The sunflower session that changed my mind about themed mini Sessions

Most people don’t realize that I come from a farming family, which made the idea of hosting sunflower mini sessionsfeel extra special to me. One day, I was talking to my dad and asked how difficult it would be to plant a sunflower patch. I had seen other photographers in my area successfully offering sunflower mini sessions, and I thought it would be fun to try something similar for my photography business.

My dad agreed and planted a sunflower field on our family land next to my brother’s house. Everything seemed perfect — until it wasn’t. I planned to photograph the sunflower sessions before heading back to college in August, but when the time came, the sunflowers weren’t ready.

When I visited the field, I noticed that some sunflowers were blooming while others weren’t. After I asked my dad about it, he admitted that he had accidentally killed most of the flowers by spraying weeds. He quickly replanted the field, hoping I wouldn’t notice. Because of the delay, the sunflowers didn’t fully bloom until after I had already returned to college.

Even though I couldn’t come home for the sessions, I continued promoting my sunflower mini sessions on social media. At first, no one booked, which was discouraging. Instead of giving up, I asked a few family members to model for me so I could practice photographing sunflower sessions. Those practice shoots ended up becoming some of my favorite sessions from that season.

Eventually, two clients reached out to book their own sunflower mini sessions. They became my very first paying clients, and I charged each of them $50 for a 30-minute session. At the time, that felt like such a huge milestone in my photography journey.

A few months later, I decided to try themed mini sessions again — this time with fall minis. I spent over $100 on pumpkins, mums, and décor to create a cozy, seasonal setup. After all the preparation and promotion, no one booked, and I ultimately canceled the sessions.

That experience helped me realize something important: themed mini sessions aren’t the right fit for me or my business. The constant planning, setup, and uncertainty of booking was overwhelming. I learned that I prefer focusing on full photography sessions or simple 15- to 30-minute shoots for clients who want something quick and stress-free, without the pressure of themed minis.



Looking back, I’m grateful for those early experiences. They taught me patience, flexibility, and how to trust my own pace as a Louisiana lifestyle photographer. And even though my first sunflower field didn’t go exactly as planned, I’ll always smile knowing how hard my dad tried to fix it before I found out.