Handmade wall art crafted to order by Grain& Weave. Image captured in the family home, Sydney. ©Grain&Weave

What is an Image Design Consultation?

(…”and why do I need one?”)

You’ve just completed your in-home family photography session and you’re not sure how it went, but you can’t wait to see the photos!

When you are in the moment, be in the moment. People can be hyper-critical of themselves in photos and stopping all the time to show you doesn’t help you relax and be yourself. Also, we are professional photographers and make a living out of creating images that people love, so it is important to relax and trust that we have your best interests at heart.
We will have booked an online consultation for you with one of our experts. Based on this date, your images are booked in with one of our retouchers, who will put them together for you in a presentation, all finished and ready to display. Yes, we do all the retouching upfront and it is included in your package.
We can only present your images clearly, without watermarks in the online consultation and believe it is not fair to ask you to make decisions without seeing them clearly.
Also during this session, we have organised one of our experts to help you make selections and adjustments, if required in real time, as well as guide you when looking at the options.
The feedback we've received from our numerous clients supports this method, indicating a strong preference for our tailored and clear consultation process over other studios.

After Your Session

After your in-home photography session you will be given a booklet, which outlines three key things:

What happens next?
What your options are.
What costs/packages are available?

Let’s quickly unpack those three things here.

What happens next?

During your session your photographer will have created different ‘sets’ of images and created around 20-30 images for you.

You will be seeing the images during your online consultation and have plenty of time to make your decisions.

As a little ‘extra’ we like to send out a little slideshow movie for you to watch with the family. These are covered with watermarks though and purely intended as ‘just for fun’ and not the time where you will be making decisions.

We do this because all of our families have said that they love the experience :)

What Your Options Are

At Grain & Weave we pride ourselves on giving families lots of options when it comes to their family photography and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming with so many to choose from.

We give you a booklet to keep and use during your Online Consultation that outlines the handmade options and digital formats. Whether you want us to make you something special from our handmade range, DIY print your own art, or just have some of the images in a smaller format for your phone or small frames, we have it covered.

What costs/packages are available?

As well as the above, better still, all of our prices and packages are transparently outlined in the booklet so you can make plans ahead of time. We have in-home consultation promotions for those who are getting a bit extra, payment plan options and an FAQ section.

Remember, you are not locked into your package, you can always use the amount as a credit toward your own package.

What is a Design Consultant?

Family photography at its best is a beautiful mixture of science, creativity and communication.

A solid technique is required to capture a perfectly timed and exposed image that is in focus and sharp in in the right places. Understanding stops, shutter speeds, apertures and the inverse square law is essential for any working professional photographer.
To make beautiful images, a feel for great composition and how or when to use hard or soft light to create mood is essential for any creative photographer. Understanding depth of field and colour can focus the eye on different parts of the image to tell a story.
Family photography requires great empathy and people skills. Strong communicators get the best and most natural expressions from their subjects. Being able to communicate those moments in a single image that resonates with the viewer is a highly sought after skill.
The best professional photographers can deliver this consistently, on demand.

Our designers often start as photographers and develop their skills over a number of years. Alongside all of these, they must possess a knowledge of interior design, colour theory, and story telling to craft an image that perfectly complements or enhances its environment.

An understanding of print and the handmade production process is the final step to achieve the mastery required to become a top Image Designer at Grain & Weave.

How cropping affects an image

The same image when cropped different ways can feel very different and changes the feel of a space greatly. An Image Designer can help you find the perfect fit for your favourite images.

Telling stories through collections

Some images are best as standalone feature pieces, others are just meant to be part of a story. Your Image Designer can help you to design a uniquely personal collection that captures your story just the way you want it.