Frequently Asked Questions

What should I wear to my Hornbuckle Creative photo session?
The children. They are crazy.
Does Hornbuckle Creative do high school senior sessions? How many locations and outfits can we do?
What is a Hornbuckle Creative “real life” session?
Walk me through a Hornbuckle Creative “real life” session. How does it work?
Will you do a few posed shots during my Hornbuckle Creative “real life” session?
Does Hornbuckle Creative offer mini-sessions?
Will you photoshop me to make me skinnier/taller/younger/smarter/funnier?
What’s the Hornbuckle Creative cancer ministry about?
I wish I had a photographer to just follow my family around on vacations and get candid shots of what’s going on.
Does Hornbuckle Creative travel for other events and shoots?
Do you do product shots?
Do you do corporate headshots/portraits?
Do you do events? Charity walks? Birthday parties? Quincineras? Baptisms? Earth Day celebrations? Weddings?
Do you do videography?
When are you available?
How far out do you schedule shoots?

What should I wear to my Hornbuckle Creative photo session?
This is a tough one for a lot of people. Gone are the days that everyone in the family should wear the same shirt. I have had people do that, and honestly, those photos are almost always “meh.” The photos that look the best are when people are dressed differently but in complimentary colors. Like this:

2013-12-05 HC What to wear
If you’re having trouble with this, check out a few color pallets that people have made here. I recommend starting with mom/wife’s chosen clothes and building from there. Mom/wife can pick out something she feels awesome in and then find a color palette that goes with that and choose everybody else’s clothes from there.

If you can’t find a specific palette you want to work with, just go with the general color wheel theory, explained here. (See the section called “Some Formulas for Color Harmony.”)

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The children. They are crazy.
Of course they are! They’re children! Luckily for you, kids think I’m hilarious. Mostly because I have the social skills of a six year old at times. Here’s a few guidelines that I’ve put together to give you an idea of how you and I can make it the smoothest (and most productive) experience possible for your session.

    • Let me do the directing. You know how it’s all frustrating that your kids will obey their teachers or other adults but ignore you? Yeah, we’re going to take advantage of that for this shoot. You just focus on looking good, and I’ll focus on wrangling your kids. (I really like to, I promise. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing shoots with kids involved.) If you’re not relaxed, they’re not relaxed.
    • Speaking of you looking good, look at the camera. Your kid isn’t going to look at the camera except for one split second, and if I’m lucky (which I am a lot), I will catch it. Unfortunately, if you’re looking at your kid and pointing at the camera to try to get them to look at me, it’s not going to work. So if we’re having a “the kid isn’t looking at the camera!” moment, you just keep looking at it. Eventually I’ll do something ridiculous enough and they’ll look at me, and then you’ll look good too.
    • Have I mentioned staying relaxed? Yes? I’m going to mention it again. I know you want the pictures to be awesome. I do too. But if you threaten your kids while we’re shooting because “WE HAVE TO GET THIS PICTURE FOR GOODNESS SAKE JOHNNY WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS YOU’RE KILLING ME HERE,” Johnny will probably melt down and refuse to participate the rest of the session. If Johnny needs a break, let’s give him a break. Leave it to me to alleviate the tension – usually I’ll race him or do jumping jacks with him or do a silly dance with him, after which he’s in a better mood and genuinely smiling and laughing again (see above about my being hilarious). I know every moment is a teachable one when you’re parenting, but maybe wait on that until after the shoot.
    • Did somebody say bribes? Listen, I totally think you’re still a good parent if you promise a cookie or ice cream or a pony or a $10,000 deposit to their college account (perhaps for the more ambitious six year old) after the shoot if they cooperate. In fact, I encourage it. I had a mom tell her kid he gets a cookie if he’s good and then turn to me, horrified, and assure me over and over that “we have never bribed him with food before, I swear!” No judgment here, friend. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
    • Let’s do other things than just pose and look at the camera! I get it, you need the money shot for your Christmas cards. But even if you’re doing a primarily posed session, we can still play! Think about the things that make your kid laugh, like when you throw them in the air or chase them or take them to the playground or have a picnic or even paint with them. Think about mini-activities that your kid will enjoy that we can add to the session, and bring the props or materials that will facilitate those things. You’ve got 2 hours with me! If you can keep your kids cooperating that long because they’re enjoying it, I’ll just keep shooting and capturing your family’s personalities.

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Does Hornbuckle Creative do high school senior sessions? How many locations and outfits can we do?
Yes! Seniors are one of my favorite kinds of sessions. Directable yet still young and beautiful, and willing to do ridiculous things for the camera. Ahh, those were the days.

You can bring as many outfits as you like (I recommend 2-3) and we can shoot wherever you’d like as well. Whatever we can fit in 2 hours, that’s what we’ll do! I recommend places that are important to your kid, like the high school football field in his uniform or the fishing hole that he loves to fish, or the library with all the books she’s crazy about. Bring props (don’t forget the tassle if they have one!), bring stuff that’s important to them, bring changes of clothes, and bring childhood memory stuff.

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What is a Hornbuckle Creative “real life” session?
Think of this like a mini-vacation for your family, in which a photographer (me) follows you around like you’re Brangelina out with the kids. Let’s do some at home (maybe just clean up a little first – we want real life the way you want to remember it), and maybe plan an activity or two out and about (outside is especially nice on a good-weather day). My goal is to kind of stay in the background and capture the way you guys really interact, and the personality of your family as individuals and collectively. This is the stuff you’ll think about and probably miss when your kids are grown; the normal, everyday stuff.

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Walk me through a Hornbuckle Creative “real life” session. How does it work?
It pretty much works however you’d like it to work, but here’s a totally-made up example schedule for an 8-hour shoot.

7am – I arrive and everybody’s in their pajamas, maybe in mom and dad’s bed reading books or playing with the iPad. Whatever you do in the morning.

8am – You’re eating breakfast together. The baby is all kinds of messy in the highchair. Oatmeal bowl on her head. How adorable.

10am – You’re at the park, pushing the kids on the swings and wrestling in the grass. Or maybe you’re at the zoo, and the kids are amazed by the “Tie-gerrrrrrrrr,” their favorite animal from that book they love right now.

12pm – Lunchtime! Maybe you packed a picnic to eat in the park or you’re grabbing a hot dog at the zoo concession stand. Or maybe you’re at McDonalds because this is real life and you’re exhausted and I do not judge.

2pm – Back at home, we’re winding down for naptime, reading books and possibly throwing tantrums because it has been a long day, yo. This is real life, remember?

3pm – Naptime! Let’s get a few shots of dad cleaning up the breakfast dishes and mom answering emails, or the two of you relaxing on the couch quietly. I’ll sneak in and get some photos of your kids all precious and sleeping and quiet.


Obviously I will follow your normal daily schedule. For example, my nephew takes a 3-hour nap at 11am. I can leave and come back later if you don’t have 3 hours’ worth of material for me to shoot in the meantime. We’ll work together!

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Will you do a few posed shots during my Hornbuckle Creative “real life” session?
Of course! I’m there for anything you want! I may even have somebody look at the camera in the middle of what they’re doing. We’re going for variety here.

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Does Hornbuckle Creative offer mini-sessions?
Possibly. I may schedule a mini-session day at some point, which I will post to my Facebook page for sure. If your issue is budgetary and can only afford less time than my minimum 2-hour package, please email me and ask about it! We can probably work something out. My goal and mission is to capture memories for you. I don’t want the financial aspect to stop you. This is too important.

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Will you photoshop me to make me skinnier/taller/younger/smarter/funnier?
First of all, you’re perfect the way you are. I KNOW, that sounds cheesy, but I photograph a lot of people with a lot of flaws and I promise you, your flaws are not as bad as you think. (If you don’t believe me, please listen to this podcast. It’s science!!) Plus, my photography style is authentic, remember? It’s not very authentic to remove everything that makes you, you!

So here’s my policy: if it’s temporary, like a pimple or an unflattering-looking body part due to the angle I took it from, I photoshop. If it’s permanent, like your body shape or yes, even wrinkles, I don’t remove it. I may minimally soften some areas, but your kids don’t want to remember a perfectly-airbrushed you. They want to remember the real you.

That said, if you’re self-conscious about something in particular, let’s talk about it before we shoot so that I can work on minimizing that area using angles and light. But seriously. You’re just right, just the way you are. I truly believe that.

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What’s the Hornbuckle Creative cancer ministry about?
You can read about that more on my cancer ministry page, and why I do this on my about page, but if you or someone in your family has been diagnosed with cancer, I would be honored to do a 2-hour photo session for you, totally free. If your kid is under three years old, and you’re up for it, I would be honored to do a 4-hour session with you (this is the “real-life” half-day package).

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I wish I had a photographer to just follow my family around on vacations and get candid shots of what’s going on.
You do? That’s great, because I do that! This is something my brother used to say all the time – he hated posed pictures but would have loved a photographer to just follow his family around and just get shots of real stuff that was happening (which was kind of what I was doing after I started shooting). Contact me with details, and we’ll try to work something out. This will depend on schedule, etc., but I’m definitely up for it!

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Does Hornbuckle Creative travel for other events and shoots?
Yep! If you’re covering travel expenses, we can certainly work something out. Contact me for pricing.

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Does Hornbuckle Creative do product shots?
Absolutely! In fact, I have quite a bit of professional experience in that area because I do it for my full-time job as well. Please contact me for pricing details.

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Do you do corporate headshots/portraits?
Yes to that too! See my pricing page here or contact me for more specific pricing details.

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Do you do events? Charity walks? Birthday parties? Quincineras? Baptisms? Earth Day celebrations? Weddings?
Yes again! I’m up for all kinds of events! See my pricing page here or contact me for more specific pricing details.

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Do you do videography?
Yes! I am a professional videographer and editor at my full-time job, so you came to the right place. You can find my video portfolio here. Again, contact me for pricing details.

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When are you available?
I have this handy-dandy availability schedule here that I keep updated pretty well. Generally Saturdays and Sundays are best, and I do have some Mondays open as well (I have every other Monday off from my full-time job), so if you can do a Monday I probably can too. Also, as the days get longer in the spring and summer, I will be able to do after-work sessions any weeknight you can do it (I love when the sun doesn’t set until 8pm!) Just let me know when you want to do it and we’ll get it scheduled!

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How far out do you schedule shoots?
I’ll schedule them any time. If you definitely want a certain weekend day for an event or something else, you should probably let me know as soon as possible, because weekends fill up faster. People are currently scheduling sessions up to 4 months in advance (not that you have to do that – it just guarantees your spot).

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