Frequently Asked Questions
How can I contact you?
Please send over a note via e-mail if you’d like to chat! ericaraephotos@gmail.com
When are office hours?
Office hours are Monday-Thursday 7:00am-2:30pm at which time session planning, answering inquiries and sending invoices will take place. I accept cash, check or card payments. Cash or check must be received in person while card payment would be send via email invoice. All messages/e-mails received during office hours will be returned within 24 hours. If an e-mail/message is received Friday-Sunday, it will be returned on the following Monday.
What time will our session start?
All outdoor sessions start about 2 hours before sunset. Session start times will vary due to the ever-changing sunset times. I’m experienced with flash but I much prefer the look of natural light outdoors. Therefore, the time of day in which our session occurs is very important!
What is your turnaround time?
I value quality over quantity. On average, it takes up to one hour per image to edit. Before I retouch your images, we start the process of you deciding which images you’d like to keep forever. After your session, you will receive an online proofing gallery within 7 days that will include 100-200 proof images from which you will select the images you’d like to purchase. The proofing gallery will include every image from your session unless it is an exact duplicate, out of focus or unflattering (such as blinking, crying, etc.). Proofing gallery images are unedited with the exception of exposure and shadows brought up so you can fully view the image. Proof images are used for proofing purposes only to pick your favorite images. Proof/RAW/unedited images will not be available for purchase or download in the proofing stage as they do not fully represent my work. However, any proofing image is available for final image selection and they will each receive the full treatment of editing following purchase. The wonderful thing about an online proofing gallery is you can view them from the comfort of your home. Proofing galleries are live for 7 days so you’re able to make your image selections. Once you’ve finished selecting your favorite images, an invoice will be sent via email for the digital collection you have chosen. After full payment has been received, the final editing process will begin. The chosen final images will then be retouched and returned within 45 days of receiving full payment for the digital collection you've selected. Your final images will be sent via email with a link to a private downloadable gallery with a print release. Your gallery will be live and ready for download for 7 days following e-mail delivery. If you wish, you’re welcome to purchase a USB ($75 each) that will include all of your purchased digital images.
Your order must be placed October 15, 2025 if you wish to have your images returned before Black Friday.
The final order deadline for the year is November 1, 2025.
Will the images have a watermark on them?
Any purchased final image will not have a watermark however the images within the proofing gallery will be grid watermarked.
Do I pick my own location?
There is a lot that goes into location scouting such as making sure it’s a pretty spot that would photograph well with the sun coming in from a specific direction, finding locations that are either public or getting permission for private land, finding specific location characteristics based on the type of session such as low greenery for children’s portraits or extra tall trees for family portraits. An important part of a good location is a location that has a large variety of scenery so we can have a more diverse gallery for you to choose from.
After booking, I will have you pick from my three recommended session locations:
The Oshkosh location offers a wild nature feel.
The Malone location is an apple orchard that offers a quaint country cottage feel.
The Appleton location offers both a botanical garden feel as well as additional wild nature areas.
Any session location outside of Oshkosh, Wisconsin will have a travel fee of $0.70/mile (plus tax). The travel fee reflects the IRS standard milage rate for 2025. Travel fee invoices will be sent via e-mail before the session and must be paid at minimum 7 days before the session date or the session location will be changed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Each of these three locations will have picture examples to view for location selection. I frequently photograph at these locations so I know where the good spots are and that the lighting is coming from the correct direction. These locations are always well maintained and always look great! If you’d like to view the example images of my three recommended locations before booking, please inquire via email.
Please do keep in mind that if you pick a location outside of my three recommended locations, I’m open to it but the location will not be location scouted prior to the session. If you choose a location outside of my three recommended locations, our session location must take place within 30 miles of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
What is the average investment?
Digital Collections range from $250-$2500. The average collection investment is $750.
Payment plans after the session as well as pre-payment plans before the session are available upon request.
How long is a session?
Sessions are approximately two hours in length. This allows me to get children more comfortable with being in front of the camera as well as have a more diverse gallery for you to choose your favorites from. Many parents do not think their child will make it through two hours but they do, it goes by faster than you’d ever expect. I do not like to rush through a session, I want you to relax and enjoy your time so you’re leaving with happy memories.
Do you limit outfit changes?
You are welcome to change outfits as many times as you’d like but please do keep in mind that outfit changes take time which will lessen our amount of shooting time.
Would we reschedule due to weather?
If it’s cloudy weather: No, we will not reschedule.
If it’s actively raining: Yes, we will reschedule.
Session dates are limited so please be sure to double check your calendar before selecting a session date. I understand things come up but please know that dates are limited and I do not have the flexibility in my schedule to reschedule sessions for reasons outside of rain. The call for weather reschedule will not be made until 5 hours before the session start time. Any reschedule made by the client outside of rain will be subject to a reschedule fee of $100+tax.
Open session dates for 2025 will be September through October 16th.
What will be changed in the editing process?
After your session has taken place, we start the process of you selecting the images you’d like to purchase with a proofing gallery. The proofing gallery images will be unedited with the exception of exposure and shadows brought up so you can fully view the image. Every purchased image will be fully hand edited in my signature editing style. When you select your images, you’ll be making your selections based on facial expressions, pose, hair placement, clothing placement and approximate crop. I like to give my clients the full control on image selections before I start the editing process that way you’re able to view all of the images we took at your session. Your proofing gallery will include a before and after sample edit from your session so you can envision the finished product. The images truly come to life once the editing process is complete!
Following purchase, every image will be hand edited. The list below will explain more about how I will be editing your images:
Color correction.
Balance of shadows and highlights.
Color enhancement & warm tones added.
Crop straightening.
Skin retouch such as blemish removal, skin smoothing, yellow/orange/red skin tones evened out, facial shadows lightened, dark limb shadows lightened & facial highlights or shadows adjusted.
Lightening and sharpening of the eyes.
Sharpening of certain features such as the eyebrows or eyelashes.
Teeth whitening if requested.
Removal of certain objects such as tears, bugs, strangers in the background, etc. if needed.
Finished with a warm painterly touch.
Do you offer face swapping?
Yes, I do offer face swapping upon request but face swapping is not always possible in every image. Many factors will determine if it’s possible such as lighting, placement of the face and body, etc. I’d be happy to let you know if it’s possible once you’ve found the two specific images within your proofing gallery that you’d like swapped. Face swapping is considered an extensive edit and would have an additional fee of $25/image applied.
Is there anything you do not change in editing?
I edit to enhance the beauty of the moment the way it was captured. While I do remove things such as acne, mosquitos or strangers in the background, there are a couple things that will not be altered in post processing and will appear in the images as they do in real life. Many of these are easily avoidable with the correct preparations!
Body alteration such as weight loss or wrinkle removal. While I do retouch the skin with blemish removal, skin smoothing and adding a beautiful skin glow, I do not offer body alteration editing such as weight loss or wrinkle removal.
Tan lines. I will tone down the extra saturation of orange or red skin tones when needed but the lines will appear in the images as they do in real life so it best to plan ahead in preventing sunburn but if you are looking to hide tan lines, I'd recommend choosing an outfit that fully covers them.
Hair alteration. Hair will appear in the images as it does in real life. Here are a couple extra hair tips to help you prep for your session! For the ladies, curls give the hair lots of texture and looks beautiful on camera, it will also lessen the look of flyaway hairs. Don’t forget to get your roots touched up if needed! I’d recommend staying away from trying a new hair color right before your session incase you don’t like the way it turns out. There are many great hairstyles that will help keep the hair out of your little one’s eyes such as curls with a bow to hold back their bangs, bubble braids or space buns.
Clothing placement, wrinkles and undergarments. It is important to choose an outfit that stays put and doesn’t need constant adjustment. To avoid wrinkles, I highly recommend picking certain textures of clothing which will be explained in detail in the session prep you’ll receive at booking as well as steaming your clothing before the session. Avoiding undergarments showing is easily avoidable when you wear the correct cut undergarments and stay away from fabric such as spandex. Diaper covers/bloomers are always recommended for the little ones in dresses!
Unclipped nails or chipped nail polish. Nails will appear in the images as they do in real life. A nail clipping, polishing or polish removal before your session is recommended!
Marker or Dye on the skin. The week leading up to your session, be mindful of marker, dye or oil that may stain the skin (such as working on cars or children dying easter eggs). It is nearly impossible to remove large dyed areas of skin in editing so please be sure to remove any stains on the skin before your session. (Pro tip: Hairspray goes a great job removing permanent marker! Google will have many recommendations on how to remove different stains.)
Glasses glare/tint. I would highly recommend not wearing glasses during your session especially if your glasses have anti-reflective coating or tinted lenses. Glasses are naturally reflective to any light source which may result in the following issues; the camera may catch focus on the lenses of the glasses instead of the eye (which could result in a smaller proofing gallery due to more unusable images) or the lenses may show a detailed reflection of what is in front of you such as trees, buildings etc. I photograph with movement and take many candid photographs so stopping the moment to adjust the glasses to avoid glare will prevent many candid moments from happening naturally. If you would like to wear your glasses, that is not a problem just please note that reflections and tint will appear in the images as they do in real life.
An injury such as a bruise/scrape on the face or any blemish touching a crease of the body, body swelling or bloodshot eyes. I will remove any blemish I’m able to remove but some blemishes such as a large bruise on the face or a bruise/scrape in an intricate area like the eye make it nearly impossible to replicate as I need a matching area to swatch from or duplicate. If an injury takes place after booking your session which would affect the session such as a bruise on the eye or a broken leg, I recommend you reach out as soon as possible to discuss our options.
Braces. Braces will appear in the images as they do in real life. If you do not want braces to be in your images, a closed mouth smile or waiting until the braces have been removed will do the trick!
If you have any questions about what will or will not be changed in editing, please don’t hesitate to ask!