Paris, Detroit: Spring Mini Photo Sessions

I love doing mini photography sessions in the spring to kick off the….much waited for, season of good weather. Here in Michigan it always takes forever to actually get warm out, so I waited until the first week of May to hold these mini sessions.

To be honest, I got the idea of a Parisian-themed photoshoot from a Utah-Based photographer Marina Williams. I was inspired by her Salt Lake City interpretation and wanted to do something similar. It just so happens that Detroit was originally colonized by the French, so all the more reason to do a Parisian-themed photoshoot here!

We shot outside the Detroit Institute of Art, which is known for its beautiful grounds and architecture. On any given day you can find at least a couple of wedding photographers there working with clients on the giant white marble steps. I had 8 people sign up for these mini sessions and got a variety of requests, from family photos to headshots. Here are some of my favorite photos from the Paris, Detroit mini sessions below.

Skip down towards the end for more info on how I organize mini sessions if you are a curious photographer!

Paris, Detroit

ORGANIZING THE MINI SESSIONS

I held these Michigan Spring photo mini sessions over two days, and I am so lucky that it did not rain on either one! I decided to have one day be a Monday as the Detroit Institute of Art is closed so there is less commotion. I had the second day be on a Sunday as I knew more people would have weekend availability. I ended up getting 4 people on each day.

I gave each session 20 minutes with a 10-minute break in between. This works the best for me and allows for a good amount of people without feeling too stressed. I have tried 10-minute mini sessions in the past and felt like it was a bit crazy, especially if anyone arrives late. One person did arrive late to her mini session and she only got about 5 minutes of shooting time. It’s important to tell your clients, (in the welcome email after booking and in the contract that they sign), how strict the time will be and how if they are late they will have a shorter session and possibly fewer photos.

Each session included 7 edited photos and the option to upgrade for more photos.

For the first time ever…I actually got really organized way before launching these mini sessions. I started by creating the offer on paper and then making templates in Honey Book, (which I have found to be the easiest and fasted CRM to set up). I wrote out the proposal template for these mini sessions which included the invoice and contract. I also wrote out 2 email templates; one to accompany the proposal and one to send out thanking the client for booking. I also made a PDF guide on canva with photos of the concept & location, a map, parking info, and other tips for clients to keep in mind. I attached this PDF to the thank you for booking email.

Having this all ready to go before even telling people about the mini sessions was really helpful! In the past, I would start doing this once I had people express interest and then it would get really stressful and time-consuming. Sometimes I would get back to people too late and they would not be interested any longer.

I also started posting about the concept in my stories 2-3 weeks before launching, just to gain interest and momentum. I went to the DIA with my friend and fellow creative Amber Maeda to practice taking photos and see what was possible. I then had a bunch of photos to promote the sessions with on social media as well as photos to put in the PDF guide.

Here are the photos of myself and Amber, taken in April.