Family

Mother’s Day Minis 2019

by Rachel Gaetz

Hey everyone! I couldn't let the rest of the month of May pass by without doing a blog post recapping one of my favorite photography events of the year... Mother's Day mini sessions! It means a lot to me to be able to give moms photos of themselves with their kids because I know that they'll be cherished for a long, long time. (Honestly, whenever I see any photos of my own mom from early in my childhood I just think she looks absolutely young and beautiful!) About a week an a half ago, I photographed 10 mamas and their kiddos at Lake Elmo Regional Park. Even with an iffy forecast, it ended up being a gorgeous morning and we got SO many great shots!
Above is my sis-in-law Andrea with her bunch of 3. It was very helpful for me to start out my slew of sessions with a family I already knew quite well!

This was my third session with Audrey and her boys and they are definitely one of my confidence-boosting family. They always are incredibly easy to work with and bring big smiles. Shooting and editing their family is basically a breeze. I am so, so glad I got to see them again this spring!

Next up, I got to meet some new clients, April and her two and three-year-olds: Rylin and Gunther. I kind of love photographing toddler/preschool aged kids because they are SO full of energy, personality, and give such genuine expressions. Usually they lead the shoot for me and I just follow their direction. I love how their photos turned out and I hope to work together again!

My fourth session of the day was for my friend/neighbor/Beautycounter hookup Amy and her three gorgeous girls. I love every single one of their images and it was hard for me to just not post every single photo of theirs in this blog post. But I need to keep moving on because time is ticking before my kids wake up!

Next up was another past client of mine, Tricia (who is super sweet, not to mention stylish!) and her little fellas Cody and Ezra. Her boys were so fun and energetic which translated to really fun photos for their family. So glad they came!

Next, I met Sterlynn for the first time and River (who at seven-months-old was my youngest baby of the day!). This was their first professional photo session and I was honored to take pictures of these lovely ladies!

Sara and her kids Julian and Evelyn were next. This was our third session together and they are always, always a family I look forward to seeing. I love watching little ones grow up in the photos from our sessions-- going from just learning to stand to confidently running. It's a pleasure to be able to document these moments!

I was so excited to finally photograph my neighbor Kate and her two. Ethan and Bella. I'm mildly obsessed with how their photos turned out.... they are just so spring-y and sweet and honestly, the vision I had in mind when I dreamed up these sessions! Fortunately, we already have another session on the books together so I don't have to bug them about letting me take their photos again.(After this group, I had a break in my line up and was able to have a lovely picnic lunch with myself. And then I had to flee the scene for a bit to buy band-aids as I had worn a POOR choice of shoes for the day. Ugh, lesson learned. Sometimes fashion over function is not the choice to make. Sometimes.)

So after my lunch break and bandaging my stupid foot, I was ready to take on my biggest group of the day, Teri and her crew of six-- and they totally nailed their session. Her two youngest daughters are friends with my oldest daughter so it was great to see some more familiar faces but also finally meet the rest of the family. It was such a blast to shoot a session with older kids and young adults. We were able to get a huge variety of shots in a short time and I love, love, love how they turned out!

I ended the day on the sweetest note possible, with Kelly and her one-year-old son Dax. He was such a perfect, happy, delightful, one-year-old boy. My face hurt when I was finished shooting because I was smiling so much! We were able to also squeeze in some one-year-milestone shots for him as well as some headshots for Kelly too! I really love being as efficient as possible during sessions and striving for the maximum variety of shots!

And there you go! Proof that 10 sessions can be shot in one morning and all photos can be edited and sent within one week. (Um... so much coffee last week though). These sessions are so very special to me and I'm so thankful for every family who was a part of this day. I truly hope these mamas and kids treasure and enjoy these photos for many years to come!

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