Photography questions, answered

Digital, and we will tell you honestly if we think a film look suits the picture better, which is a different conversation from the one people expect. What matters is the finished image, not the medium, and the medium is our decision, not yours.

Wear what you would wear on the day, bring the shoes you will actually wear if they matter, and pick the location before you book rather than after. The single biggest factor in a good session is the light and the place, and both are chosen before anything is shot.

Light retouching, and it is done in one consistent pass so the set looks like one day rather than a collection of different days. We do not reshape faces or remove people, because a photograph that is not what happened is not a record of anything.

Ask who took them and get the terms in writing. A photographer holds copyright in the image unless the contract says otherwise, and the license you buy should say what you may do with it and for how long. If the photographer is the seller of the house, that is a conversation to have in writing.

Far enough ahead that the date is secure and the coverage is not a last-minute fill-in. For a summer weekend on the Outer Banks, that means the previous year. The good dates go early, and the vendors who know the coast book them first.

Then we shoot the light there is and we plan around it. Every time of year on this coast has a look: a low winter sun that is hard and clear, a long summer evening that is soft and gold, and a spring one that is flat and clear and honest. The best pictures are the ones that look like the day they were taken.