Shoott is proud to offer our free photo session model where clients only pay for the photos they want – but in order for us to provide this offer, our business model must work a particular way. So we’re here to share who we’re right for and who might want another photo solution (no hard feelings, we promise!)

Who we’re right for!

You’re in the market for a 30 minute photo session – practically, your time is comprised of 25 minutes of active photography and about 5 minutes of talking/walking. We’re great for:

• Those who like the shorter timeframe – often this is great for those with young kids. A lot of kids can have meltdowns and holding their attention may be tricky so many parents have shared with us that the 30 minute limit is actually the sweet spot!

• Those with groups of 15 and under! We’ve been able to comfortably photograph families and groups of 15 and under to get all the different combinations of folks. Have more than 15 people? Then you can book 2 sessions back-to-back (just know it’ll mean 2 separate galleries out of respect for the photographer’s time!)

• Those who like to choose what they’re paying for! So many other photographers charge a sitting fee or charge upfront for photos – what if you don’t like the photos provided? What if you wanted more choice? This avoids this issue altogether.

• Those who want to see a gallery of options! Many photographers only provide a few “selects” and after seeing what clients choose to purchase, we’ve noticed that it’s hard to predict what clients would choose to purchase if they could see all the photos! Often people have their own reasons for picking some photos over others so we like to provide more choices so people can choose what photos most resonate with them. If you’re on time and if there aren’t any elements like kids who are throwing tantrums, mobility issues, or clothing changes – our average gallery provided is often around 60-80 photos, which is above our 40 photo guarantee.

• Those who are looking for community-vetted photographers. As a 4.9-star rated business on Google, we take our photographer hiring process very seriously and you know when you book with us, you’re in great hands. No more wasting time and energy researching across many platforms for photographers.

Who might want to look elsewhere

There’s a lot of reasons Shoott’s free sessions might not be the best fit and here are the biggest reasons we’ve encountered:

• You want our free session model but at a time and place of your choosing. Our free model only works because we’re aggregating demand at set locations for our photographers; that said, you can request a time and place of your choosing for a photo session but that requires full payment upfront. These are our custom sessions and guarantee the same 4.9 star rated Shoott quality but just on your terms!

• You want your photographer to provide props, clothing, or makeup. Our free sessions require clients to show up fully “camera-ready” (i.e. with hair + makeup done) and prepared with their own props. If you’re looking for a more full-service photography experience (great examples of these include newborn studio shoots, maternity shoots with provided dresses, and boudoir sessions), there are other providers that exist that will do this, but most likely not with a free session!

• If you don’t agree with our policies. We love providing our free sessions + pay-by-pic model, but in order to do so, we need to operate in a specific way so that we can stay financially solvent. This means that we must stick to our policies regarding lateness, cancellations, and reschedules. We provide very extensive information on our website and in emails regarding what our clients can expect from our service. We also do not tolerate any rudeness or unprofessional behavior towards our photographers or our staff or if you try to bypass Shoott and purchase your photos directly from photographers.

 Still interested? Head to shoott.com to check out our schedule of free bookable sessions!