London Ontario Photographer | Choosing the Perfect Mini Session

So you’ve decided to book a mini—a twenty-minute session with a gallery of beautifully edited photos from which to choose your 10-15 photos (depending on the package). There are many reasons to opt for a mini session. Perhaps you have young children (or a partner) who can only handle a shorter session, or you only require a handful of fresh photos. Or maybe you want to have more than one session per year, and prefer shorter sessions in different locations.

Now the question is: Which mini session is perfect for you? Raw Footage Photographer offers a variety of seasonal mini sessions, each with their own charm and appeal. You might pick a mini session based on the setting (Maybe you’re more of a beach person than a woods person? Or maybe you need a location that doesn’t require much travel, or perhaps there are accessibility concerns to consider?), or you might pick a mini session based on the timing (Do you have a special milestone coming up in a specific month? A favourite season? A kiddo who doesn’t love the cold?), or maybe your children have an early bedtime, and a fall session—with its earlier time slots—works best for you.

If you’re ready to book, check the booking page to see what’s currently open. To be the first to know about future mini session booking dates (and to have priority to snag your preferred time slot), make sure you’re on the advance notice list, either by emailing me at sophie@rawfootagephotos.com or by filling out the contact form, with the subject line: “Advance Notice List".

Scroll through the images below for a brief description of each mini session offered.

Minis Offered in London, Ontario and surrounding area: Pine Forest Minis, Spring Studio Minis, Spring Bloom Minis, Beach Minis, Flower Farm Minis, Fall Woods Minis, Tree Farm Minis

London Ontario Family Photographer | Lifestyle Grandparent Session

This grandparent lifestyle session was such a joy to document. From decorating cupcakes (and eating copious amounts of sprinkles!) to reading books together, gardening in the back yard, a forest walk and—my favourite—playing the piano together. Grandma and Grandpa were so delighted to be spending time with their granddaughters, and the photos capture their candid joy. Here are a few favourites!

London Ontario Spring Minis | Blossoms & Studio

It’s the time of year where melting snow leads to dreams of luscious, vibrant blossoms. I’m so looking forward to this year’s spring sessions, particularly the mini sessions I have planned for the month of May: STUDIO SPRING MINIS and BLOOM SPRING MINIS.

The studio sessions will be held at the beautifully styled LR Studios on May 4th, 2025, for those preferring an indoor option still bursting with floral goodness. The bright, neutral parts of the studio will still be available for those wanting a mix of clean and simple as well as the floral set.

The outdoor bloom minis will take place on May 10th, 2025, with whatever happens to be in bloom around that date. The timing for various blossoms varies each year, but I’ve done these with magnolias, lilacs, redbuds, cherry blossoms and crabapple blossoms, and they are always spectacular!

London Ontario Family Photographer | Playful Beach Extended Family Session

Extended Family sessions tend to come with a list of important groupings and must-haves - after all, how often does everyone get together in coordinated outfits with the sole purpose of documenting family memories? We make it count and get every combination that is meaningful, including individual photos of the kiddos and mini family sessions for each individual unit in addition to the large family groupings. The challenge can sometimes be to find those playful, affectionate, candid moments throughout the session as we go down the list of must-have photos (it’s a bit more structured and regimented than an individual family session where we go with the flow more), but this family came to have fun. I absolutely LOVE the playful, hilarious photos we captured as they not only ran in the water together, but pushed each other in. It was a survival of the fittest situation, and it was so.much.fun. Let’s be honest, family sessions can be stressful (outfits, hair, getting there on time, kids arguing, weather uncertainty, all that pressure to get the photos you’ve been planning (and sometimes saving) for), but this session shows how amazing it can be when you let fun memories, too. Scroll to the end for the FUN! :)

London Ontario Family Photographer | Sunset Port Stanley Beach Family Session

I am so excited to share this beautiful sunset family session today. This shoot took place on a beautifully sunny, incredibly windy late Summer evening. There were actual wind warnings for the area, and the waves were unbelievably high. Nonetheless, after chatting about our options, we decided to go for it. And I am so glad we did. We mostly stayed away from the water’s edge to avoid the worst of the wind, and the beach was completely empty due to the weather conditions. The delicious golden hour light was to.die.for., and this gorgeous family put together the most beautiful outfits for their beach session. So many playful, snuggly candid moments. The whole shoot was a dream. Here are some favourites!

(P.S.: Johanna is a talented photographer herself - check her work out here!)

London Ontario Newborn Lifestyle Photographer | Baby Noah's In-Home Newborn Session

I love working with this beautiful family and was so thrilled to be invited into their home to document the arrival of their sweet baby boy, Noah. I had lots of time to hang out with big brother Ciaran, who taught me all about dinosaurs (he legitimately has more dino-related knowledge than I do!). I loved capturing the new family of four just hanging out at home together, in addition to the snuggly photos of baby Noah on his own and with his parents. This session felt like real life, which is always my favourite kind of in-home session. Here are some of my favourites!

London Ontario In-Home Newborn Session | Baby Asher

In-home newborn lifestyle sessions that involve siblings are so much fun. There are inevitably times throughout the session when baby needs to feed or be changed, and while I do photograph a lot of these in-between moments, it’s also nice to give baby a little space sometimes. It’s in these moments that I make friends with big brothers and sisters who are usually thrilled to show me their bedroom and all of their favourite toys. This leads to bed jumping (sorry, parents!), book reading, dinosaur playing and play kitchen feasting, to name a few. It also allows me to document older siblings in their element, being silly, thoughtful, and doing the stuff they like to do. This in-home lifestyle session allowed for lots of time with baby Asher’s older brother in addition to all of the newborn snuggles. Here are some favourites!

London Ontario Family Photographer | Saleme's Family Beach Session

So many of my favourite things collided for this fun family beach session. An empty beach? At golden hour? With a friend and her gorgeous family? And so many fun, candid moments to document? YES PLEASE. Saleme is such a beautiful person inside and out. She has assisted me with weddings here and there and is an amazing photographer herself (her brand/product styling photography is perfection). I really loved photographer her family and am sharing some favourites on the blog today!

London Ontario Headshot Photographer | Randy & eileen's Lifestyle Branding Session

I feel like a broken record saying this, but it is truly such an honour when another photographer trusts me with the task of photographing them. Randy and eileen (who prefers her name spelled with a lower case ‘e’, in case anyone thought I was consistently forgetting to capitalize it. ;) ) are an amazing husband and wife photography/videography team here in London, and I’ve loved getting to know them. These photos were meant to be branding photos for their new website, as well as document their sweet family. I’m sharing some favourites from their lifestyle branding session on the blog today!

London Ontario Family Photographer | Cozy In-Home Lifestyle Family Session

I have always loved in-home lifestyle sessions. They are popular as newborn sessions, but I love photographing families at all stages of life, playing and snuggling together in their cozy homes. This family in particular holds a special place in my heart. Meg was my midwife (twice!) and it is always such a joy to see her and her beautiful family again. This in-home session was so much fun, and the perfect mix of playful and snuggly. Here are some favourites from their shoot!