Spring Minis Guide 2025

The general flow of my mini sessions include photographing everyone together at the start to make sure we capture those updated family portraits, then moving on to some play time together. I have games and prompts lined up to capture some more candid moments. If there are “must capture” shots, or unique things about your family that you’d like documented, let me know ahead of time and I’ll do my best to make it happen!

The goal of this session is to capture your family as it is, chaos and all. Whether you have one little baby or five teenagers, we want to make sure that everyone is represented in who they are! Parents, please do not stress out if your baby, child, or teenager is not behaving how you had imagined for the shoot. I have three kids of my own (11, 9, and 3) and can handle the tantrums and running around like crazy! I’m a pediatric nurse in my day job, I’ve won kids over for a lot more difficult things than photos! I work around the kids and their temperaments instead of trying to get them to work for me. For this shoot, the kids are in charge!

Location


Sessions will be held in front of the Tropical Greenhouses at the Central Experimental Farm. This area can be quite busy with limited parking this time of year. Please arrive early to ensure you don't miss any of your session. There is a small free parking lot to the right of the greenhouse, you can see it circled on the second map. You can also pay and park at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum and walk over.

Preparation and what to wear


What to wear is totally up to you! It’s super tempting to go out and buy all new outfits, but consider wearing some of your favourite pieces you already own. Feeling comfortable in your clothing is going to make a huge difference to how you act in front of the camera. Especially for kids! Personally, I love colour and love for my own family's photos to reflect that. But if neutrals are your jam, go for it! A few things to keep in mind:

  • Coordinating outfits are fine if that’s your family style, but avoid everyone in the same outfit. If you would like some help planning your coordinated outfits, please reach out! Send me an email to katesteelephotography@gmail.com and I am happy to chat about specifics for your family.
  • Pinterest has lots of beautiful examples! Check out my Spring What to Wear Board here
  • You can also read my blog post about what to wear here
  • Avoid large logos and multiple busy prints as they can steal the show.
  • Please be yourself! If you aren’t normally a heels and fancy dress kind of person, don’t feel you need to pull those out for your photos!

Due to the short time frame of a mini session, I will run through a few games and prompts to keep everyone moving and having fun. But if there are fun things your kids enjoy, by all means start those up! I'm thinking something like ring around the rosie, family dance parties, silly songs - anything they are familiar with to get them smiling!


I will be keeping close eye on the weather as our session day approaches. If it looks awful or too wet I will send you an email to reschedule.


After the session


I aim to return galleries to families no later than 14 days after our session. Galleries will include a minimum of 15 photos. You can choose your favourite 10 to be downloaded in full high resolution, or you can upgrade to receive the full digital gallery for $100. Full instructions will be sent in your gallery email. The digital gallery is also linked to a professional lab for easy print orders right from your computer.


Sharing my work is the best way for new clients to find me. I’ve included a model release on my questionnaire to share some sneak peek photos from our session on my social media pages so you can see some pictures as soon as possible! I also may include some photos from our session on my website to highlight for others what a lifestyle mini session looks like. Please let me know if you do not want photos shared online.

 

Please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!