This post is LONG overdue!  Any of you that follow me on Instagram or Facebook have probably noticed a shift for my business into more of the tween and teen market.   Well, I want to finally make it official and explain the thoughts behind these amazing sessions!

Over the years, I have actually done teen and tween sessions without ever really thinking about it or realizing what was happening.  For example, a family from my church paid for a special session for each of their daughters when they were around 14 years old – as a way to celebrate them each getting their braces off.  They had a blast picking out cute clothes, doing their hair and makeup, having outfit changes during the session, and we even incorporated some softball uniform shots for the oldest daughter.    Then 3 years ago, a friend asked if she could hire me for a few hours to take pictures of her daughter (who was turning 13) and her 2 BFF’s.  They came to my studio, took over one of our bedrooms with what felt like their entire wardrobes, and we spent 3 hours photographing them in different outfits and on different backdrops.  This was the 13 year old’s birthday party that year.  Brilliant!  Still, I don’t think I ever even really shared any of the images from that session.  They all turned out great!  It just wasn’t a priority for me since most of my business had always been families and children.

Well, fast forward to 2014.  After much research about the tween market, and seeing a lot of my friends’ kids now entering middle school, I really got the itch to work with more of these kids.   For me, it’s simply SO FUN to photograph middle school and high school kids!  I’ve always shot a handful of seniors each year (and I love senior sessions just as much, but for different reasons).  But what I really like about these younger teens is the fact that they just want to have fun.  And I noticed that treating them like models for a day can really boost their self esteem as well!  So starting in February of 2015, I put out a couple model calls on Instagram, borrowed some teens that I know personally, and started shooting.   It’s been an amazing year!  I’ve met so many great families and great kids.  I’ve built up an amazing portfolio of tween and teen images and I’m so excited to finally start sharing all these sessions from this year.

First some FAQ’s about these new Tween Sessions:

-these are great for the individual tween, but are even more fun with friends.

-BFF sessions are a BLAST!  You can even split the session fee with other families.

-A Tween session or a BFF session make the perfect birthday party or birthday gift!

-For the remainder of this year and next year, TWEEN and BFF sessions will include 5 digital files in the price of the session.

-The middle school years are the forgotten age for portraits.  Most parents just don’t think to capture their middle schoolers in photographs the way they did when they were infants and children.  But guess what – middle school kids change just as much and just as fast in ONE YEAR as babies do!  They need to be photographed!

-Tweens need a good self esteem boost.  They are starting to form their own opinions and are becoming their own person.  Part of what I do is try to capture what interests THEM.  A favorite pair of shoes, headphones, hat.  Do they play sports, dance, draw, read?  This is the perfect opportunity to capture WHO THEY ARE at this age and stage of life.    None of this can be really represented well if I try to get a few shots of them during a regular family session.  They need their own session to be free to be themselves. 

Here’s the introductory pricing for TWEEN and BFF sessions for the remainder of 2015 and all of 2016:

$125 Session fee for an Individual tween session – includes 5 digital files & 1 8×10

$175 Session fee for a BFF session (can be as many kids as you want!) – includes 5 digital files and 10 Mini Snapshots

I have several new products that are modern and trendy that teens will love!

This week I’ll start blogging each TWEEN session I’ve done so far this year.   Here’s a little preview since you can’t have a blog post without a picture. 🙂