After taking a short maternity leave in September and October, I came back in full swing in November with 17 mini sessions in one day. I've never scheduled that many in one day, but I am so glad I did because the weather was mild. AND I was ready to have a break from being at home with the kids and get back out there interacting with other humans!
I want to have a little bit of an *internet* conversation with you about mini sessions in general and how I do things... here I go!
In case you didn't know, mini sessions are supposed to be a sampling of a photographer's services. Minis give you a taste of the photographer's style at a discount. Of course you get less images and control (over location for example), but it is great for getting updated family photos. It's been one of my top ways of meeting new clients and people in the central-Ohio community.
You have a lot of choices when it comes to hiring a photographer. I don't know how you guys do it, because I think it must be hard to sort through all of your options! I want to tell you that many photographers will only share their best-of-the-best images when they advertise their services... so how can you really know what a real gallery will look like when they are only sharing their "Instagram-worthy" highlight reel?
Well, I want to share what an actual mini session gallery from me looks like. 15 images that I actually delivered to a family so that you can get an idea of my style and the variety of photos I provide in a short, fifteen minute mini session.
I want to start by saying that I am not a huge prop person and that I love to let the focus be on your family and a good ol' nature-y background. That's just my style, but the Jeep with the mini-Christmas tree was back by popular demand this year!! Other than that I kept the focus on the family and their connections.
Here is an actual gallery of 15 images I delivered to the Steele family!
The traditional posed family picture
Grandma loves it... It's great for Christmas cards...this is my number one picture I try to get for you! From there on out we have fun.
Sibling Photos
These big sisters clearly loved doting on their little brother!
The kids, individually
I love getting an up-close picture of your kids' sweet smiles and bright eyes.
Mom & Dad
I lot of couples don't have recent pictures together post-kids, so this is a must-have for me. I might make you pucker-up... sorry, not sorry... haha.
Mom + Kids
Maybe you are one of those rare women who is blessed to have a husband who takes pictures of you at a good angle... if you are not, I've got you covered.
Dad + Kids
Candids
This is one of the reasons that I tend to over-deliver on galleries... I love candids. You'll usually get a bunch of these when you have young kids!
That's 15 photos, and a true representation of a gallery you might get when you book minis with me! I hope that helps you be informed when you are trying to decide what photographer to hire for your family photos. I like to think I have a good thing going on, and I hope I am a fit for you!
It was so hard for me to pick just one family's gallery to share as a whole, but since I delivered over 300 pictures from those mini's, I had to just pick one... I wish I had more time to blog, but it's so time consuming for me to get my thoughts together and set-up the SEO for my blog posts. My kids only nap at the same time for a short window each day... haha.
If you like what you see, I'd love to take pictures for your family when I do more mini sessions in the Spring! Like my Facebook page or sign up for my email list (on the homepage of my website) to be in-the-know!
Colleen
Ps. If you are looking for outfit inspiration... this family NAILED it! I'm a big fan of neutral colors because they help keep the focus on the family's faces and not just their outfits. They will also look great hanging in their home because they aren't going to clash with any of their decor. They also don't look super seasonal which is a plus when hanging pictures on your walls. More on that in another blog post.