Step 01
Date held
We reply to an enquiry with availability and a written outline of the session. The date is held for seven days while you decide, then confirmed with a signed agreement and a deposit.
Portrait · Wedding · Brand
Photographs that still look like the day
Prism Orbit is a two-person studio working in available light, shooting a small number of commissions each month so every set is edited by the person who took it.
- Available light firstFlash only when the room forces it
- Travel commissionsCoastal, alpine and city bookings welcome
- Two weeks to deliveryFull edited gallery, three weeks in peak season
Index 01—06
Selected frames
Six recent commissions, each listed with the session type, the light we worked in and what the client received. Use them to judge whether the way we see a room matches the way you do.
Filed newest first · Frames shown at delivery crop
Late light, hillside ceremony
Window sitting, studio
Single-light headshots
Release stills for a small label
Golden hour, open field
Two-person elopement, lakeside
What a booking includes
Three kinds of session
Everything below is the standard shape of a booking. Anything can be adjusted once we know the day; the figures are the starting point we quote from, not a fixed tariff.
Lane 01
Portrait sitting
For individuals, families and anyone who needs a picture that will be used rather than admired once. Studio or a location you already like.
- 90 minutes, one or two outfit changes
- Location scouting call before the day
- 35–50 edited frames in a private gallery
- Three retouched files sized for print
- Personal use licence included
Guide fee from$420Two weeks to delivery. Add a second location for $140.
Lane 02
Wedding day
Documentary coverage with as little direction as the day allows. We keep to the edges, step in for the group photographs, then step back out.
- Six, nine or full-day coverage
- Second shooter from nine hours upward
- Planning call and a run-through of the timings
- 400–700 edited frames, delivered in two galleries
- Preview set of 30 frames within five days
Guide fee from$2,100Three weeks to delivery in peak season. Travel quoted separately.
Lane 03
Brand & product
Stills for makers, small labels and service businesses that need a library rather than a single hero shot. Shot to the crops your channels actually use.
- Half or full studio day
- Shot list agreed in writing beforehand
- 25–60 stills depending on the set
- Square, portrait and banner crops of each
- Twelve-month commercial licence
Guide fee from$680Ten working days to delivery. Rush turnaround available on request.
How we work
A small studio, on purpose
Prism Orbit is Rae Alderman and Noor Vance. We take a limited number of commissions each month because the person holding the camera is also the person editing the set, and that only scales so far.
- Light
- Available light wherever the room allows it. When it does not, one light, shaped and kept out of the way — never a bank of flash pointed at a dance floor.
- Direction
- Enough to fix a hand or a chin, and no more. Most people photograph better in the second half of a session, so we build in the time for that.
- Editing
- Colour grading, exposure and tone on every delivered frame. Skin is cleaned up where something is temporary; we do not reshape faces or bodies.
- Files
- Delivered as high-resolution JPEGs through a private gallery that stays open for twelve months, with a download of the whole set in one archive.
Confirmation to delivery
How a booked day runs
The same sequence for every commission, scaled to its length. Nothing here is a surprise on the day.
Step 02
Planning call
Thirty minutes, two to three weeks out. Locations, light at the hour you have chosen, the shots that matter most and anyone we need to recognise on sight.
Step 03
On the day
We arrive early to read the room and find the light. Portrait sittings start slowly on purpose. Wedding coverage follows the timings we agreed and we tell you if the light is about to change.
Step 04
Selection
Every frame is backed up twice before we leave. The cull happens within 48 hours, and a short preview set goes out first so you have something to share straight away.
Step 05
Edit
The full set is graded frame by frame in one pass so the gallery reads as a single day rather than a collection of separate pictures.
Step 06
Delivery
Your gallery arrives with download instructions, licence terms in plain language and print sizes that suit each crop. It stays online for twelve months.
Before you enquire
Questions worth asking
The things clients actually ask on the planning call, answered here so you can decide before you write to us.
What should we wear?
Solid colours and fabrics with some weight photograph best; fine stripes and small checks can shimmer on camera. Bring one outfit you feel unmistakably like yourself in and one you would not normally risk — the second one is often the set that gets used.
What happens if it rains?
Portrait sittings move to a covered location or a new date at no cost, decided the evening before. Wedding days go ahead regardless — overcast light is kinder than midday sun, and we carry a plan for a covered group shot at every venue we scout.
Do we get the raw files?
No. Raw files are an unfinished stage, not a deliverable, and they are the part of the work that carries our name. You receive every frame worth keeping as a finished high-resolution file. If you need a specific frame we did not include, ask and we will edit it for you.
How far do you travel?
Anywhere we can reach the day before. Travel inside the region is included; further afield we quote transport and one night's accommodation at cost, listed as a separate line so you can see exactly what it adds.
Can we move the date after booking?
Once, free of charge, to any date we still have open within twelve months. If we are already booked on the new date we will say so straight away and refund the deposit rather than hold it against something we cannot photograph.
What can we do with the photographs?
Portrait and wedding galleries carry a personal licence: print them, share them, send them to family, at any size. Brand sessions carry a twelve-month commercial licence covering your own channels, packaging and advertising. Resale or licensing to a third party needs a separate agreement.
Do you use our photographs publicly?
Only with written permission, asked for after you have seen the gallery rather than buried in the booking form. Declining changes nothing about your coverage, your delivery or your price, and a yes can be withdrawn later.
Availability
Check a date
Tell us the date and the kind of session and we will reply with availability, a written outline and a figure — usually within two working days.
Useful to include
- The date, or the window you are choosing between
- Roughly what time of day you are picturing
- Where it would happen, even loosely
- Anything the photographs need to do afterwards — a website, a print, a gift