Full session vs. Mini Session | What's the difference?

I get asked this question fairly often, and understand that there is some confusion when it comes to pricing, product, and other differences between full and mini sessions. I thought I’d clear some of that up with this blog post and be able to refer future clients back to this post.

First and foremost, please understand that all photographers do things differently, and this is just how I’ve chosen to set up my session structure and pricing.

My “full” sessions are up to an hour, and include an online photo gallery for viewing & ordering, and 1 digital image download of your choice with a print release. This means that from your session, your only delivered product is 1 image in the form of a digital jpeg that you can then download and print as much as you’d like (and generally as large as you’d like up to 16x24”). These sessions are designed for you to view the images at your leisure and then order additional products like prints, albums, canvases, or digital collections in addition to your session fee. The average investment for these sessions (including the session fee) is usually around $400-800.

Some photographers also do ordering appointments following a session, where you meet with them and decide what you want and how you want the photos hung on your walls or printed in an album. I’ve not modeled my business this way for various reasons, but know that that could be an option as well. I’m always happy to manually create an order for you with your guidance and input!

The mini session option is designed to be more of a “cash and carry” type session. These sessions are limited to 15 minutes and still include the online photo gallery for viewing & ordering, plus 5 digital images of your choice with print release. Many times clients who purchase a mini session will not order anything in addition to the 5 images (though you definitely have the option to!). Since you get 5 images and a print release to print those 5 as much or as large (up to 16x24” again), mini sessions are a great option for holiday cards.

Mini sessions are usually only offered at certain times of the year, but occasionally I will offer them at other times or for special circumstances.

I also wanted to address print releases. Receiving a print release with images from a photographer means that the photographer is granting you the ability to print the photos legally. Photos that are downloaded illegally, with a watermark, or without the photographer’s permission should not be printed. Any images from Holly Birch Photography that are included with a session fee or purchased a la carte come with a print release, giving you the option to print them on any medium, as large as 16x24”, and as many times as you’d like.

(Some commercial clients may need larger images for advertising such as billboards, so those images can be sold at another price point at the larger print size.)

I also offer mini and full sessions (boutique and luxury) through my boudoir photography line. My full sessions are offered year-round, and my minis sessions are usually offered 3 times per year.

So now that you know the difference between the two, are you ready to book your own session? I’m currently booking full sessions and will most likely start booking for fall mini sessions in late August. Click the button to be put on my notification list when booking is live!