by Kristin Vacca | Jul 22, 2025 | Children, Families, Portraits, The Santa Experience
When it comes to capturing beautiful memories with your family, you have more than one option at The Flash Lady Photography in Newington, CT. Whether you’re dreaming of a fully customized family portrait session or a quick, themed mini session (like our popular Christmas Minis), there’s a perfect choice for every family’s needs.
So, what exactly is the difference between a full family photography session and a mini session? Let’s break down what makes each option unique and help you decide which one is the best fit for your family this year.
Beautiful fall family photoshoot in CT
What is a Full Family Photography Session?
A full family photography session is a completely personalized experience designed around your family. These sessions typically last longer than mini sessions, giving you ample time to relax, connect, and create images that truly reflect your family’s personality and story.
Indoor extended family photoshoot inside a beautiful greenhouse
Here’s what makes full sessions so special:
Customization – You have complete freedom to choose the location, whether that’s a beautiful outdoor park in Connecticut or our cozy studio in Newington. You can also choose your preferred style, outfits, and any special props or themes you’d like to incorporate.
Flexible Scheduling – Full sessions can be scheduled on a day and time that works best for your family. This flexibility is ideal for busy families or those with young children who may need a particular time of day to be at their happiest.
More Variety – With a longer session, there’s more time for outfit changes, different poses, and multiple backdrops. This variety allows for a wider range of images to choose from when creating albums, wall art, or gifts.
Personal Attention- The extra time allows me to really get to know your family, encourage natural interactions, and capture those candid, authentic moments that you’ll treasure forever.
Full family sessions are perfect if you’re looking to document a milestone, celebrate a big moment, or simply want a gallery of images that feel truly like your family!
Full family photography session
Outdoor full family photoshoot
Full family photoshoot at home
What is a Mini Session?
Mini sessions are shorter, more limited photo sessions designed for simplicity and efficiency. At The Flash Lady Photography, our mini sessions are offered at specific times of the year, with our Christmas Mini Sessions in November being the most popular!
Here’s why families love mini sessions:
Quick & Efficient – Lasting around 15–20 minutes, mini sessions are perfect for families who need a photo session that is quick and to the point! I typically don’t recommend a mini session for kids who are not used to photoshoots, are young and need more time to warm up, or have special needs.
Set Dates & Times – Minis are scheduled on predetermined dates with set time slots, making it easy to plan in advance. While there’s less flexibility, this also means everything is organized and ready for you.
Themed Backdrops – Many mini sessions are designed around fun themes or seasonal setups. Our Christmas Minis, for example, feature beautifully crafted sets that capture the magic of the holiday season, perfect for holiday cards and gifts.
Petite Pricing Option – Mini sessions are a good way to update your family photos, especially if you’re looking for just a few great images rather than a full gallery. Typically, mini sessions include a smaller set of images vs a full session, which is reflected in the price!
While minis are shorter, they’re still designed to give you a wonderful experience and beautiful images you’ll love.
Family portrait taken during our popular cherry blossom mini sessions
Adorable family photo under the cherry blossoms
Our Christmas mini sessions sell out every year
Christmas mini sessions are a family favorite
Our Christmas minis can include Santa or be family-only
Which Type of Family Photography Session is Right for You?
Choosing between a full family session and a mini session depends on your family’s needs and what you’re hoping to get out of your photoshoot.
A full session might be the best fit if:
- You want a fully customized experience tailored to your family’s personality.
- You’re looking for a wide variety of images and possible outfit changes.
- You need flexible scheduling to work around your family’s calendar.
- You’d like to create a larger album, wall art collection, or special keepsakes.
- If your child would benefit from more time and patience to get used to their surroundings without rushing
A mini session might be the right choice if:
- You’re looking for a quick, fun, and efficient way to update your family photos.
- You love themed setups (like our magical, custom Christmas sets!).
- You want a more petite price option.
- You’re primarily interested in a few images, such as for holiday cards.
Choosing between a mini session or a full family photography session
The Best of Both Worlds
The great news is that you don’t have to choose one or the other forever! Many families love to schedule a full family session once a year or every few years to capture a more comprehensive set of images, and then book mini sessions seasonally to celebrate holidays or quickly update their family portraits.
Black and white image of a family portrait
Ready to Book Your Session?
Whether you’re drawn to the fully personalized experience of a full family session or the festive fun of a mini session, The Flash Lady Photography is here to make your family feel comfortable, have fun, and create images you’ll cherish for years to come.
Our popular Christmas Mini Sessions fill up fast each November, so if you’re interested in a spot this holiday season, be sure to reserve your session early! I also offer limited mini sessions on specific dates in the spring and fall. The best way to stay informed about upcoming sessions is to subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
If you’re ready to learn more or book your session, contact us today! We can’t wait to help you create beautiful memories!
by Kristin Vacca | Dec 25, 2021 | The Santa Experience
Santa Experience 2021 | Newington, CT
Another year….another Santa Experience 2021! Welcome to our 7th Year of amazing custom holiday experiences that you just won’t find anywhere else! I really can’t believe it’s been so many magical years and we’ve met so many wonderful families along the way! And a few have been coming every (or nearly every) single year! It’s such a joy to watch these kids grow up from little babies, to timid toddlers, to the magic that becomes visiting Santa when they’ve passed that “stranger danger” phase around 3/4 years old. But even before that, we ensure that all families have a wonderful experience. There’s no “drop and run” of kids on Santa’s lap here! You’ll notice very few tears in our photos below too! It’s always magic when Santa Claus comes to visit our photography studio from the North Pole each year and you never know what theme we’ll do or special features we’ll have! Our sets are custom built 100% by hand each year and take months to put together. All for ensuring that our families have a real experience, and can see and touch everything they want to! 32 families came to see us for just 1 day a year! We can’t wait to see what we do next year! Join our newsletter and follow on social media to be sure to get a spot! We book very fast by summer’s end!
by Kristin Vacca | Dec 9, 2020 | Children, Families, The Santa Experience
Gingerbread Village Christmas Photos | Newington, CT
2020 brought such a year of change, and the one constant that has always been there was in jeopardy of not occurring. Our annual Santa Experience, Family Christmas Portraits, & Pet Christmas fundraiser have always been something to look forward to. But with COVID-19, rising cases and possible restrictions and added precautions made us wonder if we’d be able to have our events safely at all. But, we knew that with the right procedures it was possible. 2020 became the year of our next custom designed theme – Gingerbread Village Christmas Photos. Requested by many longtime clients, we wanted to build something as realistic as possible with as many added features and surprises for the children as possible. And once again, we even surprised ourselves with the results! Using a primarily red and white color scheme with plenty of peppermints and candies, we brought a lighter, brighter, and completely colorful scene for families to enjoy this year. Some things were different – added buffers for cleaning limited our appointment slots, the added expenses of air purifiers, an exhaust fan continuously running above the set, and needing to contact clients to enter from their vehicles. But the thing that didn’t change was the magic of the experience. Clients were so happy and appreciative of having a short opportunity for some normalcy in a year of such uncertainty and change. And giving their children a magical day. Over the course of 3 events, we saw over 60 different families and produced many Christmas cards and gifts afterwards as well. We can’t share all of their images, but here are just some of the many magical moments from our gingerbread village Christmas photos holiday sessions! Thank you to Betty’s Cake Creations for your yummy cake pops and cookies! Don’t forget to follow us to join next year! Booking begins around early September and sells out every year!
by Kristin Vacca | Sep 26, 2018 | Christmas, The Santa Experience
Santa Mini Sessions | Newington, CT
The Santa Experience at The Flash Lady Photography is in its 4th year and we have a new set for you that’s better than ever! Our annual Santa mini sessions and Christmas family mini sessions are well known in Southern New England, especially in Connecticut, and we are even more known for creating unique and custom sets that you just won’t find anywhere else! This year’s theme is “Christmas Eve at the North Pole”, and you’ll meet Santa in his sleigh outside his workshop before he hurries back to work on those special items you asked him for Christmas! This year features an antique cutter sleigh we purchased last year and completely restored to a new beauty today for Santa to use. You’ll read with Santa, maybe enjoy a cookie or two, whisper what you’d like for Christmas, smile for the camera (Grandparents need those special photos!), and if you ask nicely, Santa might just be able to ask his Elves to send us some snow! Appointments are 10 minutes with Santa during our Santa Experience event on November 11th, and 15 minutes without Santa during our family Christmas photo sessions being held on December 1st. We also provide ordering and design for Christmas cards using your images and other gifts with FAST turnaround and shipping. Clients love that we can not only provide them with a memorable experience but take care of some of their holiday shopping and make a great card too! But don’t delay! We are nearly sold out of both dates already! Click here to schedule your memorable holiday session with us this year! *Are you a photographer, filmmaker, or other business who needs to rent a beautiful set for your project or sessions? We have a limited number of dates for set rental as well with half day and full day rates. Contact us for more information. Ho ho ho! *Note – the Santa & Mrs. Claus used in our modeling photos will NOT be the Santa appearing on 11/10/18.
by Kristin Vacca | Dec 25, 2017 | Christmas, The Santa Experience
Holiday Recap 2017 | Newington, CT
What a great season! I am so blessed to share our holiday recap for 2017 and the fun and magic we created and shared with so many families this year! Christmas time is a really big season for us here at The Flash Lady Photography. There is just something about the time of year that brings out such joy in children that I love making it as special as possible! This year, we built TWO custom sets in our attached garage for holiday sessions in Nov/Dec and to use for our Santa Experience earlier in November. This gave us much more room than in past years, and also allowed for my regular studio work to be minimally affected. Even I couldn’t have imagined the wow-factor that we would have after finishing the sets! We started building in June of this year. To create a completely custom set affordably, there is a LOT of behind the scenes work that goes into it. We visited antique shows for tools and toys, traveled to New York state for the perfect crate for Santa’s workshop and the barnwood mantle piece for the traditional living room side, refurnished and painted an old pot belly stove, and even worked with neighbors to cut down real evergreen branches for both sides of the set for authenticity! We had an amazing Santa Experience in November and seeing so many other families return for personal photos without Santa later in the month and early December was wonderful! All of the children were amazed and loved playing with the different toys (some kids are definitely Santa’s elf material!). We are already hard at work planning our next custom set up for 2018! Booking does sell out quickly so don’t delay next year for either session type! Enjoy some of the previews from our holiday recap below!
by Kristin Vacca | Oct 17, 2017 | Christmas, The Santa Experience
Santa Photos | Newington, CT
It’s almost Christmas time again and we are back with two completely redesigned sets for Santa Photos at The Flash Lady Photography for 2017! Preparations start in June, where we custom build each of our set ups to be authentic and magical for your children and your families! People come from all over Connecticut and Massachusetts to experience our amazing event with Santa Claus on Saturday, November 11th, 2017. This includes a personal, ten minute appointment with the man himself, professional photography during your session, a variety of packages to book in advance (and upgrade if desired afterwards), the chance to view a small selection of images and purchase designed Christmas cards, photo gifts, and other items on the spot, and leave with a treat before you go! Best of all – NO WAITING! This is MUCH different than your typical Mall experience. Children have a chance to read stories, have cookies, check out some of the toys in his workshop, tell Santa what they’d like for Christmas, and leave with something sweet by Betty’s Cake Creations! This is truly an event not to be missed and we sell out every year! So don’t delay, and book your appointment today! Only 2 spots remain for Santa Photos as of 10/18! For those that would like a photography session without Santa for holiday cards, we also are offering the sets on December 2nd for slightly longer appointments to enjoy with your family! And don’t worry, we always have photos back with plenty of time for those Christmas cards (OR just have us take care of them for you and cross one more thing off your list!!).
