If I had to choose the question I get asked most frequently as a family photographer in Boston, it has to do with mini-sessions. Are you offering them? Will you offer 2021 Mini-Sessions? Do you do holiday themed ones? The list goes on. Up until this year, I had offered several mini-session dates seasonally. I have to be honest though, I didn’t love them. While I loved seeing all my clients, they felt rushed and high-pressure. If your kiddo didn’t happen to be in a good mood during your 15-20 minutes in front of my lens, oh well. I had to move on and couldn’t spend the time needed to turn a session around.

Due to COVID concerns, I decided to take a year off from offering short back-to-back time slots this year. Instead I trialed offering a few longer “petite” sessions in June at a lavender farm. So, what’s my plan for 2021 mini-sessions?

My Plan for Offering 2021 Mini-Sessions

Barring any unforeseen disasters (you know, like a surprise global pandemic), I hope to offer a few “petite session” dates. These sessions will be longer than a true mini-session but shorter than a full hour-long family session. Most likely, I will offer four back-to-back 30 minute time slots. What this will allow is all four sessions to get pretty good golden light AND enough time to get a little creative and not feel so rushed. While I feel confident that I can get a diverse gallery in 15 minutes, little ones sometimes need the first 15 minutes just to warm up!

2021 Mini-Sessions Will Be Offered First-Come, First-Served to Past Clients

The benefit of my plan to limit these petite sessions to clients I already have a relationship with is two-fold. First, the client and kids know me before we get started! I’m not a complete stranger and they know generally how my sessions run. Secondly, I know a little bit about you and your kids too! I know which kid might be shy and which needs a lot of activity. I know what my past clients’ value and their general goals for their session. With new clients booking full family sessions, we have the luxury of time. We get to know each other and warm up together throughout the session. Short sessions don’t have this luxury!

Am I totally out of luck if I have never worked with you before?

For now, my plan is to first offer these petite sessions to my past clients. *If* they do not book, I could see myself opening up the time slots to people I have not worked with before! Because I will only be offering four per evening though, I don’t anticipate having to open them to the general public. My best suggestion is to consider booking a full family session in 2021 so we can get to know each other and make sure it’s a good fit before attempting squeeze out the magic in 30 minutes!

How Can I Secure One of these 2021 Mini-Sessions Spots?

Most times that I have offered a limited amount of these short sessions, they have sold out within the first 15 minutes of offering them to my mailing list. If you are a past client and you are not on my mailing list now, make sure to sign up by clicking here.

Sometimes my mailings can be sent to junk mail. I’ll be sending an end of year wrap-up email in a couple weeks, keep an eye out and be sure to mark it as ‘not junk’ in your email program.

Autumn mini-sessions are ALWAYS the most sought after. Consider booking another season for a better chance at getting one of the times!

Lastly, Who Do Mini-Sessions Work Best For?

Whenever I chat about shorter-than-typical sessions, I always need to add in my thoughts on who these sessions work best for:

Great For:

• Couples without children
• Maternity Sessions with a First Baby
• Families with one not-yet-mobile child
• Parents with all children out of the toddler stage
• Families who describe their children as ‘outgoing’ and ‘good listeners’ (don’t worry, I don’t describe my own children this way!)

Not Great For:

• Families with multiple children under the age of 4
• Parents who would describe their child as ‘shy’, ‘slow to warm up’, ‘very active’
• Clients looking for a very diverse gallery of combinations, backdrops, and poses

XO- Lyndsay