Frequently asked questions

Northlight matches you with a vetted local photographer in twenty US cities and destinations. You choose the destination, the kind of session and a date; a coordinator replies within two hours with an available photographer and your exact price in writing; and the date is held once the retainer is paid.

Sessions start at $250 for studio portrait, and every service page shows its own starting price, length and number of edited photos. The exact price for your date and location is confirmed in writing before you pay anything, and nothing is billed per extra photograph.

Tell us the city, the kind of session and the date on the booking form, and a coordinator matches you with a vetted photographer who works that city and that kind of session. You can ask to see more of their work, or for someone else, before you confirm anything.

Yes. Every photographer lives and works in the market you book, which is why they know the hour a location empties out, which spots need a permit, and where to go instead when the first choice is closed or crowded.

Every session price includes the photographer’s time on location, professional editing of the stated number of photographs, and a private online gallery delivered by the date quoted for that session. Permit fees, park entry, venue charges and parking are not included; where a permit is needed, its cost is named before you book.

Every session type states its delivery window before you book, from 24 hours for real estate photography to 6 weeks for wedding photography, counted from the day of the session. Edited photographs arrive in a private online gallery that stays available for twelve months.

Overcast skies and light rain are working conditions, and often flattering ones, so the session usually goes ahead. If lightning, a flood warning, a closed park or smoke makes the location genuinely unusable, the session is moved to a new date at no charge, whichever side calls it.

Yes. A session can be moved once at no charge with at least seven days’ notice. Inside seven days the retainer is forfeit and a new one is due, except when the weather makes the location unusable, in which case the move is always free.

Yes. Name the photographer in the notes on the booking form, and the coordinator will tell you whether they are free on your date. If they are not, you are offered another vetted photographer in the same city before anything is paid.

Yes. Proposal photography starts at $450 for 60 min: the photographer scouts your spot and a fallback in advance, covers the question itself from a distance with a long lens, and takes portraits of you both right afterwards, with the gallery delivered within 48 hours.

Yes. Each city page lists the locations photographers use most, with the best hour and the permit rules for each, and your photographer suggests a spot and a time for your date. A fallback location is agreed in advance for sessions where timing matters, such as proposals.

It depends on the city and on the park, and each city page names the authority and links its rules. In New York City a session with a handheld camera or a tripod needs no permit in most parks; in Sedona the national forest needs none for five or fewer people on site; Miami-Dade County generally requires a film permit for photo shoots in its parks and on its beaches. Confirm the current rule with the issuing authority before booking.

A coordinator replies within two hours with an available photographer and your exact price in writing. Nothing is charged until you accept, and your date is held once the retainer is paid. After the session, your edited photographs arrive in a private online gallery on the date stated for your session type.