Christmas Mini Tips - Wild Photography

Hello!! Here are some helpful tips for Christmas Mini Sessions to make sure they go as smoothly as possible and help you with your planning.

I will be sending over a quick questionnaire to have you fill out so I know your priority and who all will be photographed that day.

All Christmas Mini Sessions this year are going to be held in the studio with two main sets to choose from and a third child only holiday letter to Santa Set.

Set 1: Christmas PJ Set

This is an annual tradition and many families come year after year in their adorable matching PJ's to get the perfect Christmas Card photo with the kids or your whole family if you can convince Dad to put on the PJ's!! :)

What to wear?

This one is easy--- Matching or coordinating Christmas Pajamas!! This has gotten way easier to do over the years as stores now carry PJ's in the whole family size. Target, Kohl's, Von Maur, Hanna Anderson, Pottery Barn -- are all great places to find sizes for everyone. I keep a variety of Christmas colors in the studio to quickly swap out pillows or wreaths to coordinate with your choice. Green/Red/White/Tan/Black are all great color choices to coordinate with the bed set up.

Set 2: Christmas Sophisticated

This is a new set and is extremely versatile -- whether you want to dress in your holiday best or holiday casual (even ugly Christmas Sweaters would work). The set includes a black panel wall and a neutral decorated Christmas tree with a black/gold (subtle) diamond floor.

What to wear?

You can go a lot of directions with this set.

1. Christmas Red/Green -- whether it's sweaters or dresses and suit coats -- these always look perfect for Christmas and will coordinate great! Several Examples below.

2. Sparkly!! -- A pop of gold/silver/rose gold steps any Christmas outfit up a notch, so those colors in your outfits will look amazing. Accents on the tree will have some sparkle as well so that will pull it all together. (The Black & Gold inspiration below is one of my favorites!!)

3. Holiday Neutral -- Go with mainly light colors like cream/tan and add a few pops of color like the example below! The backdrop is black, so the light pops of color in clothing will look perfect.

4. Holiday Plaid -- a sweet Christmas-y plaid dress with colors pulled from that dress for everyone else.

5. Go Quirky -- Ugly Christmas sweaters, dress up like reindeer, anything goes.

Want help? Text me or message me on Facebook with your outfit idea and I'll help you pull it together!

Some example outfits are below or you can search on Pinterest for Christmas Family Photo Outfit Inspiration and endless options will come up for you to pull inspiration from!

Set 3: KIDS ONLY (Letters to Santa Set)

I've had this set-up in the studio before and it's always adorable. You can get a few images in this set-up in addition to the bed set-up for a little variety.

What to wear?

The colors in this set are pops of cream & red. The example below is on a dark wood, but this year, it will be set-up with an off-white wood and I'll have a few different things to give it a holiday touch including a super cute letter to Santa typewriter.

A few tips to make your session go the best!! I'm working in a limited time frame so it’s important to plan ahead.

Arrive early! Please arrive a little before your session time so you are ready to shoot AT your scheduled time (meaning having your kids in their clothing, hair fixed, face wiped, etc) Sessions will be booked back to back so if you are late, you will only have the remaining time to complete your session. This is most important! Shooting time will be 20 minutes. If you have any questions, please let me know beforehand.

Have a Game Plan: Due to the time restrictions on these minis I will first focus on a particular shot – family shots, individuals of two children or less, sibling shots, etc. If we have time after we have gotten that shot, we will try for others so be prepared to tell me on that day which shots you prefer most. Remember that these sessions only yield 20-25 images so too many poses means fewer of each one to choose from.

When you arrive: I will likely be working with the client booked before you when you arrive. Please do not disrupt that session or distract the children being photographed so I can ensure I will have the full 20 minutes to work with each family. You can stay in your vehicle until you see the family before you leave. If we end early, I'll come outside to wave you in!

Prepping your younger kids: Tell kids that they are going to play and have fun while they have their pictures taken but don’t spend too much time with rules or guidelines or what to expect in the days before. You don’t even need to tell them to smile big for me (if they smile on demand it will be a weird smile!) it will be better if I get a genuine laugh on my own. If you know that your kiddos aren’t great in front of the camera or with meeting new people, bring along a few tricks that may help. This could be a toy that I can hold to get their attention, a treat to encourage them to smile (nothing messy or that takes too long to chew - Smarties, Puffs, or Marshmallows are good options (Avoid gummies or any chocolate!), or if you have an idea of a game we can play to keep them interested that they love at home, that can help too. Sometimes it helps if mom and dad are directly behind me (jumping or being silly), to get the kids to look at the camera... just don't veer too far to the side or they won't be looking at the camera... right by my ear is great... don't worry about being in my way! There really isn’t much “warm up” time with mini sessions so I jump RIGHT in.

Feed your kids before the session (lots of protein and little sugar) and they shouldn’t need to eat during the time we are together.

Don't Stress! Mini Sessions are so much fun and really the point is for them to be as little stress on you as possible. So my best advice for you is to think of it as a fun activity for you and your family and don’t stress over it. I’m there to capture you having fun and create memories of a beautiful day. This isn’t the type of session to plan for outfit changes or hundreds of combinations of portraits or ideas from Pinterest. This is the type of session where we get a bunch of fun candid shots. This is the type of session where we have fun and enjoy the day. I love these so much for this reason!
Keep in mind that mini sessions only give us 20 minutes of time together. If your child takes a while to warm up to new people a mini session may not be ideal for your family.

I hope these tips are helpful, but if you still have questions, feel free to email me at wildphoto4@gmail.com for more information.