For the last few years I’ve been popping into local playgroups in places like Cowbridge, Llanblethian and Colwinston to photograph pre-schoolers and toddlers. I visit in the Spring and Autumn time and regularly see repeat clients over the years. This year, I realised that lots of the children that I used to photograph were now in full time school and weren’t able to come to my pop-up sessions anymore. So, the after school pop-up session was born!

I thought it would be a lovely idea to offer the same 10 minute pop-up sessions to older children and I have run a couple of after school photo sessions this Summer. They were so popular that they both sold out within 24 hours and even though I had to reschedule one because of the rain, I had a waiting list of reserves to fill any places that had to be changed.

So, what is a 10 minute pop-up session? Well, it’s not a family photo shoot. There just isn’t enough time to arrange a family in such a short space of time, but in 10 minutes, there’s plenty of time for some lovely sibling photos and individual portraits (sometimes Mum can sneak in for a few photos too!). There’s no charge for the photo session and you get an online gallery with your images within a few days. You then have a week to choose which ones you’d like to order, as prints or digital files.

I’ve had some lovely feedback from clients about these shoots and feel like they’re a great idea for families that like to update images of their children regularly but don’t want a full family photo shoot.

“Thanks so much Gem! We love them, they actually made me cry a bit. You’re so clever.” Jo

“Thanks for the beautiful photos – you are so talented.” Rhian

“Amazing work! Wow so many fantastic images it’s going to be difficult to choose! !” Kelly

“I love the pictures. Amazed what you can do in 10 minutes!!!” Alli

“The pictures are amazing, we found it really hard deciding which ones to have.” Hayley

I’ll be running at least 2 more pop-up sessions this year – one in the Autumn and one very special Christmas pop-up shoot too (there will be an up front charge for the Christmas shoots as spaces are very limited).

To find out when the sessions are going to be, make sure that you follow my Facebook page – I’ll add them in the Events section once they are scheduled and also sign up to my newsletter (you might get advance warning of the dates on there). To sign up, go to my homepage and scroll down to the bottom and add your email address in the box.

I hope you’re all having an awesome Summer!

Gem x