Studio Christmas Mini-Sessions 2020: Nestled in Bed

Ottawa-Christmas-Mini-Session-Stephanie-Beach-Photography

I think we can all agree that 2020 was a hard year for pretty much everyone. And whether you struggled with the personal side of your life, or the work/business side of your life (or both), I think we all deserve some extra hugs, kindness, and joy to start off the last month of this unprecedented (who else has come to hate this word?!) year.

So, with all that said, who wants to look at some freaking adorable families making some holiday magic during their Christmas Mini-Sessions!?

This was actually the first year I have run Christmas minis in the studio before as I simply ran out of time to put it all together properly last year, so I suppose the pandemic helped with that in a way. And although I would change a couple things about the sessions (mostly having to do with the time between sessions, etc.) I absolutely loved the shoots themselves and had a super fun time with all of the families who took part!

If you are still wanting to squeeze in a Christmas family session definitely reach out as I do have a tiny bit of availability left for seasonal lifestyle sessions – and we can even rush the editing side of things to make sure you get them in time for the holidays.

Since we did things indoors, it meant I had to split the sessions up a fair bit to allow for proper cleaning and sanitizing between each and every family who came through the doors. This not only meant the time to actually clean everything, but get it all dry again too. So sadly, I wasn’t able to have as many families in as I would have liked, but it also meant I got to work with my absolute favs each and every day of the minis, and that is a pretty wonderful thing if I say so myself!

Our theme this year was Nestled in Bed so some families came in their PJs with their favourite Christmas stories ready to cuddle and play in our super comfy, red and white set. I wanted to keep things fairly simple in terms of the décor so that the focus remained on our families themselves, and also so the kiddos wouldn’t feel like they couldn’t touch anything, haha!

I think my favourite prompt was getting the kiddos to jump on the bed. And honestly, I think it may have been their favourite too! There was a varied response when it came to kids’ reactions to me telling them to jump. Everything from eagerness and excitement (possibly trying to get it done before I changed my mind, haha), to double checks with their parents to confirm that this crazy lady wasn’t going to get them in trouble. But no matter the reaction, it always ended in lots of happy smiles and laughter.

I loved these sessions so much, I am already planning more minis for next year, and of course planning out the ones specifically for Christmas! I have so many ideas running through my head and I can’t wait to get caught up on all my 2020 editing so I can really spend some time sifting through everything to figure out the best themes. If you have any ideas yourself, shoot me a message and let me know!

And of course, I have to end with a couple shots from our own session. Kaylee was so incredibly good throughout these mini-session days. She loved getting to meet all the little kiddos as she just loves little people, but she did hate that she didn’t get full access to her house for a couple weekends. I think the hardest part was that she seemed super one confused as she really didn’t understand what all the joyous laughter was about – or more importantly why she couldn’t be a part of it. Sorry puppers!