It’s mini session season of that there is no doubt! I get asked this question easily 100 times a year. Do you have any mini session coming up! Truthfully I have only offered mini session a handful of times over the years and here is why. If you’ve ever worked with me you know that I don’t cap my session by number of people or time or any other controllable factors like those. We will do any and all variations you’d like within your session. Whether it’s a family of 25 or a family of 3, I run my sessions the same.
My sessions are about creating memories and capturing them. I personally don’t connect that quickly with people when I’m on the other side of the lens. Let’s face it getting your pictures done can be super awkward. Most people are not crazy comfortable with getting in front of the lens and being themselves. Kiddo’s take a bit of time to warm up to people they don’t know, as is appropriate. We want our kids to be friendly, but also cautious of strangers right? For me and my sessions I prefer having the luxury of time to get to know my clients and engaging with them so that we can get the best and most genuine (not sit and say cheese) expressions. My goal is to create memories that you want to hang on your wall. When we sit down to view your images, I want to relive it and laugh about the moments that happened with you. We are creating a story together, a small chapter in your life that I consider myself blessed to be a part of. I don’t want to rush you in and out like a drive thru, all of us knowing there is someone coming in behind you. I don’t want you to be stressed out and short with the kids because they’re not warmed up yet. I don’t want you sitting and waiting because the kiddo’s before you took longer to warm up to the camera than their allotted time. This time together will be ours. Ours to get to know one another a little better, one where the kids will remember me and be excited to come back. I don’t want their memory to be getting scolded at because they were unsure or uneasy about what was going on and we only had 10 minutes together. They should be excited to create these memories with you. The only potentially negative piece should be the clothing choice you made for them that they may hate!
So no, I don’t do mini sessions. In almost 20 years I’ve only done them a handful of times and I’m ok with that. If you’re looking for mini sessions I know several photographers who do them and will be happy to connect you, so please reach out. I do think they have a place and cater to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. For me though I seek to be more full service than drive thru.
