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Although you can offer mini-sessions 12 months of the year , the holiday season is an especially profitable time for fun, themed mini-sessions. Many people like to take family photos or photos of their children around the holidays, whether it’s for holiday cards or treasured keepsakes.

Capitalize on this demand with mini-sessions that are affordable, brief, and beautiful, and you’ll see your holiday bookings soar.

What Are Mini-Sessions?

As the name suggests, mini-sessions are a shorter version of a regular photoshoot. Sessions run about 10-20 minutes in length. Clients receive fewer final images at a more affordable rate. There are a few more things that make mini-sessions different from a regular shoot.

With minis, you book shoots back-to-back, completing several sessions on one day in one location. Although mini-sessions are lower priced than full sessions, this method still allows you to earn a significant amount of money in just a few hours. Perfect for the holidays when you and your clients are short on time.

Once you’ve decided which mini-session(s) you’ll offer, promote them on your website and social media, and ask your friends and family to spread the word too. Create a Facebook event for your limited edition offer and send emails to your previous clients (sample subject line: ‘Tis the season for holiday mini-sessions!). For more ideas on how to book out your mini-sessions check out our post on how to get clients here.

Include sample images to show clients what they can expect from the session (make sure to use your own images as well as show people in the set up you have!)

 If you see people on your local Facebook groups inquiring about holiday shoots, link them to your offer!

P.S. Have you checked out Picsello’s cient booking feature yet? It is the perfect tool for creating, sharing, and booking mini-sessions- they practically book themselves- check out client booking right here!

Now, let’s check out some inspiration and ideas for your holiday mini-sessions!

Ideas for Holiday Mini-Sessions

Holiday mini-sessions can take place either outdoors or indoors with props or backdrops. Below, we’ve shared some backdrops we love from Intuition, along with some suggestions for outdoor holiday mini photoshoots.

Indoor Christmas Photo shoot Ideas

  • Posing by wrapped presents
  • Reading Christmas books/play tent
  • Holiday PJ’s (optional milk and cookies)
  • Winter PJ’s 
  • By the Christmas tree
  • Tinsel
  • Toy phone/calling Santa
  • Winter wonderland/tent
  • Red/green backdrops (for Christmas)
  • Blue/white backdrops (for Hannukah)
  • Menorah session (for Hanukkah)
  • Blue and white holiday decorations (for Hanukkah)

Outdoor Holiday Photoshoot Ideas

  • Outdoor Christmas set-up
  • Red truck
  • Tree farm
  • Red wagon
  • Red and white blanket and pillows 
  • Large holiday wreath
  • Snow minis (e.g., building a snowman, making snow angels, sledding, snowball fight)

Pro Tip

For amazing holiday backdrops check out Intuition Backdrops!

Mini-sessions Make Perfect Holiday Photo Cards

Everyone loves a good holiday family photocard. So many people book mini-sessions so they can get a beautiful image to send out to family and friends during the holiday season. Include some messaging about cards in your holiday mini-session marketing to get clients thinking about that if they are not already. 

P.S. Did you know that Picsello now offers beautiful, customizable holiday cards that clients can customize and order directly from your Picsello gallery? The card builder is so fun and easy to use, they sell themselves (and like all of our gallery products you keep 100 % of those profits!). If you haven’t already- check them out!

Wrapping Up

If you can’t decide which sessions to offer, ask your existing clients to vote on which session they want you to offer. You can even share images from past shoots. This is a great way to up your engagement, give clients what they want, and score a ton of holiday mini-session bookings!

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If you aren’t using Picsello to manage your photography business yet, you can sign up for a free 14 day trial right here (no credit card required!). AND if you sign up now you can offer amazing, easy to design holiday cards to your clients just in time for the holiday season!

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