EVERY SPRING & FALL

Public Garden Minishoots

Now Booking Fall 2024 --> Sun, Oct 6th & Sat Oct 26th

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once everybody's up and walking, we all know...

The best pictures are the fun pictures!

My minishoots are 20-minute sessions in the Boston Public Garden (offered to families with children who are all over one year old), booked on the half hour throughout one day each fall and each spring. This means I shoot 13 families during one day, and we have SO much fun playing in the gorgeousness of the Public Garden every time.

Questions? Schedule a Phone Consult

Babies get older, it just happens. My first love is taking baby photos, that first year at home with their parents. Pictures taken inside make the most sense for a baby's first year, but as children pass their first birthday and start to explore their world, it's fun to go outside for pictures.

How much does it cost?

Minishoots are $275 (compared to $400+ for in-home photoshoots), and include the 20 minute session itself and access to the final images in a watermarked online gallery a few weeks after our photoshoot. 

As with all my sessions, every final photo from the minishoot is presented in an online gallery in both b&w and color. 

Families receive access to the watermarked gallery with 25-40 final, fabulous-enough-to-be-framed images from one 20-minute minishoot. You can buy all the high-res files from a minishoot for $500 more (compared to $750 for in-home shoots). You can also order just a few JPGs or prints or photobooks, whatever you'd like. All my print/product pricing is here.

Lots of people ask me about

Scheduling for my Public Garden minis

The Spring dates for the Public Garden minishoot days are usually announced in February or early March on my Boston Baby Photos Facebook and in a newsletter to my subscribers. Normally I schedule two spring sessions - one on a weekend day in April and one in May. 

The Fall dates for the Public Garden minishoot days are usually announced in late July or early August to my Boston Baby Photos Facebook and in a newsletter to my subscribers. Normally I schedule two fall sessions  - one on a weekend day in late September and one on a weekend day in mid-October. 

When families request a Public Garden minishoot before I've announced the date, I add their email addresses to my "contact first" list, making them eligible to book first, before I've announced the date to the public. When I've already filled a minishoot day but get more requests, I keep a waiting list that gives everyone an equal chance to book a time if one becomes available. If a spot opens, I email everyone on the waiting list, and the first family to reply gets the spot.

I've also been asked... 

Why so many families in one day?

My client database recently showed me that I've had over 2,700 photoshoots since I started my business in 2003 — wow! All those babies just keep growing and needing more pictures, so I started offering Boston Public Garden minishoot days in the fall and spring each year because…
  • It means I can devote most of my year's work to babies but also keep up with the demand for older children's photos. And…
  • I LOVE seeing the babies grow up! And…
  • I discovered that when kids are older than 1 or 2, we can easily get tons of great pictures in a 20-minute photoshoot in a beautiful location outdoors.

It's the best of everything. An opportunity to play and have fun AND get great pictures. 

wait, this is new england...

What if it rains?

Oh, it very well might! We'll be in touch in the days prior to the scheduled session. I hold lots of other dates as rain dates in case Mother Nature makes our day in the Public Garden challenging, don't worry. We'll be in communication as the date of the session approaches and we'll figure out a game plan, don't fret. It's pretty common that I need to shift the date of a minishoot, and I am committed to making sure I get everyone who's booked photographed on a day that works for their family this season.

I have every confidence that we'll get your family photographed this season, and if we don't, I'll refund your deposit of course. Or you can have me hold on to it and you can use it for a session another time.

Learn more...

A quick video explaining the Public Garden Minishoots experience with Jess.

That's me, and I just adore my job.

I'm Jess McDaniel. I'm a baby photographer, and because I've been doing it so long I've naturally become a family photographer, too. (My first babies from the early days of Boston Baby Photos are booking their senior photoshoots this year, and nothing makes me happier.)  

I travel anywhere within an hour of Boston for photoshoots. Outside of photography, I truly love The Container Store, salty food and my husband and daughters. And not necessarily in that order.

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