Hi! I am so excited to meet you :) In this guide I'm going to give you as much information as possible on what you can do to prepare for the mini shoot.
A mini session is a quick 20-25 minute shoot. It is a perfect, cost effective way to capture some lovely photos of you and your family. Because it is so quick we will stay in one location and focus on the important bits; all of you together as a family and the children together.
What to wear
The session will be based on a heath surrounded by heather, fir trees and autumnal silver birches. When choosing your outfits I would make sure that the clothes matches the setting. Think wooly cardigans, knits and chunky boots. Texture adds something special to photos so mixing different fabrics look lovely.
Colours - Think warm muted tones, beige, khaki greens, soft mustards, rusty browns, forest greens, deep warm reds and cream. Minimise black, as it can feel be too dark and contrasty and please avoid stark white as it tends to feel to harsh.
Coordinate - but avoid "matchy matchy"
Tips of how to choose your outfits
- Choose mums outfit first, something that you feel beautiful and comfortable in. We will be playing around a lot and I want you to have fun and concentrate on loving on your kids rather than worrying about pulling up your trousers :) Flowing skirts or dresses are lovely - even in the colder months when you can wear them with boots and and a cardigan.
- Add a pattern, maximum two. This can be on your own outfit or any other family member.
- Pull colours from the pattern to coordinate the rest of the families outfits.
- Accessorise and textures. Headbands, hats, bracelets or scarves, cardigans. They all add to the final outcome and we can add and remove them as we go.
Layers, textures and accessories will help the outfits come together beautifully
If you feel unsure about what to wear, please take a picture of the outfits (lay them on a bed) and send me pictures on Whats app, I am always happy to give advice.
Arrive early!
Please plan on arriving 10-15 minutes early to your session to give yourself and your family plenty of time to settle in, walk to the meeting area and deal with any last-minute issues that may arise.
The sessions are booked back to back so it is important that you arrive early, any delay will eat in to your time in front of the camera. Please note that due to the nature of mini sessions, time cannot be made up and refunds will not be given for late arrivals.
A good idea is to familiarize yourself with the location in your GPS to know the general travel time the day before your session. Please let me know if you have any questions about the meeting point.
Come prepared
As this is a quick session and it can be strange to meet a new face with a big camera it might be helpful to bring a comforter or the kids favourite toy. Please keep these in a bag and only bring out if necessary - otherwise little Bunny might join in for the full session.
Bribes- I am a huge believer in bribes :) Feel free to bring a snack or maybe even a lollipop or similar as a reward for once we've finished.
I will bring a blanket as we will be doing some sitting down shots, if you prefer to bring your own blanket please feel free to do so.
During the session
Don't look at this as a photoshoot. See it as a few minutes of interrupted time together with your favourite people. For these 25 minutes it is all about you guys - and my goal is to capture the love and connection between you.
I will guide you and your family through the whole shoot, so please do not worry about what to do or where to stand. We will do a few posed photos to start with and then move on to silly games where my aim is to just capture the essence of the kids.
When taking pictures of just the child/children I might ask you as parents to take a step back, this depends on the age and personality of the child. The reason for this is that I want the children to focus on me, or more importantly - my camera - (I will still need your help by being the reflector holder, wardrobe fixer or perhaps nose wiper.)
Please do not worry if you feel that the kids are misbehaving. Kids will be kids. I know it can be stressful walking in to a session like this. But I promise you, the more relaxed you are, the more relaxed they will be, so try to go with the flow and let me interact with the kids.
A few helpful tips
- Don't look at me unless I tell you so. This might sound strange but most of my favourite images are when you look at each other. I will start with some posed photos to make sure I've got the "grandma"-shoot, but my goal with the session is always to capture the love between you all and the personalities of the little ones. And this usually happens when you concentrate on each other.
- Get close, as close to each other as you can. I don't want to see any space between you guys and will probably ask you to squish together even closer. Hold hands with each other, cuddle, hug, put hands around each others waits or on shoulder. All of these interactions show the love between you.
- Relax and go with the flow. The more relaxed you are the more it will rub off on your kids, they can feel tension and might even play up to it. When they see you happy and relaxed they will mirror you.
Lastly..
Dads, it will be over before you know it. Moms, don’t worry. You look beautiful. I can not wait to help capture memories to last a lifetime for you and your family.
I hope this guide has helped, if you have any questions at all please give me a call. Looking forward to meeting you and your family!
Best wishes,
Åsa x