FAQ

Please see our packages page for details. We are happy to make special packages for your specific needs as well. Book your consultation and let’s plan!

No, sorry. We take bookings by appointments only.

We do a pre-shoot consultation either on the phone or in-studio (preferably) to ensure a good fit for your needs and only then do we book your shoot. Contact us to book a time for your consultation. It's free and there are no obligations!

No sorry, portrait sessions at Lightmill are planned events. It takes effort to make truly great portraits. We plan our shoots meticulously, spend time with you to get to know you and through that process, we make beautiful timeless portraits.

No, we do not offer free shoots. We are a professional studio and every shoot is important to us. We put in a lot of time and effort into planning and preparing for every client so it defeats the purpose if we did our work for free.

All our sessions are priced fairly and we are happy to include a goodwill discount. Our returning customers will always receive a discount as well.We also have seasonal deals during Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc.

We do not offer refunds on session fees. We try our best to make our clients feel comfortable but if you are unsatisfied with your shoot we would be glad to schedule a reshoot at no extra cost. Please let us know what went wrong or how we can do better.

Basic sessions can be around 1 hour and Signature Sessions take about 2 hours. The times may vary depending on the prep time like makeup and hair styling.

Usually we will be able to shortlist the best shots and send you a link to your selection gallery within 7 days of the shoot. Once we receive your selection and balance payment we begin retouching them. This process usually takes between 2 to 4 weeks depending on the number of retouched images your order contains.

All final images will be uploaded to your private gallery for download once the total payment has been received.

Absolutely! Just discuss your needs with us so that we can make sure we design your shoot accordingly, whether to schedule additional time or prepare for more looks and setups to shoot with.

Yes, but please let us know in advance to avoid any issues. You may lose your deposit if you reschedule multiple times. We plan our entire week preparing for every shoot so we need a system in place to protect us from last minute changes.

Yes. In our Signature package we include a pack of 12 retouched images of your choosing. You may purchase more.

Retouching is the final stage of our post-production - fine tuning composition, natural looking skin, acne and blemish cleanup & fine-art color grading - just like a fashion magazine, with lots of attention to detail using state-of-the-art tools.

Our philosophy is always quality over quantity. We feel that we can do the best job on a select few images, rather than put low effort and deliver several mediocre ones. Therefore we deliver a carefully curated set of images in every package.

The exact number of included retouched images depends on the shoot. See our packages for more information.

We do not provide RAW files. All our deliveries are made in high resolution JPG format. Our products are the final processed images, the original files are raw materials of the final image. We color-correct them, retouch them and fine-tune them for viewing and printing.

As many as you like! Also, there is no minimum. There is no obligation. Have a look at our pricing and packages page for some more details. Book a consultation and we will happily tell you more about this in person or on the phone.

Portraits, in the broadest sense are pictures of a person's face or personality. A headshot is a portrait that has a specific purpose - to present the person in an accurate way for work, personal branding or academic uses. They may be useful to gain employment, promotions or to lift your media presence on press material, articles about you, LinkedIn, etc.

We often get this question and the answer is - whatever makes you feel beautiful! Makeup when done well can create an incredible look and elevates the portrait due to the ability to match color tones to your outfits, do your hair in a specific style, etc. Having a MUA lets you try different looks during your shoot as well, so you can just relax, enjoy the shoot and let the artists do the work. For this reason, we recommend working with a professional makeup artist.

Oh yes! We will find you a makeup artist that we love working with so we can absolutely book them for your shoot and put you in contact to discuss further. The makeup artist fees will be payable directly to the artist.

If it's something simple and easy, then sure. Makeup when done well can create an incredible look and elevates the portrait due to the ability to match color tones to your outfits, do your hair in a specific style, etc. Having a MUA lets you try different looks during your shoot as well, so you can just relax, enjoy the shoot and let the artists do the work. For this reason, we recommend working with a professional makeup artist. More on this during the consultation.

Sure! You may bring your own makeup artist/stylist. Please make sure to consider makeup duration. We recommend to check with your artist if they are familiar with doing makeup for studio sessions. Why? Because makeup artist time will influence your shoot duration & also retouching. Makeup for studio portraits will generally be more subtle than bridal makeup which is meant to stay on for longer. Here’s a short guide for your MUA.

A few important ones, yes. Firstly, wear the clothes that truly celebrate you. If you feel fantastic in something, that confidence makes for great portraits. The best choices according to us are plain solids, warm earthy tones, deeper shades in any color and interesting fabric textures. Applies to Saris and Indian dresses too. Avoid graphics and brand logo tees, busy contrasty prints and extreme bright colors. More info on this here.

Our shoots are more about finding authenticity in the moments we capture. We care more about the essence of the person and less about precise posing. We like to leave room for our client to be themselves, while suggesting a few ideas for posing or posture.

Don’t worry if it’s your first time in front of the camera. We’ll help you feel comfortable and do our best to make beautiful, authentic portraits.

We have an ironing box and a steamer for our clients at the studio. But please do try and prepare as much as possible prior to arriving so that we can focus our time and energy on the photoshoot.

Yes we can! We absolutely love it when our clients get excited about their portrait session and want to put in the effort. If you would like to get help with outfit choices, color shades, custom tailoring & designing outfits for your shoot, we'll hook you up with a stylist. They will assist you in finding the right outfits for your shoot from stuff you already own or help you source it. Stylist fees will be additional.