In this article, you will learn what mini sessions are, and how they are the perfect way to fill out your calendar and get some additional income. Additionally, we will share a step-by-step guide on how to create your first mini session in Studio Manager.

For a video walkthrough of how to set up your mini sessions, check out our video tutorial here.

For additional tips for successful mini sessions, see our dedicated blog post here.

What are mini sessions?

Mini sessions are short, fun photography sessions, usually around 20 minutes in length each and stacked back to back on a certain date in the same location. These are the perfect way to bring in bookings, connect with new clients, and give them a taste of your full photography experience.

For instance, you may like to shoot holiday mini sessions, where you set up a fun scene at your studio and book your clients and their families back to back for a day of quick photo shoots. Your clients will appreciate the opportunity to get a set amount of professional photos to share with their friends, colleagues, and family, or use them for greeting cards. For an example of a mini session, check out our demo here.

With Studio Manager’s Booking & Scheduling, offering mini sessions is a breeze. All you need is to create your mini session as a session type, specify your availability, and then you can sit back as your clients choose from your available time slots, pay the session fee, and receive their booking confirmation.

Creating your mini session

To offer mini sessions, you will first need to create a session type. This is easy to do! In your Studio Manager Dashboard, go to Bookings > Session Types and select New Session Type to start creating your own mini sessions. For a full breakdown on Studio Manager Session Types, click here).

The most important part of setting up your mini sessions is to manage your availability. In this guide, we’ll walk you through two scenarios, and the recommended ways to set them up:

Scenario 1: 30 minute time slots back to back between 9 AM - 5 PM
Scenario 2: 20 minute time slots with a ten minute gap between each slot

We also have a video tutorial for these two scenarios that will walk you through the same steps.

Based on your mini session requirements, you can select the best option for you and adjust the steps to easily accommodate your workflow.

Scenario 1: 30 minute back-to-back time slots from 9 AM to 5 PM

In this example, we will set up our available hours as 9 AM - 5 PM on a specific calendar date. From there, the system will automatically create time slots based on the inputted hours. This intuitive availability based approach is the easiest way to get your mini session up and running for clients to begin booking right away.

Note: If you prefer to manually determine the exact time slots for your mini session instead, you may like to consider Scenario 2.

In the General section of your session type, specify the duration of each session. In this scenario, we’re offering 30 minute time slots for our clients:
Since mini sessions are date specific, you’ll want to first remove the default weekly hours in the Availability section. Click List View and then X next to each day’s availability.
Next, you can add your mini sessions to your chosen date by clicking +Add date in the Date Specific Hours column on the right. Alternatively, head over to the calendar view to choose that date directly on your calendar.
Enter your availability as the start time and end time for the specific calendar date. Click Apply to confirm the availability. Here, we are available for mini sessions all day from 9 AM to 5 PM:
Repeat Steps #3 - 4 for any additional calendar dates you’d like to offer.

Scenario 2: Four 20 minute time slots with a ten minute gap between each slot

In this example, we will specify each time slot by manually entering the start and end time for each session. This time-slot based approach is helpful if you’d like to take full control and offer a limited number of sessions at exact times.

Note: If you’re looking to set up a larger number of available time slots over a longer period of time (e.g. 9 AM - 5 PM), consider the hands-off, availability based approach in Scenario 1 instead.

In the General section of your session type, specify the duration of each session. In this scenario, we’re offering 20 minute time slots for our clients:
Since mini sessions are date specific, you’ll want to first remove the default weekly hours in the Availability section. Click List View and then X next to each day’s availability.
Next, you can add your mini sessions to your chosen date by clicking +Add date in the Date Specific Hours column on the right. Alternatively, head over to the calendar view to choose that date directly on your calendar.
Enter the start time and end time of each mini session as its own individual time slot, and click Apply to confirm the availability. Here, we’re adding four 20 minute mini sessions starting at 10 AM with a 10 minute gap between each slot:
Repeat Steps #3 - 4 for any additional calendar dates you’d like to offer.
Under Advanced Options, ensure that Buffer Time is turned Off. Because you already specified the exact time slots with your Date Specific Hours, you can also leave your Start Time Increments as-is.

Determining your session fee and payment details

For mini sessions, it is recommended that you collect the fee during your clients’ booking process as it ensures you get paid upfront and helps avoid no-shows. You can do this by connecting an integrated payment method to Studio Manager (Stripe, PayPal) and activating Collect Payments to specify your session fee.

Sharing your mini session

Once you have confirmed your time slots and session details, you’re ready to share your mini sessions with your clients! This is a great opportunity to announce your mini sessions on your website or socials to build excitement and get those bookings coming in.

Simply click Publish in the top right hand corner and you’ll be able to share your mini sessions wherever you like, through its direct link.

Your clients will be taken straight to your mini sessions booking page where they can book, pay and get excited for their upcoming shoot.

Help Center

Articles in this section

How do I create a mini session for my clients?

On this page: