ups before your session.
• When you arrive, take a deep calming breath and trust us. Once you’re here, we’ve got this. We’ve been doing this a long time and love to make our portrait sessions flow easily for our clients. Our goal is to not only give you amazing artwork but a great experience.

We are conveniently located right off of Salem Parkway in Winston-Salem, NC. If you are familiar with Winston-Salem, we are right across from the popular shopping area called The Thruway on Stratford Road. Our address is 110 Oakwood Drive, Suite 220, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. We are in a beautiful 5 story office building on the second floor. It is handicap accessible and offers plenty of parking. The building is locked after 6pm at night and also on the weekends. You will need to call or text us at 336-829-5642 for entry after 6 or on the weekends.

You must be on time for your session or risk forfeiting it. If you are more than 15 minutes late, we likely will NOT be able to accommodate you. Although we do our best, our sessions are booked back to back all day long and we operate at full capacity. We cannot cause another family to wait, unfortunately. Please plan to arrive a little early so that you can arrive relaxed and ready to begin on time.

Like many hotels, restaurants and salons, we require a deposit when scheduling an appointment on our calendar. This ensures that you are committed to your appointment day and time. We staff fully to serve every family and this commitment from our clients allows us to confidently staff. All sessions deposits are refundable, with the exception of our Santa Sessions. See below.

As long as you cancel your appointment at least 14 days prior to the appointment, your deposit is refundable following your viewing appointment. If you are inside 14 days, the session fee is non-refundable. However, if sickness arises, you may reschedule once inside of 14 days without forfeiting the deposit. After one reschedule, the deposit is retained and can be used towards a product purchase in the studio. All reschedules must be done by phone, not email or text. The only session that does not have a REFUNDABLE deposit is our Santa Sessions. Because of the high desirability of Santa sessions, the deposit covers the time of our team and Santa to present the experience.

FANTASTIC! We love a planner! Our special software allows us to show your artwork TO SIZE in your living space. If you bring an image of your area to your appointment or send it to us in advance, our designers can really help you visualize how your portrait will look in your home. Consider which wall will do justice to a Fine Art portrait, for example, hallways, small unnoticeable spaces, or walls cluttered with items will diminish the portrait. Instead, choose a display area all its own and large enough to allow the portrait to live and breathe and capture one’s attention, like the foyer/entryway, the living room above the couch, above a console table, etc. It should be the kind of space that allows a crown jewel to shine. When you’ve chosen your ideal display space, take a quick photo of the whole wall (floor to ceiling) with an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper on it for measurement purposes. This piece of paper shows us our scale and we will then know how big your space is. No need to measure at all!

Remember the 8-track? The cassette? The floppy disk? The CD-ROM? All were technology from the past, that was oh-so-cutting-edge in its time. Better than most companies, we know that technology will continue to change and evolve. And we don’t want your grandchildren trying to find your family portraits on a computer years from now in a format they can’t even open. Digitals are what your phone is for. We are different and have built our reputation on providing the most beautiful museum-quality canvas portraits. Our work is is designed to last for over 100 years and is designed to elevate the look of your home with its presence. We truly believe in the power of the printed piece and know the joy and emotion a portrait can evoke. We do have the ability to discuss the option of purchasing a matching digital file of any purchased printed art piece.

From time to time, we have promotions on Facebook and Instagram where we give away a session and artwork credit to our studio. Sometimes folks are a little suspicious, even though they applied for the promotion and provided their contact info to us! Rest assured, the offer is completely legitimate and came from us. We likely emailed you and texted you. Feel free to reply to either form of communication and our reservation team will walk you through all of the details about what you will receive.