Title: Crafting the Ultimate Family Session Experience
Session Type: Seminar
Description: Great family sessions don’t start when you pick up your camera. They start the moment a client finds you. In this class I’ll walk you through my process from first contact to final delivery and show you how every touchpoint builds the kind of trust that makes clients easy to work with and excited to invest.
We’ll cover albums, client communication, location guidance, clothing help, and how I plant the seed for sales long before anyone sits down in a reveal. I’ll also get into the real stuff, working with difficult ages, keeping grumpy dads engaged, and my family posing flow system for moving through sessions in the most efficient order possible. Spoiler: it involves a lot of energy, my must have shots, and yes, animal sounds.
You’ll walk away with practical strategies you can use immediately to run smoother sessions, connect more deeply with your clients, and build a family photography experience that keeps your clients coming back year after year!
Title: The Family Posing Flow Blueprint
Session Type: Hands-On
Description: Most photographers leave family sessions feeling defeated or unsure if they got everything they needed. What if you never had to guess again? In this hands-on photowalk class, you’ll experience my Family Posing Flow in action, not just hear about it. We’ll work with a real family together so you can see exactly how the flow unfolds from start to finish.
You’ll watch and practice how I move through groupings, build variety on purpose, and transition smoothly so nothing gets missed and no one is standing around waiting for direction. You’ll see how I talk to kids, how I loosen up the parents, and how I adapt on the fly when someone is grumpy, wiggly, or just completely over it. Finally, you will learn what my absolute favorite prop for family sessions is.
You’ll leave with a practical session roadmap, posing prompts you can use immediately, and the kind of muscle memory that only comes from doing it yourself. No guessing, no forgetting key shots, just a system that works every time you pick up your camera.
About Carol Deanda:
Carol DeAnda is a professional photographer, studio owner, and photography educator based just outside of Chicago in Algonquin, Illinois. She launched DeAnda Photography in 2008 and has spent 18 years working with thousands of families, hundreds of wedding couples, and countless professionals in need of a great headshot.
Carol began sharing her knowledge with other photographers in 2020 and has since spoken at some of the industry’s most prestigious stages, including Imaging USA and WPPI. She brings the same energy to the classroom that she brings to every session: high energy, practical systems, and zero fluff.
Her credentials reflect a deep commitment to her craft. She holds her CPP, Master Photographer, Master Wedding Photographer, and Photographic Craftsman degrees through PPA, is an IPC Gold Award winner, a PPA Counselor, and currently serves as Vice President of PPANI.
When she is not behind the camera or on stage, you will find her at OrangeTheory or exploring new restaurants, because she takes her food just as seriously as her photography.
