Perfect Photoshoot: From Planning to Ready Photos
Date of publication: 16 Jul 2023 | Updated: 10 Sep 2026Got the idea to order a photoshoot? This page is the short answer to everything you need to decide beforehand – and a map to the full answer on each point, so you can read only what you actually care about.
Content Plan
Searching and choosing a photographer
Portfolio, reviews, prices, a conversation – roughly in that order. Look at complete shoots rather than a few strong frames: anyone can have five good pictures, but an hour that works from start to finish is a different skill.
Both halves of this have their own article:
How to choose a photographer for a photoshoot?
What do I need to know before asking a photographer for a price?
Read the second one before you write to anyone. It lists the questions worth asking – and the questions a professional will ask you, which is the part most people are not ready for.
Booking and finances
Most of my clients plan their trip in advance, often for a few days or a week, so the details and the booking are settled in advance too. Shoots are usually booked one to two months ahead, which leaves room to pick a date that suits you. If you are staying for months, finding a day is never a problem. If you are here for five days, it is.
Usually, photo shoots are booked one to two months in advance.
Weddings run on a different clock: six months to a year ahead. The more exact the date has to be, the earlier it has to be held. Want a shoot on February 14? Book it half a year out.
How much does a photo shoot cost?
My packages are priced by the hour, and some include extra services that longer shoots tend to need. Every package can be adjusted to what you actually want.
My service costs are available on my website.
- Photo shoot costs – couples, families, individual – and availability for your date.
- Wedding photo shoot costs, and whether your date is free.
- Additional services you may want to add.
What helps most is a first message that says when you arrive, how long you stay, where you are staying, and what kind of shoot you have in mind. From there I can suggest the right package instead of guessing. What to ask about price, and what a price actually includes, is covered in "What do I need to know before asking a photographer for a price?"
How is a photo shoot booked?
Every photographer sets their own terms. For a shoot tomorrow, agreeing on the time is enough. For one planned a week, a month or a year out, I ask for a prepayment of 10–20% of the order. The sum is small; what it does is turn an intention into a decision, for both of us.
What is discussed when planning a photo session?
You have written to the photographer. Here is what a professional should raise with you – and where each of these is answered in full.
Style and theme of the photo session
Individual, couple, family, wedding – each type of shoot has its own rhythm, its own locations and its own price. Say which one you want early: it is the single piece of information that changes everything else. The services section shows what each type looks like in practice, with real shoots rather than descriptions.
Locations for photo sessions
Lisbon and the coast around it give you historic streets, tiled façades, viewpoints, gardens, modern architecture and the ocean, all within a short drive. Which of them suits you depends on the shoot, so the choice is worth making together rather than from a list.
Locations, by type of shoot:
Family photos in Lisbon, Sintra and Cascais
Best places to propose in Lisbon
Photography in Alfama, without the crowds
Swimwear photo spots near Lisbon
How to pick a location for a destination shoot
Best time of day for photo sessions
Morning, for me. But the honest answer has too many conditions for one paragraph, and it changes with the season and the location: Morning or evening? What's better for shooting?
Clothing and Appearance
What to wear, which colours hold up on camera, and what suits each location – one of the things I always go through with clients before the day. The full version is here: "Choosing clothes for shooting".
Makeup and Hairstyle
Many people read "natural" as "no makeup". It usually means the opposite: professional makeup is the kind you do not notice, and in Lisbon's summer heat it is also the kind that survives an hour outdoors.
Explained by people who do it for a living:
Why professional makeup matters for a photo shoot
12 makeup tips for hot weather shoots
Other Services
Bouquets, flower arches, a yacht, a romantic dinner, a photo zone – the full list of additional services is on the site.
How does the photo shoot itself take place?
My main job during the shoot is to keep you comfortable. I say where to stand and what to do, so that you can stop thinking about it and simply be there.
People look at the portfolio and assume I only shoot models. I don't – 95% of my clients had never been in front of a camera. The usual plan is simple: I pick you up at the hotel, we work through two or three agreed locations, about an hour each, and I bring you back. An evening shoot is timed to end at sunset, somewhere the sunset is worth ending at. A makeup artist and stylist can come to you beforehand if you want them.
More detail, depending on your case:
How to relax in front of the camera
Why one hour is the minimum
Preparing for a family shoot in Lisbon
How a proposal shoot works, step by step
What is the outcome?
You get every frame I take, fully processed. I delete only duplicates and shots that are out of focus. Clients still want a number, so: I guarantee 30 photos per hour of shooting, and it usually ends up being more.
Quality is more important than quantity.
That said, if we take a thousand good frames, you get a thousand.
Photo Processing Time
Three to four weeks. The reason is queueing rather than laziness – with shoots back to back, each small delay adds to the next one. The long version: Why do photographers take so long to give (process) photos?
Conclusions
Almost everything on this page comes down to one thing: decide the type of shoot, and the rest – location, time of day, clothes, price – follows from it. If you have read this far and still have questions, that is normal, and answering them is part of my job rather than something you should solve alone before writing.
Check my availability for your date
Send the date and, if you already know it, the location. I answer personally and help with the plan, the timing, and the details.
I shoot in Lisbon and across Portugal. More about my work: photographer in Lisbon.
