Weather policy

Florida weather can be finicky, beautiful one minute, pouring the next. It can be tricky to anticipate, you can't always rely on the app because 100% may mean it will rain down the street but not where you are. 

Our best bet is always to schedule early in the vacation. If the weather does not cooperate we will try to reschedule. 

What conditions require a reschedule?

Our biggest weather concern actually isn't rain. Our biggest concerns are lightening and wind. There are not many lightening rods near an open beach and we do not want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt, nor do we want to end up on the front page of Yahoo as 'the photographer who let their clients get struck by lightening'. 
Wind is not just annoying to deal with (check out our blog about beach blown hair) . Once it gets around 15mph the wind will pick up the sand and sandblast you. And by sandblast I mean blast, in the movies you see the annoyance of sand storms with sand in their eyes and mouths but what they don't tell you is how much it hurts! Each piece feels like a little ant bites and yes, it does get in your eyes, your hair, your clothes, and our equipment. We will not shoot in wind above 12mph. Anything above 10mph will blow your hair and clothing, making editing extremely long and hard.
Other weather concern we look at are fog and high humidity. I have had to cancel shoots in the past after showing up and attempting to shoot but not be able to see the clients 3 feet away or my inner lens fog up and not work properly.

Are there any other options?

If your goal is not to have just a picture on the beach but to capture a special moment or finally have everyone in one place, we WILL find a way. I can come to your home, rent a conference room at a hotel, I have been known to wait inside my car next to my clients and rush out when there is a break in the rain to at least grab that one group shot. 

When will we decide to cancel or reschedule?

Weather apps are constantly updating. It can help give us an idea of what to expect on the day but we do not depend on them. We like to wait until the day of to make a decision. We will wait until just before the clients begins getting ready for the session. We don't want you to spend a long time getting all dressed up, bribing the kids and hubby, only to do it all over again the next day. We will get in touch a few hours before we are to meet and make a judgement call. We take in account the weather radar, the percentage at the time, the presence of thunder. While we do keep an eye on several weather apps the most reliable information can be found with the radar a few hours before the session. We may just need to move it up a few minutes to avoid early sunset or we may need to reschedule to a later mutual date.
We are not opposed to shooting in light rain, at the request of the client. Pouring rain will effect our equipment and hinder the shot.   

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I took this image during a shoot. I was facing the water where it was beautiful, until the client mentioned we may want to leave before the rain hit us. I turn around and see this creeping up on us.

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What about a refund?

The retainer fee is non refundable however it is transferable. If we cannot find a mutual date to reschedule during the current vacation we can transfer it to a future date. 
If Amy or Caitie find the conditions not favorable and the client wants to try anyway we will drive out and wait for the rain recede up to 15 minutes. Any longer than that and we lose the light. In this instance the retainer fee is utilized that day and is no longer transferable.