Here's the step by step instructions to download your beautiful new gallery of images from Pixieset. Step 1: You will receive an email from Pixieset with a subject something like "Photos for Your Gallery are ready". Open the email, scroll down and click "VIEW PHOTOS". NOTE: The Download pin is also in this email if you have purchased the images. Download pins are not included in proof or viewing gallery emails. Step 2: A webpage will open, allowing you to view your gallery. Scroll just below the main header photo to see 4 icons on the right. Click the downward arrow (shown here) to go to the next step. Step 3: Enter your email and the download code you were given in the email. NOTE: This step protects your photos from being downloaded by random people. Step 4: Choose your photos, usually it will say "Highlights" and a number of photos. Selecting this will include the whole gallery. NOTE: We recommend downloading your entire gallery in high resolution as the galleries are only available for 30 days. To view the gallery again after 30 days please send us an email requesting a new gallery. It may take some time to create and send out the new email. Choose the location you would like to download your photos. "My Computer" is selected as default. Click "START DOWNLOAD". You may see a loading screen while your gallery is being prepared. The larger the gallery, the more time it takes. Leave this screen open or wait for an email to return to this page. Step 5: When your gallery is ready to be downloaded the screen will say "Your Photos are Ready to Download". Click the box to open a pop up box. Here you will see the File Name and Save as Type. Do not change these. The default folder is called downloads on your computer. You can choose where to save the folder and then click "Save". Step 6: Find the folder on your computer where you just saved it and right click the icon. It will have a zipper if there is more than one photo. NOTE: If there is no zipper on the icon you can open it normally to view your gallery. This will bring up a mini menu, select "Extract All..." If you choose to "Show Extracted Files When Complete" on the pop up box the folder will open. If you don't change anything in the pop up box the new folder will appear next to the current file folder. The difference is it does not have the zipper on it and it's now a regular folder. A new folder icon will appear. Open the folder. Step 7: Double click "highlights" to open the folder and see your downloaded gallery! Want more tips and photography content? Go to https://www.foxybydesign.com/blog to see behind the scenes on photoshoots, featured portrait sessions and more.

As a portrait photographer the number one question I get is what do I wear? The second question is how should I do my makeup? My answer depends on a few things: 💋 Do you normally wear makeup? 💋 What are you comfortable wearing? (Styles, coverage) 💋 Do you enjoy wearing makeup? Sometimes you don't want a full face of makeup and that's ok! The beauty industry will tell you otherwise but that's because they're selling the makeup. 😊 Skincare is more important than makeup. Good skincare sets a foundation for your makeup. You are beautiful without makeup. It is a tool that can be used to accent your natural features or look completely different! You should feel happy and creative, not trapped. So if you just want to wear eyeliner or lipgloss - DO IT! For portrait sessions, I recommend a small amount of eyeliner and lipstick, lipgloss, even chapstick works. This is because the eyeliner accents your eyes and the lipgloss makes your lips more noticeable. Cameras see the world differently than our eyes and areas of a photo that have more contrast will be noticed first. Portraits are focused on the person and your eyes tell the story. So we want those beautiful eyes to be the centerpiece of your photo. Chic Makeup Recipe One of my favorite looks to wear is really easy and takes 5 minutes - and that's because I need practice with liquid eyeliner. 😁 You'll need: 💋 1 Bright lipstick (Your choice of color) 💋 Black eyeliner - I used liquid Optional: 💋 Micellar makeup remover for eyes 💋 Cotton swabs 💋 A mirror That's it! The optional items are for if you are not used to wearing this kind of makeup. Liquid eyeliner creates a gorgeous clean line but it very easy to smudge or mess up. Cotton swabs with micellar water are what I use to clean up my messy lines! For applying the lipstick I use the point of the lipstick to outline my lips and then use the flat side to fill in the color and BOOM! You look chic and ready to take on the world!

1. Get to Know your photographer Have a chat with them about the session. How do you want to look, what are you worried about? This may be hard to do at first but your portrait photographer can't read minds! Do you want to look super tall and strong? Want to look slimmer? More confident? I can help you pick out the right outfit so you feel like 1 million bucks! That confidence will shine through in your photos. 2. Be Prepared Pick your outfit(s) at least a week before your portrait session date. Try it out and hang it up with all the accessories you're planning to wear with it. The day before your session, have a reminder on your phone or set an alarm for when you need to get up to get ready, leave a little early if you are driving far because sometimes you get stuck in traffic. 3. DON'T do a new hairstyle or makeup look the day of the session If you want to try a new look I recommend hiring a make up artist or hair stylist. If you want to do your own hair and makeup I recommend practicing it several times before your session day. Also, -especially if you tend to have allergies- make sure you aren't trying any new products or routines within a week of your session. Set out the products you are going to use so you aren't spending your morning searching for that special makeup palette or liquid eyeliner. It will remove a lot of stress the day of if you have your beauty routine down. 4. Go to bed early - I know you're probably excited or nervous but try to get some sleep and don't go out partying the night before. Pair this with making sure you drink enough water. 5. Get up with enough time to get ready so you aren't rushing. If you are like me, you will most likely forget something or spill something. (I actually spilled an entire venti coffee all over my kitchen once) so I always prepare a backup outfit. I am the person that always sits in ketchup or trips and scuffs my shoes. But knowing that, I can prepare and don't have to worry. I also give myself extra time to get ready in case my cat pounces me while I'm using my liquid eyeliner and I have to redo my look. It seems like a lot but really it's an extra 30 minutes or so and if nothing happens then I have extra time to relax! It's much better to get up 30 minutes early than to arrive and realize you forgot that special necklace you wanted to wear for your portrait session. When it comes down to it don't worry! If you DO get something on your shirt and really don't have another I can photoshop it out, it'll just take a little longer to get your photos back. I have removed people, benches, light posts, and more from photos! I'll make sure you look good so trust me when I say to tuck your shirt a certain way or turn and drop your shoulder a certain way. It may feel weird and different to pose in certain ways but know that I am guiding you to looking amazing! You're going to love your photos and we're going to have a really fun session. So go pick out your outfit (and backup if needed) and go relax! I'll be getting my camera charged, cleaning my lenses and preparing too. You're not the only one who gets nervous! I am over here making shot list, picking my outfit, deciding which lenses to use, checking the weather and looking up the location for scenes. People show up on social media, for work, for going to the mall, dressed up, with makeup and showing their best side. So if you're feeling bad because of a crazy hair day, a pimple, or wrinkled clothes, DON'T! No one looks perfect all of the time. You are beautiful! Let me show you what everyone else already sees. Wash your hair and condition it, do your nightly skin routine (yes I know that spot is there but IGNORE it trust me. It's like a 2 second removal in photoshop.), and throw that shirt in the dryer or steam it for wrinkles. I'll take care of the rest. The MOST important thing in a portrait is how you feel. If you are uncomfortable it will show in your eyes. I can remove mustard spots, coffee marks on teeth (even a person with pure white teeth will have darkened teeth for a bit after eating or drinking foods that stain teeth) so smile, relax, and let's have some fun! Together, we're going to make an awesome session and you'll have photos you, your friends and family will love! I am so excited for you! Sincerely, Jennifer Renee Foxy by Design Photography

Choosing a portrait photographer based on price is the worst thing you can do. You can spend $5-$8 on a fancy latte that will be gone in 15 minutes, ok 5 minutes because let's face it they're amazing - BUT want to spend a really low amount like $50 on a photographer. Why is this maybe not the best option way to choose the person taking your photos? Well a more experienced professional portrait photographer is not going to be charging that amount, because they can't. It costs money to run a photography business to pay for ads, to keep up on editing software, camera repairs, flash drives, gas to get to and from shoots, etc. Those are called the cost of doing business. So while your cousin - sister - whoever can totally charge a small amount, a professional photographer with taxes and all kinds of fees can't. So why wouldn't you just hire your friend? Do they have the experience? The right camera and equipment? Do you KNOW they'll get that shot you want? This is what you're paying for too - the experience. Keep reading to see why. This portrait photo was taken on a day with super harsh lighting. We were all squinting! So how does the photo of this couple have soft, beautiful, romantic lighting? Experience. Knowing what lighting equipment to use when and where makes a huge difference. And it's how an experienced portrait photographer can get soft, beautifully lit photos on a harsh sunny California day. But isn't is weird working with someone you don't know? Maybe at first but we'll be bffs in no time! I'll chat with you about your outfit, makeup and hair goals before the session so by the time we're actually on location we can focus on having fun. My job is to capture your personality, your job is to be yourself and have fun. Don't worry about blinking or posing, I'll direct you. So if you just want some snapshots to remember the moment, you can hire anyone, or even use a phone, because it's better to have the photos than not. If you want gorgeous artwork that's ready to frame and hang in a gallery on your wall, you're going to want an experienced professional portrait photographer so please don't choose based on price - choose based on the final use of the images. You're going to have these photos for 5, 10, 25 years! Just think how many fancy lattes you'll drink in that time.

It can be overwhelming planning the perfect outfit for your portrait session. One tool that makes things soooo much easier is Pinterest. You can create boards within minutes and it even suggests pins you may like - the best part is you can SHARE your pin boards with other people, including your photographer. Here I've just named our example board "My Portrait Session" but you can name it something fun like "Our Anniversary", "Class of 2022", or whatever you want! But remember the titles of public boards are visible to the public. STEP 1: FIND AN IMAGE TO PIN Once you find an image you'd like to pin to your board, click the small arrow beside the "SAVE" button in the top right section of the bubble. (See the blue arrow in the photo below.) STEP 2: CREATE A NEW BOARD After clicking the arrow, a list will pop up allowing you to save the image to an existing pin board OR create a new board. To share your pin board with your photographer, click create a new board and continue to the next step. (See the blue arrow in the photo below.) STEP 3: NAME YOUR BOARD Here you will name your pin board and add collaborators. Collaborators can add pins to your board - this makes it easy to plan sessions since you and your photographer can both add ideas. (See the blue arrow in the photo below.) STEP 4: VIEW YOUR BOARD + ADD MORE PHOTOS Now you'll have a brand new shiny pin board! Go to your profile page by clicking your avatar in the top right corner of the page (or the person icon on the bottom right section of the mobile app). Select the board you just made. Here you'll see all the pins you've added to this board and by clicking the "More Ideas" button Pinterest will suggest pins you may like based on images in this board and images you have previously liked or saved. (See the blue arrow in the photo below.)

Cassandra is so bubbly and fun to work with! :) Keep reading to see more from our model shoot. NOT QUITE KANSAS We went to a local park in Columbus, Ohio and walked around in the spring air. The flowers were SO beautiful. There were roses everywhere, and despite being probably 5 minutes from the biggest mall and shopping center in the area, it felt like we were exploring on the edge of the woods. COMBINING FASHION WITH ADVENTURE It's so fun to combine fashion with adventure! Cassandra's chic style, mixed with the beauty of nature made for classy, colorful images. This bamboo tunnel she found was so different from anything I had ever seen. I still haven't seen another tunnel like it. ADDING SPRING VIBES There are soo many ways to add flowers to your portrait session to celebrate spring. Bouquets, flower walls, floral print outfits, hair accessories, and more. Want to book your own spring session? Email me at foxybydesign@yahoo.com to get started.

Shooting with Starla is always fun, we have some laughs and some tears (from laughing) and always get amazing photos. For this adventure portrait session we went up to the Sonora Pass in the northern California mountains. I was already excited when she said she wanted to shoot her session at dawn because that happens to be my favorite lighting of the day. Sam and I had been scouting locations for our fall adventure portraits about a week or two before and the weather kept threatening snow. Lucky for us the day of Starla's session it was all clear skies and sunshine. We had been talking about doing a portrait session up at the Sonora Pass since last fall but had missed the timing of the yellow aspens, so this year we watched and waited! I remember how excited I was when I saw that the leaves were starting to change colors!! I messaged Starla and said, "OMG I SAW A YELLOW LEAF!" We looked up location and outfit inspiration on Pinterest and send pins to share our ideas. This makes it sooo much easier to pick the perfect colors and style. Plus then we can save the ideas versus scrolling for days in our phone camera roll. See our boards at: https://www.pinterest.com/foxybydesign We arrived at the Sonora Pass before the sun was even up and we found our first location. The sun began to rise and we had some light. I think we ended up shooting 5 locations and it took us about 4 hours, but at least half of that was getting to the spots and setting up. WE FOUND A FROZEN WATERFALL! Let me repeat...just kidding. But seriously it was amazing! There was a frozen waterfall where the top layer of ice was completely frozen but the water was flowing under the surface! And of course this means we need to get a few portrait shots with this miracle of nature. Starla was such a champ sitting on the freezing rocks! She is always so fun to work with and I am very thankful to have her as a friend. If you want to learn more about designing your own custom on location portrait photography session go to: https://www.foxybydesign.com For more tips and ideas, subscribe to our Foxy newsletter! We'll never sell your data, I hate spam too. :) https://www.foxybydesign.com/subscribe Have a Foxy day! - Jennifer

How many megapixels does your camera have? How much does your camera cost? What lens do you use the most? What brand camera do you use? How long have you been a photographer? So a lot of the common questions actually have to do with my gear. Mainly because a lot of people associate good gear with skills. A good photographer can create stunning photographs with simple gear. Yes, having nicer gear makes it easier but you should also be able to take nice photos with lower quality or more simple gear as expensive "pro" gear isn't always available. In my experience, our clients don't really care about the cost of our gear but the quality of the photos they receive. I started learning photography with my mom's manual, Pentax film camera I know photographers who bought expensive gear and was upset when their photos did not improve. I also have shown photographers how to improve their photos (dramatically) with the same gear that they already have. So let's get into the top 5 questions I get asked as a photographer. 1. How many megapixels does your camera have? The camera I currently shoot with the most is my Nikon D3300. It has 24.2 MP and was released in 2014. 2. How much does your camera cost? My Nikon D3300 costs about $500 after taxes to buy one now. I have also shot with the Nikon D850 that costs about $3,000 currently. 3. What lens do you use the most? My favorite lens is my Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm F/1.8G. It's sharp, fast and quiet! I click really fast when I shoot so having a lens that can keep up with me is really important. 4. What brand camera do you use? You can probably guess by now that I shoot with Nikon! I researched the major camera brands when I was looking to buy my first DSLR and at the time to top 2 based on specs and reviews were Nikon and Canon. The only thing I could find that a Canon model with the same specs had over the Nikon was that it claimed to have more richness and color depth. As a photographer who is going to edit the photos, this was not worth paying double in cost. The Nikon was about $400 while the same specs on a Canon was about $800. I fell in love with the quality and cost effectiveness of the Nikon brand and I've never had a reason to switch. 5. How long have you been a photographer? I started learning photography in 2006 with my mom's manual, Pentax film camera. I loved being able to capture moments but I hated waiting so long for the film to develop and the darkroom has always given me the creeps! Later in 2006 I signed up for a photography class at my high school and began learning digital photography and I was hooked. I went on to major in Graphic Design in college, I saw photography as a only a hobby for myself at the time. In 2013 I began to learn portraiture and longed to get out from behind the desktop computer that was my graphic design and printing job. I dreamed of traveling and meeting new people! In 2018 my husband Sam and I had the awesome experience of shooting our FIRST on location portrait session and I was HOOKED! I got to combine my love of landscape photography with the fun and excitement of portraiture. In 2018 I began adding more stylized fashion photoshoots. I hope that answered some of your questions! If you have more, email me at foxybydesign@yahoo.com Sincerely, Jennifer Renee Love our blogs? Check out more at foxybydesign.com/blog

I traveled from Sonora, California out of Sacramento, California and flew to Maryland for a destination wedding in the town of Frederick, Maryland. The fall weather was perfectly cool and tons of beautiful fluffy clouds filled the sky, making a giant soft box for their first look portrait session. The couple booked a gorgeous Air BnB to stay in for their wedding. I took photos with them in the living room, backyard, the front of the Air BnB rental and then more at the riverfront park in downtown Frederick. The bride's wedding dress was not traditional but it was so much fun! She's a fashion designer so it makes sense to show off her unique style. It's your day - wear what you want!