A common question I receive is ” how many sessions do you have each day?” The answer is one. It is extremely uncommon for me to take more than one session a day. I’ll once in a while do a newborn session in the morning, and then have an evening outside family session. But that’s typically the only time I’ll do more than one session in a day. Why? For multiple reasons.
1. I do not necessarily time my sessions. I know how long sessions typically take. However, working with babies – especially newborns – some sessions just need more patience and time. I’m prepared for that, and when those scenarios happen, I don’t want to feel rushed.
2. Babies schedules are consistently changing. One of the major benefits to only scheduling one session a day is being able to be flexible for a session’s start time. For ideal lighting, studio hours are 10am-2pm. However, I can adjust the start time for a session in that window of time. So if a little one’s nap schedule shifts – no problem. Even if a baby wakes up late that day, mom can reach out to me that morning, and I can adjust because I don’t have another session that will conflict with it. It’s really important to me that I can be as flexible as possible.
Besides only doing one session a day, I also try to only schedule 2-3 sessions a week. There are exceptions, like when wave of babies are born at once – those full moons get me sometimes, or when we get a string of rainy weather and all my outside sessions get crammed in a week of beautiful sunshine. However, to allow the best service and the quick turnaround times I know families enjoy – I prefer no more than 3 sessions a week. Here’s some reasons why…
- Your session doesn’t start or end with the time you spend with me in the studio or at an outside location. In fact, the time we spend in person together is smallest portion of time spent on your session. Besides planning and preparing your session – the real work comes after your session. I typically invest the remainder of my day after a session working on their proof gallery. I love being able to share a proof gallery with my clients typically just 2 days later.
- My non-sessions days I can work on finalizing galleries for release. I really need a couple days a week with no sessions at all to allow time for final edits. These are also the days I can catch up on emails, session planning, and the not as fun things I have to do to keep a business running (that unfortunately list is long too!)
- Here’s a big one! Being available for reschedules. Obviously for outside sessions there is always the possibility of rain, so having openings every month for reschedules is a must. However, I also like to be available for in-studio reschedules. Working with babies, I know little ones get sick or wake up cranky out of the blue. I never want to set a session up for failure… working with a little one who isn’t feeling well isn’t ideal. So I try my best to make it as easy to reschedule as possible. Even accepting cancellations up to an hour before a session. Baby wakes up teething and super fussy – no big deal – let’s reschedule! That day just becomes an editing day.
I truly love what I do. I take great pride on specializing with babies and all that comes with it. If you are interested in your own family session with Jennifer Mae Photography and would like more information – simply click HERE to fill out the contact form. I will be in touch soon with details and investment information. I would love to document your family and create beautiful images you will have to treasure for a lifetime.