Christmas Mini Sessions hold a special place in my heart because in 2020 they were the first mini sessions I ever hosted! 2021 Red Truck Christmas Mini Sessions were even more beautiful than last year!
This year I had the pleasure of photographing 14 families, containing 23 adults, 16 Kids, and 5 dogs. Of the 14 families, 2 were returning clients & 11 were brand new families to SSP!
THE SET UP
The main component of this mini sesh set up is, of course, the red truck!
This truck belongs to my pastors, Pastor Russ and Angelia Winn. I am so grateful to the for allowing their beauty to star in our photographs! My goal was to make the rest of the decor as warm and cozy feeling as possible, and it turned out just right! The perfect casual Christmas setting for a family to share a few moments that will stand still in time for years to come!
THE FAMILIES
The Hidegs
Jared, Kristin, & their pup, Kylo were our first family photographed this year! They were first time SSP clients & it was such a pleasure meeting them! I LOVE when people bring their pets to their sessions (probably because I love my pup, Scooter, so much) and their fur-baby definitely stole the show! Are we mad about it? Not even a little! It was so wonderful to meet the Hidegs & be able to capture their Christmas memories!
The Tomas/Lopez Family
Miguel, Osmara, Andre & their pup, Niko, were our second family at Christmas Minis! This was their first session with SSP but they came back for snuggle sessions too! (Keep an eye out for that blog post coming soon!) In this session we captured some sweet moments between Andre and his Mom & Dad! It was easy to capture the personality of such a fun, outgoing little boy! I am so glad to know this family & it was such a pleasure to photograph this Christmas season for them to look back on for many years to come!
The Kolobkovas
Ana, Mark, & Michael were our 3rd first time SSP Christmas clients! The sweetness between the boys as well as their individual personalities was a joy to capture! Ana is one blessed Mama to have two beautiful boys! I love to capture the love between siblings because each bond is so unique! Such a joy to meet this sweet family and I hope that I’ll have the pleasure of phtographing their family as the boys continue to grow!
The Raczeks
Matthew, Kimberlee, Maddisyn, & Maddalyn along with their two pups, Rue & Bailee, were our 4th first time SSP Christmas Mini Session clients! They were very excited (as was I) to have their dogs join them in their session because their dogs had never been professionally photographed before! I loved getting to experience the two individual personalities of their girls & the love between Matthew & Kimberlee. It is a beautiful thing to see people so very in love with each other and with their family! I’m so glad to have met them!
The Martins
Chris, Melia, and Olivia were my 5th Christmas Clients & it was also their first SSP experience! This was the first professional photos session for the Martins since Olivia’s newborn photos! I was so happy to be able to update their photos for them & did they turn out great?! Can’t you just feel how much this little girl loves her Mom & Dad through the photos?! I am so blessed to have met this sweet family!
The Hirsts
Rob, Lynanne, & Camden are the 6th first time SSP Christmas Mini family! As you could have guessed from Rob’s shirt, the Hirsts are definitely a football family! (What you can’t see in these 3 photos is that Camden had a wardrobe change into a shirt with a football with a Santa hat!) They were so natural in front of the camera, that we got them out of their session quick enough to catch the game that Sunday! Thank you to the Hirst family for allowing me to capture these sweet moments of your families lives!
The Townsends
Heather, Serena, Jacob, & Oliver are such a fun crew! The 7th family & they sure did give me the energy I needed to make it through all 14 sessions! I absolutely adore the love between a Mama and her babes! Each relationship is different, but each equally as precious! There’s nothing quite like a Mama’s love! These are the sweet moments that she will likely never forget with her babies. One day, when they’re all grown, she will look back at them and smile and remember these fleeting moments when they were little. I’m so glad to have met this sweet Mama & her littles!
The Hasekamps
Wesley, Tesia, and their dog, Mav, our 8th SSP Christmas family, were all smiles! Mav included! This pup was by far the EASIEST pet to photograph that I have encountered yet! He was looking right into the camera for almost EVERY photo! No treats, no squeaky toys or anything! What a sweet pup who is the center of his fur-parents lives! Wesley & Tesia are especially close to my heart because they are pastors at a local church in the area as my husband and I are! It was a joy to meet these three!
Kendra & Luke
Kendra & Luke are the most ADORABLE Mom & son duo! My 9th Christmas session of 2021 and, boy, was it a sweet one! I’ve said it and I’ll say it again “There is NOTHING like the love between a Mom & her babes!” A little boy with so much energy and life & a Mama with SO much love! It warms my heart each time I look through the photos in this session! The hours they are young seem long, but the years of these young ages are so shot. I LOVE to be able to capture these fleeting moments of memories that will last for lifetimes to come! Capture each moment of your child life- it goes by so fast! I am so grateful that this mama came to me to do just that!
The York Girls
Audrey and Elyse truly are a pair of Christmas Angels! They were my 10th mini session and it was one the easiest! They’re just so stinking cute that no matter how they were posed, they were lovely! Sisterly love is just so sweet to see and these two were dripping with the sweetest form of it! I am so glad to have met these two angels and their mom, Ainsley! A sweeter group of ladies you’ll never met!
Chris & Andrea
Chris & Andrea were the 11th Mini Session and are they not THE cutest?! They are both so photogenic & their matching sweaters are just ADORABLE! I love being able to capture young love! Each season of our lives comes and goes so quickly. I think it’s so important to photograph each season of life together so as times goes by you can look back at how you’ve each grown. Yes, we all obviously change physically through out years, but a photograph can remind those who were in the photos of so much more. When you look at a picture of yourself you remember more than just the outfit you were wearing, you remember how you felt. You remember the sounds, smells, and feelings of that very moment. That photo is a physical reminder of a specific moment in time. THAT is the power of photography. To me, THAT is worth investing in! I’m so glad these two chose to do just that this Holiday season!
The Mckellers
Christopher, Crystal, and Anjali were 12th in the Christmas mini line up! Little miss Anjali was a little apprehensive about the whole ordeal at first, but she quickly warmed up and was just a sweetheart! Family is such an important thing and I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to photograph so many different families. Each family has such a different, special bond and I consider my self abundantly blessed to get a small glimpse of that bond during a session. It was so clear how much this little girl loved her parents and how much they loved her. I could tell immediately, that in the midst of her apprehension of everything I had set up there for them, that her parents were her safe place. She found comfort and safety in them and she was able to open up and show me (and my camera) her true, sweet, smiley, kind, fun self! What a treasure we find in our families!
Zack & Kayla
Zack & Kayla are number 13 & they are long time SSP customers! Their first session was Christmas Mini Sessions 2020 and I have now photographed them several times since! The couple is getting married at the beginning of December 2021 and I couldnt be happier for them! You know when a couple just fits so perfectly together and their love is just so evident for one another that you have no doubt in your mind that they are meant to be together? That’s Zack and Kayla. They are one of my favorite couples to photograph because they just fit together perfectly with little prompting from me! They are just so natural together I joke that all they need me for is someone to click the button for them! I sure do love all my SSP couples, but Zack and Kayla have a special place in my heart!
The Woods
Jim, Tiffany, Genevieve, and James are the final family of our 2021 Christmas Mini Sessions! They are also repeat SSP clients as they joined me last year for my first ever SSP Mini Sessions! I also used to work at James and Genevieve’s daycare, so they definitely are a special family to me! When you meet James and Tiffany, you can just feel the kindness and genuine hearts that radiate within them! Their kiddos are just as sweet as can be with personality galore! I am so blessed every time I’m able to interact with their family! I’m so glad they decided to come back & join me for another round of Christmas Mini Sessions!
The Wrap Up
I am so blessed to have had 14 families join me for Red Truck Christmas Mini Sessions this year! Photography is so important to me because a photograph transcends time. It allows the photographed person to relive a moment and the memories attached to it. It also allows those who were not at that particular moment to relive that experience with the photographed person.
Photos are such a treasure.
I truly do consider myself extremely blessed to be trusted to capture such precious memories for so many families to hold onto and treasure for lifetimes to come!
If you are interested in further documenting the moments of your life and the lives of your family, please reach out! I would love to connect with you and document the beautiful, fleeting, ever changing seasons of your family!
Your Photographer
Stephanie Seidel
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