Eugene, Oregon Family and Portrait photographer: Fall Mini Sessions

Wow! September was a busy month for me! It was time for my fall mini sessions, which are always tons of fun, but a lot of work as well. 

I worked with twelve fantastic families for this batch of mini family photography sessions, doing two sessions a night for six nights until we got it all wrapped up by the first weekend in October. I don’t like scheduling outdoor sessions too far in advance after that because you never know what the weather is going to be like. Actually, let me rephrase that: you usually know exactly what the weather is going to be like…and it isn’t exactly a photographer's dream.

Even starting at the beginning of September this year we had a couple of close calls with the smoke from forest fires, but fortunately the wind kicked up enough that it wasn’t too bad. There were a couple of sessions where the smoke was somewhat visible in the photographs, but I did my best to soften it to a bit of a hazy background during the editing process. We also had to reschedule two families on the same night because of rain, but luckily we were able to find another date that worked for everyone, so it all turned out fine. 

I used Doris Ranch as the location, and it was perfect for these sessions to give my clients some good variety for their photos—whether they were being used for walls, photo albums, or Christmas cards. I like to mix things up though, so if I do these fall mini sessions again next year I will need to find a different locale. Hopefully I can find one just as great, and that gives the same level of variety in backgrounds that Doris Ranch provides. I also chose to do these mini family photography sessions only in the last hour before sunset to get that pretty golden lighting, and most evenings did not disappoint! 

The last two nights I did these were just a few days apart from each other, but the temperature changed so much during that short time. It was like we switched from late summer to mid-fall almost overnight. The last evening was very chilly, and I was relieved when the sessions were finally done because I was starting to get quite nervous about the weather. Cold kiddos do not take good photos! I’m all for the rosy cheeks that can come with a nip in the air, but I’m not such a fan of the red noses, blue lips, and clench-toothed smiles! The two families that had booked that chilly evening were great sports though, and we still got some wonderful photos. 

I think I’ll be sticking pretty close to my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon for the next several months, but I’m so glad I got to do my fall mini sessions before the weather turned. I had a great time photographing each of these different families, and it’s a great way for people to commemorate the year.