Fall Family Portrait Session in Nashville

Nashville Family Fall Portrait Session

One of my favorite things about my job is being able to see repeat clients at their family portrait sessions each year. They say that childhood goes by in the blink of an eye. That truth is especially apparent when you only see them once or twice a year.

These are two of my favorite little ones that I’ve been photographing for several years now. I love photographing all ages of children, but this session hits my sweet spot. My absolute favorite time to photograph children is between 2 and 4, and both of these cuties meet that criteria. There is just so much wonder in kids that age that particularly inspires me. They are true to themselves, always live in the moment, and are in awe of the world around them. Would it be weird to say that I want to be a two-year-old when I grow up?

Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you considered following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.

Family Portraits with Newborn at Winstead Hill Park

Outdoor newborn portrait with big brother

This outdoor newborn/family session was a lesson in being flexible. These are wonderful repeat family portrait clients of mine. I was looking forward to meeting the newest addition to the family, a baby sister who is one month old. Mom wanted more of an outdoor family session than a traditional at-home newborn. Her original request was to have the photos taken at the Park at Harlinsdale Farms. We had not done a session for them there yet and she liked the location.

That sounded like a great idea until I realized that the session was scheduled for the same day as the Pilgrimage Festival. So I gave them the option of moving the session to another day, or keeping the date and moving to another location far far away from Harlinsdale and the crowds.

It turns out, a weekday morning session worked just great for the new family of four. Little ones are often happier in the morning and it worked for their schedules, so we changed the date.

But then Thursday morning I showed up at Harlinsdale about an hour early (because that’s me…your Enneagram 1 photographer). They were already setting up for Pilgrimage. Oops! I guess it should have occurred to me that they would need several days to set up for such a large festival. They wouldn’t let me in, and even if they had, there were giant white tents everywhere.

This is where my being obsessively early coming in handy. I was able to call the clients before they had left home, and we adapted. I gave a few options and they chose Winstead Hill Park. That worked out nicely because Winstead has plenty of shade, which is needed for a mid-morning photo session, and was somewhere they hadn’t done pictures before.

Isn’t that sweet baby girl just perfection? Big brother had a great time exploring a new park.

Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.

Are Mini Sessions Right for You? | Nashville Family Photographer

Crystal Freemon Photography Spring Hill TN Mini Sessions

I avoided mini sessions for the longest time, preferring to stick with full-length family portrait sessions. I finally caved this year and began offering some 25-minute mini sessions at the Country Cove Christmas tree farm in Murfreesboro.

Reasons I didn’t want to offer Mini Sessions

I pride myself on capturing images of clients being relaxed and carefree. Sometimes that takes a while and I don’t like feeling rushed. I like to get to know families at a portrait session. I strive to take photographs that capture who they are and how they relate as a family at this point in their lives.

Sometimes, a child or teen, or an adult shows up at a session feeling apprehensive and self-conscious. Maybe a child feels shy at first. Or Dad has been conditioned by studio portraits to be flashing me an uncomfortable smile constantly. Maybe mom is super stressed because they were running late or someone spit-up on the drive over.

By after about 30 minutes of chatting, playing, and being goofy, I find that most people become relaxed and start acting more like themselves. Shy toddlers warm up to me. Dad gets it that I want him to play and interact with the kids. The stress has drained out of mom’s face as things seem to be going better than she expected. All this means that the second half of a one-hour session often holds my favorite images from a family portrait session.

Even more than that, a lot of my favorite images from photo sessions come after we are officially done. When we are chatting and strolling back to our cars. Often, this is when everyone lets their guard down and I notice something special and click a quick “last” photo that becomes one of my favorites. If I’m rushing from session to session, then this relaxed last photo doesn’t get to happen.

Why I decided to offer Mini Sessions Anyway

The biggest reason I decided to give in and offer mini sessions this year are because it had gotten to the point that I couldn’t handle October. Everyone wants photos in October and there are only so many hours in the day.

Mini sessions not only allow me to shoot the sessions in a shorter time, but also it cuts down on editing. I’m importing the photos all at once, culling them in one swipe, and blogging them all at once. Editing is the task I spend by far the most amount of time on. So while I still have to edit a lot of photos, the process is streamlined.

I’m able to shoot more clients and turn fewer people away during the fall portrait season. Also, I am able to offer them at a price that is easier on the client’s budget.

Mini Sessions are not for Everyone

I’ve decided that mini sessions work well for certain clients. Others should stick to full-size portrait sessions, at least at first. The four sessions I photographed this week give a good example of what kind of families are best suited to mini sessions. I will explain why each of them was a good fit.


Family of Three with toddler

Toddlers are my favorite. One of the reasons why they are my favorite is because they are so unpredictable and full of energy. I love that, but also it can mean it can take a while to get all the photos I’d like for a session. Nolan was full of energy at this session. But because it was just him, I feel like I was able to get enough photos that I’m happy with during the mini session. If there had been multiple children, I may have had a hard time getting the appropriate group shots in the short 25 minute time frame. I was able to focus primarily on him and didn’t have to divide my time between multiple kids. Also, I have worked with this family before, which helps a lot as I will discuss more below.

So a family of three is perfect for a mini session. Aren’t they the cutest? And I love the color of his shirt. Perfect.


Family well suited to being photographed

OK, I just hinted that mini sessions might not be the best if you have two young children. And now I’m showing you two young girls (ages 6 and 3) who knocked it out of the park. But they had a few advantages that I think helped. First of all, mom stated in her survey that the girls were pretty happy having their picture taken. I found that to be true.

Also, I had photographed this family before. One can argue that it doesn’t count because it was years ago when Rowan was just a toddler and Caroline had not been born. Clearly, the girls did not remember having a session with me. But the person who usually most benefits from knowing what to expect at a session is dad. James jumped right into this session being silly and playful and fun, and that makes all the difference in the world.

From now on if people have trouble decided what to wear for a session, I’m sending them to Elizabeth. ❤️


Family who has grown up with me as their photographer

This one was a no-brainer. When Margaret signed up for one of the mini-sessions I was immediately happy and knew it would be a great fit. I’ve photographed these two kids their entire lives, including Grayson’s birth. I have lost track of how many sessions that has been. There is no “get to know you” time needed. As always, we had a great time. Though I was sad it was only for 25 minutes.


Family with older kids / teens who I can relate to

This family had a definite advantage in that all the kids were old enough to stand and do whatever I told them to do. However, I wouldn’t automatically assume a min session is a good fit for teens or tweens. Some kids that age can take quite a bit of time to warm up to having their photo taken and may need the entire hour.

I had never met this family before really (other than maybe in passing at school events), but I felt a connection to them already. In the past few months, Leslie and I have become “internet friends”. We have a lot of common and are in some of the same groups. Because of the pandemic, we haven’t had the chance to get together and hang out in real life, but I do feel like I’ve gotten to know her a little. And my oldest daughter is friends with one of the boys and was in drama with him. I believe all that helps in having clients start to feel at ease at a session, and helps everyone to relax quicker than if we had no connection at all and they were meeting a complete stranger.


That’s the most words I’ve put into a blog post in a long time, but it was a four in one. I guess the big question is will I do min sessions again? Yes, I think I will, and now I will be able to point clients to this blog post to help them decide if mini sessions are a good fit for their family. Maybe I can offer them other times of the year as well. I’ve been thinking about summer sunflower field sessions maybe?

Are you following me on Instagram? That’s a great place to keep up to date on future openings. I have a couple spots left for my Holiday Family Mini Sessions. Or are you looking for a senior photographer? Either way, you can book a session directly from my online booking calendar, or contact me if you have questions.

Love and Portrait Sessions in the time of Coronavirus

Wow, what a week. I hope that you are all finding some peace, love and toilet paper in this time of coronavirus, and above all, staying safe and healthy.

I know you have already received emails from every business you’ve ever associated with on how they are handling things during this time of quarantine, so I’m going to refrain from sending emails on my thoughts. But I will outline them here in case you have a session coming up and are wondering what will happen.

For my portrait sessions, these are generally done in outdoor parks or in clients home where close contact with other people is minimum. I do plan to take extra care in changing the way I do sessions temporarily in that I will rely on my words to guide you into position rather than touching you or your children to move you into the position I would like. This goes for newborn photo sessions as well.

But, if for any reason you are uncomfortable proceeding with a session at this time, please know that I will allow you to reschedule for any date in the future. Please just shoot me an email and let me know and we can postpone your family portrait session until things have settled down.

I was happen to get out into the sunshine and photograph this beautiful family of four at the Park at Harlinsdale Farms in Franklin this week. Little Chase just turned two, which is my favorite age of children to photograph. Look at that adorable smile!