in webster’s dictionary, a ‘mini session’ is described as: “a hectic day wherein a photographer tries to squeeze as many families into one day, while getting great photos for the clients and keeping themselves from going over unhealthy levels of blood pressure…” okay… my dictionary may be out-of-date, granted. but, to some photographers, the words “mini session” are like garlic to dracula: something that sounds appetizing at first, if sprinkled the correct way on a pasta dish, but really, it just makes you want to stay far, far away from it.
enter gillian, from the write invite in ladera ranch. gillian had organized one of these with another photographer last year and after its success, she wanted to give it another go. she masterminded everything and we got the families to come out to the montage resort, in laguna beach, for a day full of shooting. these shoots can be extremely tricky. and that is not a way for me to pat myself on the back at all… it just is. and my hats are off to photographers who do mini sessions. seriously. this was my first ever and it is … well… let’s allow the pictures to speak… because a picture says ______ words, right?
** by the way, i did not include any of the group family photos in this post… just so you know. those got shot. just not posted in the blog. carry on…. **
my first family of the day… soaking in the rising sun…
when we headed back up to the grassy area, i took a few shots of the parents alone. at that time, their little boy became best friends with my assistant. having a great time with her allowed for some cute shots of him in his element.
turning the lemons of wet grass into some photographic lemonade:
family number two had some amazing energy going on between them. when they started to just sort of “be”, the documenting of their love was elementary.
i really got a kick out of what happened after we did a lot of the “set” shots of some of the families. allowing the parents to just soak in one another for even a few minutes… almost taking their second set of engagement photos :) but first, the wee ones:
we took this next family of five to a different area of the beach, where we were sandwiched by wedding party photos taking place. the montage can get pretty busy with photo-taking on weekends. so we stuck to our little rockhaven and it worked out quite well for them.
their youngest girl was such a natural in front of the camera and just that perfect amount of not being shy about it. too cute.
the second to last family for the day was so fun. kids yelling out “lollipop!!!” instead of “cheese” cracked me up every time.
i wish i could find some kind of quote that talked about the love between siblings being one of the simplest yet most rewarding things on the planet. but, i guess i will have to make one up myself.
the last family of the day… a fantastic finishing point to the day. and, if i can just say… i have been telling parents this like crazy of late. bribery is not illegal in the state of california. sure, you cannot put your kids to work under a certain age. i will give you that. but you can still bribe them. do it. whether it is dessert after your photo shoot, a toy of some sort, an extra hour on their PSP… whatever you have to do. it works fantastically. all i will say is, this little boy kept saying “my car? my car?” and i should have realized a toy car was waiting for him pending a good performance for the photographer man. haha.
also… swinging and throwing kids into the air always brings some good smiles…
“how old are you?”
the final photo of the day:
a successful day… and day 2 is coming up next month. if you want in and want details, drop me a line.
oh… and there was a sizable break in the day to some flu-induced cancellations … how could i not shoot one of my two assistants?
thanks to both my assistants for their help! and thanks to all of the families for being so great and ready to shoot. i had a good time and cannot wait to do this again next month.
by Tim
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