Knoxville Preschool Photography
A Quick Guide to Who We Are, How We Operate,
And Why We Are the Perfect Photography Partner For Your School
Your Questions, Answered
Who is Studio Z?
Studio Z is Knoxville and East Tennessee’s premier choice for high-quality, personality-focused preschool photography.
We are:
Woman – and mom – owned
Kid-focused – patience, creativity, and silliness are our jam
Personal – you aren’t just another school. We listen, we care, and we make changes to make life easier for you.
All of our preschool photographers are women who are either moms or who have experience with children.
As well, all of our photographers and assistants have background checks.
What makes us different?
There are two main things that set Studio Z apart from other photographers in the area.
1 – Our level of care and attention (which is how we get such great images).
Two things can be true – you can be patient and still work quickly and not get behind schedule.
All of our photographers are trained in Megan’s unique way of working quickly, but still giving the kids the time they need to feel comfortable; allowing us to create beautiful, heirloom images.
2 – Our systems.
Say goodbye to wondering what is going to happen on picture day, collecting order forms, and fielding questions from parents.
After running photography studios for the past 20 years, there is nothing we believe in more than the power of systems. From communication with you and parents (before, during, and after photo day) to modern, secure, and easy-to-use ordering systems, we have worked hard at making photo day as easy as possible for directors and staff. We want photos to be fun and beneficial for the school and loved by parents. And this is why we have created systems that communicate, explain, and streamline everything.
What does this mean for you? Organization, clear communication, and a team that comes prepared and ready to create gorgeous images.
How do you work with directors and staff?
Our goal, first and foremost, is to come into a school as a partner with both the director and staff. We don’t want to add unnecessary work to anyone’s plate.
How do we do this?
Communication
Flexibility
Mutual respect
Strong systems (see above)
You can see more about what working with us looks like below.
What does ordering look like for parents?
First of all, you will never have to deal with paper order forms, confusing ordering systems, or lackluster images with Studio Z.
Studio Z uses the most modern, secure ordering system available to photographers, and we are always updating and improving our process to make it as easy as possible for parents!
But, no matter how prepared we are, we know that sometimes questions and issues arise. And when they do – you can always send those parents directly to us. Our email is always open for any of your parents.
And what about safety?
Safety and security for your kids is alway our first priority. As a mom myself, I have spent hours upon hours researching my software and programs to ensure that they are the most secure on the market – and I am confident that they are.
To help maintain the privacy of parents, all of our galleries are private – meaning each parent gets their own personal login and can only view their own child’s images (plus the class composite if you choose to have one). Access codes are unique and private.
My online ordering software is one of the very few certified SOC 2 and SOC 3 compliant platforms (and I am one of the only studios in East Tennessee that uses this platform). This places a strong emphasis on data privacy….which is the only way you want to go as a school.
How long does it take to get images back?
Studio Z has one of the fastest (if not THE fastest) turnaround times of any studio in East Tennessee.
No matter what day we photograph your school, your images will be online by the following Monday evening. This quick turn around means less questions from parents and more excitement over the images. Parents LOVE how quickly they get to see the images. And we love making everyone happy.
What if a child is upset or not cooperating?
It’s no secret, preschoolers can be easily intimidated on photo day. But our team at Studio Z has a system and approach that helps them feel comfortable and relaxed.
Our philosophy is to:
- Instill a comfort-first approach.
- “Read” the child. Some kids need us to work quickly, others need more interaction and time to feel comfortable.
- Understand age-appropriate pacing. Younger kids need more time, older preschoolers need less.
- Use simple yet interactive poses to create lively, emotive images. We work towards a variety of expressions, not just stiff smiles.
- An organized, yet flexible approach that leaves room for pivots as necessary (we all know we can’t 100% predict kids) but also keeps things organized.
- And if a child is having a rough moment, we’ll simply have their teacher take them back to their room and try again after they have had time to reset. We are always happy to try multiple times to get a child to trust us.
The process
We do a lot of work behind the scenes to make photo day run smoothly and efficiently. But here is how things run from your perspective:
Before Photo Day
*We send over an agreement that outlines times, backdrop choices, and other options.
*3 weeks before photos, we send over a reminder to you that we need names and emails of parents.
We also create a personalized guide for parents that includes a photo of the background, wardrobe recommendations, and ordering instructions. Parents LOVE this.
For schools with a multi-day schedule, we will discuss a class schedule and add that to the guide as well.
Photo Day
*We arrive an hour before we start photographing. Sometimes it is just one photographer; sometimes we have a photographer and an assistant depending on how large the school is.
*All we need from you is a place to setup (the larger the space, the better) and someone to bring the kids from the classrooms!
*We will photograph the kids in any order that works for you. No need to keep classes together, unless that is easiest for you.
*We always want to finish before lunch (11 is the latest we like to photograph).
After Photo Day
*All images will be online the Monday following photo day. We send out gallery links to the parents and will also send copy for an email for you to send out to parents letting them know pictures have been published!
*Parents order and any prints are sent directly to their house!
*We also have a director’s gallery so that you can see all of their cute little smiles too.
what We Photograph
Individual student portraits
Sibling photos
Class group photos or we create composites
Staff photos (optional)
- Preschool & Kindergarten graduation photos
Christmas or holiday mini-sessions (a great fundraiser)
Questions?
Let’s connect to see if Studio Z would be a good fit for your school!
You will receive an automatic email from us with an option to setup a call or in-person meeting.
Please check your spam if you do not see this within 30 minutes.