Most people arrive at a portrait session with one question that overrides everything else: what do I do with my hands? The good news is that question answers itself within the first ten minutes of a directed session. The harder challenge is everything that happens before you show up, and that is entirely within your control.
Preparing well for a portrait photography session produces noticeably better results. Not marginally better. Noticeably better, in a way you will see immediately when the proof gallery arrives. This guide covers what to do in the week before your session, the night before, and the morning of.
One Week Before Your Session
The week before is when the highest-leverage preparation happens. Most session-day problems trace back to decisions that were delayed until the day before or, worse, the morning of.
Solid colors photograph better than patterns in almost every situation. Navy, forest green, burgundy, and warm earth tones are consistently strong choices for portraits and headshots. Avoid true white near the face as it can reflect light and wash out your features.
What to Do About Hair and Makeup
For most portrait sessions, natural or slightly polished hair and makeup reads better on camera than a dramatic departure from how you normally look. The goal is a version of you that holds up at full resolution, not a transformation.
If you are getting hair or makeup professionally done for the session, schedule the appointment for the morning of rather than the night before. Camera-ready makeup is designed to be photographed immediately. Sleeping in it changes the result.
For those doing their own makeup: shoot slightly heavier than you would for an everyday look. Camera and editing slightly soften contrast, so what looks natural in your mirror may appear washed out in photos.
The Night Before
The night before a portrait session is not the time to make new decisions. It is the time to confirm all the decisions you already made and prepare everything so the morning is frictionless.
Morning of the Session
Arrive a few minutes early rather than exactly on time. Early arrival lets you decompress, look at the location, and start feeling less like someone about to be photographed and more like someone who is just spending time in a nice place.
Eat something before your session. Sessions typically run 60 to 90 minutes and low blood sugar makes you look tired and feel impatient. Avoid heavy salt in the morning as it can cause visible puffiness, particularly under the eyes.
What to Leave at Home
High expectations of exactly what you will look like are the single biggest saboteur of portrait sessions. You will not look exactly like the reference images you have been saving for weeks. You will look like yourself in good light with good direction, and that is genuinely a better outcome than trying to replicate someone else's face.
Leave perfectionism at home too. The images that tend to resonate most, the ones clients end up using everywhere, are rarely the technically perfect shot. They are the frame where something real happened. Good direction creates the conditions for that. Your job is to show up prepared and present, not to perform.
Questions to Ask Your Photographer in Advance
A short conversation or message exchange before the session prevents most surprises. Ask about the planned location and what to expect from the light at that time of day. Ask how many outfit changes fit comfortably within the session length. Ask how the proof gallery works and what the turnaround looks like. Most experienced photographers will send a pre-shoot guide that covers this, but asking directly signals that you are prepared and engaged.