This year I did some mini sessions at Hyde Park, which is one of those locations where I’m happy to shoot outside of Golden Hour. The purpose of mini sessions is to give the opportunity to people to have a short and sweet session, whilst still capturing some beautiful memories and also saving money in the process! My mini sessions also come with some print enlargements, which is a great way to either hold onto your memories at home, or gift them to someone for a special occasion. I was so lucky with the weather for both my mini session days, and I was also super lucky with the amazing people who came along for their sessions. Everyone was on time (big tick – especially for a mini session where time is so important!), everyone looked amazing, and everyone was willing to have fun with it all! Although mini sessions only come with a small number of images, there is the option to upgrade, and so most people walked away with all of their beautiful images and memories to keep forever. It’s amazing how many we can get in such a short amount of time!
Mini sessions can be great for kids – sometimes parents worry that it won’t be long enough to get them to cooperate, but during my sessions I don’t expect kids to cooperate the whole time anyway, and a mini session is no different. The shorter time frame means that things move quite quickly, and that kids can move on to the next part of their day sooner rather than later (ice cream anyone?!). All we need from the kids is a few minutes of them ‘cooperating’, and the rest of the time it’s up to me to capture genuine moments and things they’re interested in, or those beautiful moments where they’re reaching for a cuddle from their mum or dad. The benefits of a mini session include:
- less time (20 minutes compared to one hour), which is especially great when kids are involved
- they can be for any session type (maternity, family, couple)
- save money
- sessions may be outside of ‘golden hour’
As there is less time in a mini session, we tend to move through things a lot quicker. The flow is very similar to my regular sessions though, and it gives you an idea of what a full session might be like. Typically, we start with the full family shot, and this usually just involves getting everyone to sit or stand together. Although we might get some where everyone is smiling at the camera, usually I encourage people to interact with each other, and I do a lot of the moving around myself to capture different angles and details. From there, we usually try to get the various combinations that you might want – such as dad with kids, mum with kids etc. If there are kids, we really take the cues from them just as with a regular session. If they’re feeling it, then we keep them involved in taking photos. If they’re getting restless or frustrated, we give them a break and focus on something else. Once these types of shots are done, we might get some playful ones, such as spinning, chasey, follow the leader, shoulder rides, and jumping. This has the benefit of letting everyone relax and have fun, whilst also creating some beautiful genuine emotions. My aim as always is to capture those expressions and images which will remind you of what life was like at this point in time.
I only do a small number of mini sessions, so keep an eye on my Facebook page or Contact me to register your interest in my next mini sessions. Below are some sample images from my most recent mini sessions.
