Mayberry Acres, Canton, Ga.

This baby duck session, at Mayberry Acres, was the sweetest, cutest mini session I’ve shot in a while. I think this is my favorite of all time. Although Canton is a drive from Flowery Branch, where I live, they never disappoint and always leaves their photographers and our clients wanting more. They have the most beautiful sets. Anytime I book a mini session, I always photograph the whole set. I developed this habit back in my scrapbooking days because I needed more than “just the photos.” I needed the onlooker to see the whole story. I believe this is where my love for editorial photography began.

When my sessions include animals, I always have separate photos of just the animal. And yes, these photos will be included in your gallery as well…without an upcharge. This is one reason I consider myself a budget friendly photographer.

When we began our session, Jenna tried to play with just one little duck but did you know, when they’re separated, they chirp loud and often. They are quiet and easy going when they’re left in a pack and easier to work with. It seemed easier for Jenna to hold all three babies than if she just tried holding one. The one would flap its little wings and chirp to get away. When they were all held together, they were so still and quiet and just looked on and smiled for the camera. I had no idea they were so close knit.

We had a time picking an outfit for this session. I knew exactly what I wanted her to wear and never told her ahead of time, since it was an Easter dress she chose herself at the store. Of course on this day, she didn’t want to wear a dress and fancy shoes with lace socks, so we compromised on a jumper, only to find it had shrunk in the drier. OMG I was so mad. It was my favorite outfit, she had only worn once and I never got a photo of her wearing it. It would’ve been perfect. The shirt she’s wearing here is what would’ve been under the jumper. So Jenna agreed to wear blue jeans, with this shirt, which she normally HATES jeans. She avoids jeans at all costs. So since she was willing to work with me, I agreed to let her wear these black leggings on the way to the location and she’d change in the car. Well, someone forgot the jeans at home and after an hour drive, this is all we had. I told myself “it’s just photos,” “just have fun and don’t blow up.” It was hard but in the end, I love the way these turned out and the bottoms really didn’t affect the outcome. And what’s most important is how much fun Jenna had. She never asked when we were leaving or how much longer. She enjoyed every second of this, as much as I did.

I love getting what I call promo shots during my session. These are the photos I will use the following year when I advertise the same session. Y’all get ready because these will be a MUST next year. I wish I had more timing to advertise these, this year but I wasn’t planning on booking these. This session fell in my lap and I had a week before the session. How adorable is this to advertise and promote this baby duck session? I’d book a session just because this little duck looks so happy and cute. It’s like he’s saying, “come play with me.”

At this point, Jenna had her fill of playing with the ducks, she was ready to just watch them play. They liked staying in this basket but when one walked out of it, the rest followed. She laughed when she had to wrangle them back together.

I wanted to include these photos so you can see how safe the animals are. Every session I’ve ever photographed with animals, has always had handlers there to care and watch over everyone for their safety. So there’s no harm and no one will be contributing to animal cruelty by booking a session. None of the animals have ever been forced to finish a session. Some may have been given more food to cooperate but if they quit, we just move on to a different pose. It takes a village to get kids and animals to look this cute at the same time.

If you’ve never used me as your photographer, I invite you to try one of my mini sessions this year. If you book any Christmas session by the end of Summer, I’ll give you every image I edit. That could be anywhere from 30-50 photos. That number will not include photos of the set, as shown in the beginning of this blog. My sessions are found here https://book.usesession.com/i/2vq1XcoTE

If you know anyone getting married and looking for a wedding photographer, please give them my info. I’d love to serve them and can work with any budget. My prices I have listed are a for the full bridal experience.

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