So you’ve booked a Fall Mini! These super popular sessions have a ton of benefits—the main being how quick and easy they are. But here’s the deal… how easy these are is dependent on a few factors. Check out the 8 most important tips for having a successful Mini Session below!

Get Kiddos Excited About Your Session

My first piece of advice is to get your kids excited about your upcoming Fall Mini Session. You can do this by saying things like, “We get to go to a park, have fun, and get our photo taken by a nice lady!”

Framing this as a positive, fun experience can work a lot better than the “you’d better behave” route. This can help make for natural smiles and an all-around good experience for everyone involved!

Plan Ahead

Prep Outfits in Advance

There are a few things you can do ahead of time to have a better chance of a great session! One of these things is making sure your outfits are all picked out ahead of time. You can check out my updated Family Style Guide for tips on fit, patterns, colors, etc.!

Trying to pull a cohesive mix of clothes together last minute is a recipe for stress. Leave plenty of time for getting ready and make sure you have everything ironed and ready to go at least a day in advance. Wrinkles in clothes show up weirdly easily in a photograph, so please do make sure to iron or steam!

Get Unenthused Individuals on board

Here’s another incredibly important tip—have someone in your family who isn’t stoked about this upcoming session (I’m looking at you, dads)? Please ask them to cheerfully participate! It may not be their first choice in activity for a weekend, but it’s one that is going to bring joy for many years to come.

A reluctant individual shows up in photos a lot more than you might realize. Fifteen minutes is less than an episode of Arrested Development… it’s truly so easy to choose to enjoy this time.

Make Sure Everyone Is Well-fed and Rested

The two main factors that can make a session go awry tend to be how hungry and/or how tired a kiddo is during the session. Once a child feels either of these things, it can be impossible to cheer them up.

Please make sure no naps are skipped and snacks are had beforehand! But make sure these are stain-free snacks so nothing shows up on clothes or teeth in your images.

Since Mini Sessions are only 15 minutes long, there isn’t time for snacks during sessions.

Go About Your Day Normally

I often hear parents say, “It’s so weird, they wouldn’t nap today,” which often results in a cranky kiddo during their session. The extra energy in the home preparing for a session can cause a child’s routine to feel out-of-whack (thus causing too much excitement to take their normal nap).

As mentioned earlier, it’s super important to make sure kids are well-rested for their session so we have the best chance at joyful, natural moments to capture.

That’s why it’s so important to stay calm and keep your day as close to normal as possible. I will always be amazed by how easily kiddos pick up on stress and feel it themselves!

Arrive Early

A huge benefit of Mini Sessions can also make them a little tricky. Timing! Since Mini Sessions are so quick (and back-to-back), it’s crucial to arrive early for these. I am unable to shoot past your designated time slot, so arriving on time is the only way to make sure you get a full 15 minute session.

If you are even 5 minutes late, there won’t be enough time for your session and it will have to be forfeited. This is the absolute last thing I want!

Arriving early ensures time for parking and lets nerves calm a bit before a session begins. I recommend arriving 10-15 minutes ahead of time. Just please don’t head to the meeting spot until it’s your time—my goal is to make sure no family has an audience for these.

Relax and Enjoy Yourself

Try to Avoid Stress

Guess what? If you only remember one thing from this list, it should be this—relax and enjoy your session! As I mentioned before, stress can be easily transferred to children making it incredibly tough to capture happy moments. Do yourself and your family a favor and try to really enjoy this time with your favorite people!

Create Natural Moments of Connection

Don’t be afraid to lift your child in the air, tickle them, squeeze them tight, or kiss your partner. The more relaxed you feel, the more these moments of connection will come naturally. You’ll be amazed at how that genuineness comes across in your photos!

I promise we’ll get a few great photos where everyone is looking at the camera, but my main goal is to try to capture those little heartfelt, joyful details that you never want to forget.

Don’t Force Smiles

I know it can be so easy to pull out the, “Cheese!” behind my camera. It’s what we were taught to say our whole lives! I implore you to try to resist this—begging for smiles tends to cause stress in children and typically only causes strained smiles. That’s not what we’re going for here!

Feel free to be goofy behind the camera and do things you know will cause genuine giggles for your kiddos. But I also recommend stepping back for a few and letting me naturally interact with your child. This often brings out their little personalities in a beautiful way!

Remember That Kids WILL Be Kids

As much as we might want children to snuggle you and bust out their biggest smiles during your session, it’s important to remember that kids will be kids. They will run away and do that little back arch toddler wriggle right out of your arms. They might even cry. And guess what? That’s okay!

Running photos are beautiful and snuggling photos if they’re upset are also beautiful. We will pivot and we WILL get some great photos no matter what.

Remember, I’ve been doing this for 10 years—I’ve seen it all. Your child will not be the first one to run away you all while trying to take a group shot. Wrangling and joyfully picking them up or tickling them can make for such fun photos! If they want to move, we’ll try to do more active photos.

As you’ll see from above, the main takeaway from this list is that it’s important to relax no matter what kind of mood your child is in. Stress will only enhance an already bad mood, so try to go with the flow as much as possible!

With these tips in tow, you should be fully equipped to have a great Spring or Fall Mini Session! Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions and don’t forget to enjoy this :) Didn’t get to book a Fall Mini this year? Be sure to get on my email list to make sure you ensure a spot next year.

8 Crucial Tips for Your Mini Session