Ottawa Photography Studio 2025 Session Guidelines and Policies

Prior to March 2020, many of the following studio (indoor) session policies were already in place. The purpose of the studio policies is to protect clients from transmissible illnesses, including but not limited to RSV, flu, gastroenteritis, hand foot and mouth disease, and Covid.  

As our team cannot "work from home" when we are sick, protecting our own health means we can continue to offer sessions without inconveniencing clients with last minute schedule changes.  Given that the majority of our sessions are time sensitive (newborn, maternity, birthday), this is critically important to ensure the long term sustainability of Sara McConnell Photography.

Ottawa Photography Studio (Indoor) Session Guidelines: 

Contact

• Our team (photographer, assistant) will wear a mask upon request.  

• During sessions where hands on posing takes place (e.g., where we are touching clients' hands, faces, and bodies), the team's hands are cleaned throughout the session with alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

• Due to the close contact between our team and our clients, pre-session health screening measures are in place.

Safety

• The studio is equipped with large and heavy props and lighting equipment. As children are naturally curious and enjoy exploring new places, for newborn sessions and baby milestone sessions that include sibling/family photos, older siblings and the second parent will leave immediately after their photos for safety reasons.

Ventilation

• An air purifier runs for the duration of each studio session.

Transparency

• Session, digital image, and print product prices are firm and non-negotiable.

 Rescheduling: 

Before booking your session, please ensure your partner and family members are all available for the date and time you have selected as well as the back-up date.  Unlike other service appointments (e.g., spa, hair salon, massage), several hours of planning is involved prior to your session taking place.

I collaborate to plan your outfits, backdrops, poses, and style of your session.  My schedule is altered to accommodate the preparation and/or travel time for your session, as well as modifications for the studio. For this reason, it is not possible to change your session date and time once your session has been booked. 

Illness Policy:

My illness policies were developed to ensure sessions have the best chance for success and to adhere to public health “best practices”.  Individuals who are unwell are not able to participate actively in photo sessions: smiling and having fun isn’t a realistic expectation when you don’t feel well.   Illness policies also protect the Sara McConnell Photography team to ensure they can continue to offer sessions without the constant disruption of rescheduling clients' sessions because a member of the team is sick.

All clients are required to complete a screening questionnaire before their session. Please contact us as soon as possible if:

• Any member of your household has at the time of your session or in the 5 days before any symptoms of illness (fever and/or chills, conjunctivitis, headache, or nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea). Symptoms may or may not require a postponement.

If clients arrive for their session with undisclosed active and uncontrolled symptoms of an illness, the session will not go ahead and the non-refundable session booking fee is used as payment for the appointment.

Cancellation Policy:

• A non-refundable session deposit is required for all sessions.  Unlike other services, photography sessions require an investment of time for session planning, session set up (studio preparation and/or outdoor location scouting), back-up session dates, time set aside in the calendar for preliminary and final editing, as well as the session itself.  For these reasons, session deposits are non-refundable.

• In the event of illness, we require 72 hours notice in order to transfer the session deposit to another date and time in the photographer's schedule.  Sessions postponed due to illness cannot be guaranteed to be rescheduled on the same weekday or at the same time of day. 

• Clients will be offered up to 3 alternate session dates and times to reschedule their session.  All rescheduled sessions must be re-booked within 14 days in order for the deposit to be transferred.  Sessions that are rescheduled outside of the 14 day window of time, or that require additional dates and times to be added to the photographer's calendar for the session to go ahead, will be charged a $150 fee to cover the additional administrative time and schedule alterations. 

• Themed or location-specific Ottawa Family Photography Sessions or Ottawa Maternity Photography Sessions that are rescheduled will be offered an alternate themed session at a later date (if available) or a studio / alternate location session.  Clients who require sessions on specific days of the week or time of day, will be charged a $150 fee for the photographer to extend their schedule to accommodate the client's requirements.

• In the event that illness occurs less than 24 hours before the start of a session, 50% of the non refundable session deposit will be retained as payment for the missed session if the session space cannot be filled by another client.

Inclement Weather Policy:

All decisions regarding rescheduling and postponing sessions are made by Sara McConnell Photography. 

A decision will be made 1–2 hours before a session whether the session will be:

(a) postponed until a later time 

(b) postponed to another day based on the availability in the photographer’s schedule. 

Sessions will not be rescheduled due to temperature, overcast skies, or wind, unless a weather warning has been issued. In the case of rain, sessions will be rescheduled only if it is actively raining at the time of the session and not in the case of forecasted rain.