Legacy Sessions
Portraits and filmed interviews to preserve a life story.
What is a legacy session?
Legacy Sessions are documentary-style portrait and guided conversation visits by a trained and published journalist that are designed to preserve personal history and relay stories. Each session takes place in the subject’s home or chosen space, and includes still photographs alongside a filmed conversation.
These sessions are part visual record, part oral history. The aim is to create an honest document of a life—capturing not just how someone looks, but how they sound, what they remember, and what they want to say.
Participants speak about whatever they choose: family, work, migration, loss, change, survival, creativity. There are no scripts, only prompts. The conversation unfolds at their pace.
Legacy sessions are a way to honour and preserve the likeness of loved ones and a timeless gift for those who want to leave something meaningful behind.
What’s included:
Portraits:
Portraits can be taken alone or with loved ones
Use of professional lighting equipment to create studio-quality lighting anywhere (Including off-camera flash units, umbrellas and stands, coloured gels, etc)
Each portrait session is adapted to your comfort level
Professionally edited and delivered
Filmed Interview:
Each guided conversation is conducted, researched, and personalized by a trained and published journalist
Choice of additional supporting footage gathered on a second visit to give visual context to your story, including your personal home videos and photographs,
Broadcast quality HD video production
Use of two mirrorless cameras for multiple angles and seamless editing
use of on-camera and lavelier microphones for optimal sound quality
Professionally filmed and edited
How It works:
Intro Call - We talk briefly about your story and needs
Book The Session - Choose a day and location that feels right
The Visit - I spend enough time with you to capture your story
Editing- I edit the footage and put together the package
Delivery - Recieve a digital or printed keepsake to share and preserve
Legacy Sessions
Storytelling Legacy Session
$950 CAD
A guided storytelling and portrait session that captures a personal narrative with clarity and care.
The Storytelling Session is a focused, in-home experience designed to preserve a life story in a meaningful, straightforward format. It includes environmental portraits accompanied by a structured, conversational interview shaped into a clear and cohesive video narrative.
Unlike a documentary short or highlight reel, this session offers room for depth—but stays grounded in simplicity. There is no additional footage, music, or family-supplied material. What’s preserved is the voice, the language, the person—and the story they choose to tell.
It’s well suited for life reflections, personal legacies, and moments of meaning that deserve to be recorded and remembered.
What’s Included:
A guided storytelling session that is professionally recorded and edited for clarity and pacing
2 camera angles for seamless storytelling
15 - 30-minute portrait session with professional lighting equipment
10 professionally edited photographs
2 - 3 week turnaround time
Plan for approximately 1.5 - 2 hours for the full visit including time for set-up, conversation, portraiture and any natural breaks
Archival Legacy Session
$2,500 CAD
A professionally produced mini-documentary and portrait session that captures the essence of a life.
The Archival Legacy Session is a meaningful documentary film in collaboration with the subject and their family. Combining environmental portraiture, a guided narrative interview, and visual storytelling techniques, the result is a 5-minute, broadcast-quality legacy film—crafted by a trained and published journalist.
This is not a casual video or slideshow. It’s a tightly structured, emotionally resonant short film designed to preserve memory, voice, and visual presence for generations to come.
This session is ideal for families seeking a polished, shareable tribute; individuals planning a legacy gift or celebration-of-life film; or anyone who wants a beautifully produced short film that distills the heart of their story.
What’s Included:
In-home portrait session and recorded interview with additional time spent at your convenience gathering supporting footage
2 camera angles for seamless storytelling
15 - 30-minute portrait session with professional lighting equipment
10 professionally edited photographs
Edited 5-minute mini-documentary with titles, music, and visual pacing
Cinematic supporting footage from the subject’s space or routine
Integration of family photos, letters, or home videos
Royalty free soundtrack and clean title design
Delivered digitally + on archival USB
Turnaround time: 3-4 weeks
Optional: Rush edit available (+$250)
The Breakdown:
Contact
heatherchapinphotography@gmail.com
403-827-1882