Mini Sessions

Sunflower Fields Minis

Sunflower fields can make for a beautiful setting for your family portraits. The colors are vibrant, and the landscape looks like something from a movie. We all decorate our homes, so why not decorate with the ones we love the most? I can’t think of anything more beautiful than a canvas of towering sunflowers surrounding you and your loved ones as you laugh in the middle of the field. For many years, your loved ones will see the canvas hanging in your home and remember the fun you and your family had in the summer of 2022.

Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, NC, is where we will be hosting our 2022 Sunflower Mini Sessions! Mid-May of this year, the park planted 198,000 seeds and projected the flowers to bloom mid to late July. Booking for the JWP Sunflower Sessions has already started. There is limited availability from July 21-24, but if dates need to be shifted due to the bloom, you will be notified asap. If you cannot make your Sunflower Mini Session due to early or late-blooming, you can use your deposit for a Fall Mini Session.

I’m often asked for any portrait session, “what should we wear?” I always follow up by asking what color we are the most confident and comfortable in, and we work from there. For example, since you will be in a sunflower field, I would avoid wearing flowers and the colors orange and yellow. A shirt with patterns like flowers will cause you to blend into the area instead of standing out. The same idea goes for wearing orange or yellow. Rather, wear a contrasting color such as royal blue or deep purple.

Family Fall Minis

One of my favorite parts about living in North Carolina is the changing seasons. Early October, cool mornings start to creep upon us. It’s always a welcomed change because we know the leaves will begin to change soon. The Raleigh area has many great locations to host a Family Fall Mini Session.

The two most beautiful things about booking a Fall Mini are the brevity of the session and the amount of color contrast you can capture in the portraits. The dads love the short mini sessions because “it’s not as painful as I thought it would be.” says Andy Kaiser. It always makes my heart happy when the men are relieved that the session is over and not as tricky as expected. Fall is one of the trendiest times to book a session because the colors are unique. So when it comes time to choose what to wear, be sure to wear compliment colors of yellow, red, and orange. Something to avoid is a graphic shirt. The busyness of a graphic shirt or a busy pattern will take away from the quality of the image. In simple terms, it will not look right! Remember, you and your loved ones are the models, so accessorize! You can wear watches, rings, necklaces, or maybe even a trendy hat.

Past Fall Minis’ locations include Historic Oak View Park and Joyner Park. Mid-late October is when we start to see the color of the tree’s peak. This year we are anticipating the JWP Family Fall Mini Sessions to take place on October 15. You can expect the registration to begin in August. So keep checking social media for updates!

Holiday Red Truck Minis

The Famous 51 first appeared with a JWP mini session in 2021. This restored red Chevy makes stunning and unique holiday images perfect for your holiday cards. This 1951 Chevrolet 3100 is fully restored and running. Sean Brannan of Winston Salem, NC, received this beauty as a gift back in 2009 and restored it to its original beauty. Having this vintage red truck as the centerpiece for your holiday family photos will be something you can cherish for many years. This classic Chevy brings back many memories for some families. One little boy came to the mini session with a red toy truck. His mom told me that a red toy truck in the holiday photos had been a tradition going back for generations. So this kid sat proudly in the back of The Famous 51, showing off his red truck.

Soon you can expect a Christmas in July special! From then on, you can register anytime for October 29, 2022. Spots are limited to one day, and they will sell out quickly. So be sure to grab yours while you can.

The Red Truck Minis are more than just a photo session. It’s a fun and festive experience to kick off the holiday season! You can choose to be festive with the truck by wearing Christmas pajamas, or you could keep it simple with jeans or a dress. Whatever you decide to wear, remember you will be climbing into the back of the truck. Contrasting colors such as black, sand, creamy-white, blue, or grey would be the perfect colors for your session.

Urban Settings

Urban Settings for family portraits are rising as portraits on the farm head out the door. This trendy setting allows the photographer to use different textures or even a skyline as your backdrop. This is the opposite of what we have seen in the past few years. Because we are hosting our session in an urban setting, there are more opportunities to play around and have fun with artsy things like “leading lines” and “framing” to give you canvas-worthy portraits. These are the type of portraits that will become the centerpiece of your home. Because it’s something unique that you will post on social media, all eyes will be drawn to it as it pops on social media’s newsfeed. So be sure to send them my way when they start to rave about how great you’ll look.

Your family will want to coordinate clothing options, but please do not wear the same pants and same style/color shirts. Choose colors that compliment each other. With Urban settings, you can choose any color scheme; however, it’s always a great idea to ensure your outfit style matches your setting. In short, choose colors and a style that compliments each other and the location. If you need another eye feel free to reach out via email.

The best time to schedule your Urban Setting portrait session is about an hour before sunset. This will allow the sun to cast a golden color, creating the beautiful images you are dreaming of.

Gender Reveal

Gender Reveal sessions are on the rise! Many expecting couples will announce the baby’s gender by hosting a party or, even better, by planning a unique way to announce it during their portrait session. In addition, many couples are eager to capture this exciting time to share it with their friends and family through social media.

The beauty of a Gender Reveal Session is that you can capture the whole emotion with a single click of the camera. How you feel in that moment will be captured, whether joy or pure panic, when you find out you have baby girl number five on the way. You can one day show your daughter her daddy’s response when he finds out he is having a sweet baby girl.

The best time to plan your Gender Reveal Session is after your 16-week ultrasound scan. You can have the doctor place the baby’s gender in an envelope so you can hand it to the one in charge of the announcement. Will it be a boy or girl?

Many love to dress according to what they think the baby will be. A sky blue (ahem, Carolina Tar Heel blue) for a boy or a pale pink for a baby girl. If you choose to go this route, don’t forget to accessorize! Spice your wardrobe up with a lovely necklace, bracelet, or watch. Also, men especially, please pay attention to what shoes you are wearing. Instead of tennis shoes, opt for a chukka boot or a pair of classic Sperry’s.

If you’re searching for a mini session photographer in the Raleigh area, feel free to check out our mini session gallery or contact me directly.