This post was last updated on June 27, 2024.
In recent years, it has become an industry trend for professional photographers to choose mini sessions as a unique and profitable business model. Mini session photography is shorter in duration, which maximizes your income while also saving time in your clients’ busy schedule! During the busiest photography season of the year, mini sessions offer a great way to fill in calendar gaps that normally would be too short for bigger shoots. If you’re planning to start your mini session photography business, this article will help provide all the information that you need for starting your first mini session.
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What is Mini Session Photography?
In contrast to traditional photo sessions, mini sessions are typically affordable and shorter in duration. Also, they offer fewer location options, and fewer images in the final delivery to your clients. Mini sessions usually last between 15 and 40 minutes, and this time constraint increases efficiency by allowing you to schedule multiple mini shoots in a single day.
What Types of Mini Sessions Can You Choose From?
Mini sessions usually have a specific theme. Holiday seasons or other special times of the year are very suitable for such photo shoots. But regardless of whether it’s holiday, senior, portrait, or even pet photography, you can apply the mini session approach.
Holiday Mini Sessions
Whether it’s Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Halloween, any holiday event can be a popular theme for a mini session. If your clients choose to have mini sessions at Christmas, you can set up a scene where the family is gathered around a fire and enjoying hot chocolate. Alternatively, you can let them decorate a Christmas tree or exchange gifts with each other while capturing the moment with your camera.
Many couples decide to shoot mini sessions on Valentine’s Day and you can capture them in intimate poses. Encourage them to loosen up with some hugging, kissing, and gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. Authentic moments like this always help with making stunning photos.
Halloween is another major holiday for children and young people. As we know it’s all about creating fantasies by dressing up as ghosts, clowns, witches, and other fun outfits. You could design a room with things like candy and pumpkins, or use crystal balls and other magical items to create a fantasy setting.
Senior Mini Sessions
Many students will book senior mini sessions throughout the school year or graduation season, and the locations are usually their high schools and colleges. You can use props like graduation caps, books, and a diploma to create a celebration atmosphere. The photos will undoubtedly become one of their unforgettable memories.
Portrait Mini Sessions
Many people will have a portrait mini session in the form of a family photo shoot, which will be a cherished gift for all the family members who attend. They typically choose to have the photo shoot in a quiet and cozy studio, which can be for a single individual, a combination of parents, children or the entire family. To make your clients feel more at ease during the session, you can encourage them to act naturally like they would at any regular family gathering. Relaxed casual setups make for the most authentic looking photos.
Pets Mini Sessions
We all know that pets play a vital role in our lives. Having pets mini sessions can be a fun and entertaining way to capture memories with our furry friends. You can set up a cute indoor or outdoor scene for your clients with pets’ favorite toys and snacks.
How to Start Your Mini Session Photography Business?
Set Your Price
The pricing of your mini sessions will usually be lower than the pricing of your regular photography sessions, making them an attractive option for clients who want professional photography services at a more affordable price. Pricing depends on a number of factors including venue rental, duration, props, equipment and software you use on the job.
So how do you set the price of your mini sessions? Generally speaking, when you figure out how much it costs you to shoot each mini session, multiply that by your profit margin and that’s your pricing. If you follow the standard 35% cost of goods model, which states that our cost of goods should be 35% of revenue, your profit margin will be 2.85. For example, if the cost of each mini session is $50, then your price will be $50 × 2.85 = $142.50.
If you want to increase the price of your mini sessions, you can also include digital downloads and print products in your mini sessions shooting packages in addition to the shooting services. Clients can purchase albums, wall art, and other things created from their images by visiting your online store once you share the photos with them through an online photo gallery. For more information on earning second-money, check out this blog: 5 Tips for earning second-money with an online photo gallery.
Apart from calculating the pricing yourself, you can also research the current prices of mini sessions in your local area. This will help you understand the market demand and how much clients are willing to pay for a mini session.
Determine Your Date and Duration
Confirm the date of the shoot with your client in advance so that you can organize your preparations later and ensure that it won’t clash with your other shoots. To prevent unforeseen circumstances, make sure you include cancellation and rescheduling policies in your contract. Since we are unable to stop the unexpected, these policies can protect both you and your clients.
As for duration, each session lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, including a few minutes for setup. Shorter mini sessions are a good option if you want to shoot as many photos as possible in a day and maximize your income. However, if your clients need more preparation time to relax and get into the mood for the shoot, you can extend the duration to 30 to 40 minutes. This will ensure a more comfortable experience.
Marketing Your Mini Session Photography Business
1. Add Pop-ups to Your Website
It’s a good idea to promote your mini sessions service on your personal website. Many potential clients may visit your website every day, so adding a pop-up window with promotional content on your website will help you grow your photography business. Some of your clients may be interested in your service and contact you via the information provided on your website.
2. Send Email to Your Clients
When you start your mini sessions photography business, you can send an email to your email list about your new service. Loyal fans and regular clients will be delighted to book your mini sessions. Furthermore, sending out an email is very significant since there could be potential clients who are thinking about booking your new service.
3. Publish Social Media Posts
You can utilize social media platforms to promote your photography business, just like many other professional photographers do. Your mini sessions can also be promoted through Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Create a video and post it on TikTok or Instagram Reels with a description of the service you will offer. If you want a wider audience to know about your mini sessions service, you can also try posting it in local Facebook groups to boost your exposure.
In summary, mini sessions are highly popular in the photography industry because of their ability to provide a time-saving, convenient, and creative photography experience. They are also expected to be a significant part of the industry for a long time to come. Whether you are capturing portraits or holiday photography, mini sessions can provide your clients with both high-quality photography service and stunning photos.
About Zno Gallery™
Zno Gallery™ is a cloud-based online photo gallery for professional photographers to showcase, share, and sell their images or products with 0% commission. To make your photography business even more profitable, sign up for a free account and start your mini session photography business right now!
