We have a lot of fun preparing for our sessions and so should you!

• Don’t stress. Children generally react negatively to a parent’s stress.
• Make sure they get a good night’s sleep.
• Bellies full.  Bring treats like Cheerios.
• Hair clean and always up off the face. That way we can see the face in any pose.  Bring a travel size hair spray, and any clips or bobby pins you might need.
• Skin clean. No band-aid or tattoo residue.
• Finger and toe nails groomed and free of dirt or polish.
• Got a scratch or boo boo? No worries. We have that covered.
• ARRIVE EARLY.  Our business is based on time and talent.  Arriving 20 minutes late is not acceptable.   Prep early so that you can arrive early so that you are on time for your appointment.  See our policies under the about tab. Sessions may be cancelled if you are more than 10 minutes late.

WHAT IS AN EDITED IMAGE?  When we say that an image is edited, it means that it is correct overall and ready for print.  Edits include cropping, color, exposure and white balance correction and possibly the addition of a global filter. Filters can add warmth or lighting effects and are added only as means of enhancing the image. Not all image series have filters added.  All of our mini session images are fully edited when you purchase them.  Because we don’t know the printer, paper, ink or lab choices that you make in printing our digital images, we do not guarantee your personally printed results.  Choose our prints over digitals to receive our quality guarantee.

WHAT IS A RETOUCHED IMAGE?

Retouching is additional work done by an expert in a post processing program that enhances skin, cleans backgrounds, and even does some heavy lifting like slimming, face thinning, and makeup adjustments.  We divide retouching into two categories: Standard and Restorative.  When you purchase a print at Shine Photo, standard retouching is always included free of charge. This includes eye brightening, teeth whitening, acne removal, sometimes facial or arm slimming and any other retouch we deem necessary to make your image stunning.  In general, standard retouches are applied to any item in the image that the subject wants touched up but has no control over … such as blemishes.  Restorative retouching can be done for a reasonable extra charge. These retouches include glare removal in glasses, fixing teeth, removal of braces etc.

Although Dr. Photoshop is on our permanent staff, we do not retouch everything for free. If you come in with logos or stains on your T shirt and want them removed, we charge for that.  Super wrinkled shirt?  Lots of pilling?  We charge for that.  Poorly applied makeup? We charge for that. Didn’t remove that chipped red nail polish from your child’s fingers, or the residue of a temporary tattoo before you came?  We can usually  fix it, but there is a fee.

One final thought on retouching.  It adds TIME to your order.  Retouching is done by hand using software by real people who are highly skilled in the use of the software.  We live in an era of instant, but timeless images take time to prepare.  When we remove all the acne in 20 images of your teenager, it may add some waiting time prior to your product delivery, but we guarantee your teen will appreciate the difference!  When it brings happiness for decades, a little delay is worth the wait.

WHAT’S AVAILABLE ONLINE?

All of our high volume (sports and school photos) and mini sessions have online ordering systems in place right on our website.  Gone are the days of pre-paid envelopes and images that are supplied to you without any choices. With our online systems you can:

• Order and pay online from the comfort of home
• Download your purchased digital files.
• Add optional retouching
• Personal online proof galleries expire 14 days after opening. A $25.00 fee is charged to re-open a gallery for 48 hours.  It’s easy to procrastinate, but be sure to check your proofs and place your orders right away to avoid the fees.

All print orders are delivered at the Thunder Bay Country Market.  We do not make appointments in our Crawford Street Studio for delivery of online orders.  Digital files are typically ready for download within 48 hours from the same album in which they were proofed.

MARKET HOURS:

• Saturdays from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm  and Wednesday from 3:30 – 6:30 pm all year.
• Closed between August 1 and 14 and between December 24 and January 5th.
• Closed on all major holidays including Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

The Thunder Bay Country Market is located at 425 Northern Ave on the grounds of the CLE. We are upstairs in the Dove building. Just follow the signs. The Market is conveniently, centrally located, has plenty of parking, and has a bazzillion things to look at, taste, smell and enjoy!

Private Proof Reveal Sessions

These sessions are scheduled for our Everyday Studio, Limited Edition and Fine Art sessions. Your proof reveal is typically scheduled for 3-7 days after your photo session.  We recommend that for ease of selection ordering, you do not bring your children with you to this session.   We have a step-by-step system in place that takes a lot of the indecision out of the process, and ensures that you go home with just the right amount of products that you need, at a price that you can afford.

Shine Photo is a full service studio.   Digital images are not the basis of our business. Print products are.  Think of it as fine dining. When you go to a restaurant, you expect that the meal is prepared for you.  You don’t want just the ingredients (digital files) left on the table for you to cook yourself.   A great deal of work and artwork goes into the preparation of your images so we want to be sure you receive the finished dish from the menu.  We do have digital images sized for sharing that accompany many of our print products as well as an awesome digital app designed to share your images online with as many people as you like across a wide variety of social platforms.

Please be sure to visit our Policy Page for important information about missed proof reveal sessions.

YOUR INVESTMENT

We often get calls asking how much for a shoot, or how much for a session.  If you’ve made it to this point in our website, you know we offer a lot of different sessions, with a lot of different product options, all geared to fit your budget … whatever that may be.  We have clients who spend $50.00 with us, and we have clients who spend thousands.  We appreciate ALL your business.

What we don’t offer is “just a quick picture.”  We work in sessions. Each session has a session fee and gives you image choices and product options.  That alone makes us different from many other photographers. Add on our one-of-a-kind artwork and you have a product that will hang over your sofa, (regardless of how many times you buy a new sofa) for decades.   Frame what you love. Invest in that product to the best of your ability. It’s a priceless investment.

PAYMENTS

We accept cash, cheque, all major credit cards, e-transfers, Paypal and debit TAP. (Sorry no swipe or debit insert is available.)  TAP is available only to $100.00.

Session fees are due upon invoice.  We expect a session fee to be paid within 48 hours of reserving your session.  Payment confirms your session.

We also have a payment plan for product purchases:

• Up to $500.00  – 30 days with 30% down payment.
• Up to $1500.00 – 90 days with 25 % down payment.
• Higher than 1500.00 – 6 months equal billing.
• The Heirloom Nostalgic Santa Session has a 10 month pre-payment option.

Session fees cannot be places on a payment plan. Payments are non-refundable.  Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.