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Emi Sato Portrait & Wedding · Tacoma

The experience

Seven steps, no mystery

Hiring a photographer means buying something that doesn't exist yet, so here's the whole road between “hello” and your finished gallery — including the parts with dates attached.

  1. 01

    Inquiry

    Reply within 24 hours

    Use the booking wizard or the contact form. You'll get a real reply from me — not an autoresponder pretending to be me — within one business day, with honest availability.

  2. 02

    The 15-minute call

    Optional but recommended

    We talk about who's being photographed and what the photos are for. If I'm the wrong photographer for it, I'll say so and send you two names who'd be right.

  3. 03

    Planning

    The week you book

    You get a short location + wardrobe guide built for your session — where the light is at your time slot, what photographs well, and what to leave on the hanger. Contract and invoice are signed online.

  4. 04

    The session

    The fun part

    The first ten minutes are always the stiffest, so we walk and talk first. I pose you loosely and then wait for the version of the pose you do when you forget it. Kids set the pace; I bring the patience.

  5. 05

    Sneak peek

    Within 72 hours

    Five edited frames land in your inbox while the session is still fresh. These are full-resolution keepers, not watermarked bait.

  6. 06

    Gallery delivery

    3 weeks portraits · 6 weeks weddings

    Your full edited gallery arrives on or before the date written in your contract. Download everything, share the link, order prints straight from the gallery.

  7. 07

    Prints & albums

    Whenever you're ready

    The gallery stays online for a year. Album design happens together over one video call — I lay out the first draft, you veto with abandon.

Session day

Where it happens is up to the light — and you

Empty photography studio with a grey seamless paper backdrop lit by two softboxes on stands
In studio Seamless paper, two softboxes, north window light. Best for branding portraits, headshot refreshes, and any session where the forecast has opinions.
Photographer in an olive jacket pointing a camera directly at the viewer beside a grey harbor
On location Bluffs, beaches, big maples, your own kitchen — chosen for where the light lands at your slot. Golden-hour times shift with the season; the booking wizard tracks sunset for you.

The fine print, enlarged

Promises with dates on them

The 72-hour sneak peek

Five full-resolution edited frames within three days of every session and wedding — not watermarked teasers. It's in the contract because a promise without a date is a mood.

Delivery dates in writing

Portrait galleries in 3 weeks, weddings in 6 weeks. The date is printed in your contract. If it's ever at risk, you hear from me before the date — never after.

Weather has a decision time

Rained-out sessions move under cover, into the studio, or to the next open date — your pick, no fee, decided by 10 a.m. on session day. Nobody sits in a parking lot watching radar together.

The gallery is yours

Private link, full downloads, print release for personal use, online for a full year. Share it with grandma without exporting a zip file to a USB stick like it's 2009.

Rescheduling, image counts, print rights, RAW files — the rest of the honest answers live on the FAQ page.

Booking

Step 01 is one click away

The wizard asks four things — session type, studio or location, a real date from the seasonal calendar, and who's being photographed. Two minutes, tops.

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