How Does A Mini Session Work?
How does a Mini Session Work?
I get asked this question often, and it’s a completely reasonable question! You see the 15 minute session time, and you know how hard it is to wrangle your kids just to take a first day of school photo or that Christmas morning photo in front of the tree where no one looks tired or impatient to open up their gifts. 😉
I get it.
I have 3 kids. One who didn’t want her photo taken from age 3 – 13 and just acted like that was the worst thing ever. 😉
But I’m not their parent and I know my kids always acted so much better for someone else, so this is the first reason 15 minutes is perfect!
The other reason is it’s just 15 minutes so you get to say through the whole session “It’s only 15 minutes, you just have to smile (not hit your brother), keep your hands out of your mouth, don’t touch your sister like that..”
See? I get it.
Our youngest is 14 and has been the most active boy who can’t concentrate too long.
So …”it’s only 15 minutes”
When you arrive with your family, I first try to get the kids used to me by asking them questions about school, halloween, Christmas, and it doesn’t take long for them to get used to me because this is where kids are amazing!
I know the goal of the session is to get one posed photo of everyone, so this is the first image I try for and this is where we remind everyone that it’s only 15 minutes.
Most of the time I get the posed photo but in the chance that I don’t (kids ages 18 months to 3 tend to be the hardest to get a smile from) then I take some photos of the kids individually to get some smiles and any wiggles out. I let them take a couple minutes to just be silly.
Then I add the parents and other siblings to the photo and go from there!
After that’s finished, I take individuals of the kids and just the parents together, and typically another posed photo of the family.
And because I have 15 years experience with mini sessions (and 20 years as a photographer), I typically have 5 minutes remaining to get some candid photos of the kids playing.
I ask them to give hugs to each other/parents, hold hands and walk in a circle together, and if the kids are especially wiggly, I tell them they can run together and I get some cute photos of them running towards me with smiles on their faces as they try to race there siblings.
I also have treats that they can choose at the end of their session, so you don’t even have to bribe them with Dutch bros and keep your fingers crossed that no one spills it on the way home. 😉
So you still get to keep your sanity!
(…it’s only 15 min..)
If you’d like to see galleries of my mini sessions, you can view these and see what variety you can expect:
My mini Sessions come with 10 of your favorite images and you have the option to purchase more. These sessions are perfect for updating a family photo, getting some individuals of the kids, and some candids.
If you would like a variety of poses with different backdrops and more candids then a Lifestyle Session or Storytelling Session might be more what you’re looking for. All of the images come with these sessions.
But if you would like to book a Christmas Volkswagen Mini Session or a Christmas Mini at Northern Lights Tree Farm then click these links.
Volkswagen Christmas Mini Session
Christmas Tree Farm Mini Session
Reach out with any questions either via the contact form or text! 541.321.2399
I love this session of seeing my families I see every year and new ones!
