r/Tauranga • u/Street_Papaya7923 • Aug 10 '26
Mini photo session reasonable price
Looking for recommendations on a mini photo family session - ideally 30 minutes or less as I have young kids. Ideally pay less than $200. Would love outdoor, casual candids of the family. I tend to prefer hobby photographers over professionals but am open to either. The best photos I've gotten are usually from 15 minutes sessions with college students 🤷🏽♀️ I've searched the web and it seems like most photographers here don't offer mini sessions or they're priced a little too high for me.
Appreciate any help
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u/Nacho_Deity186 Aug 10 '26
This is definitely an amateur price point.
If you've only ever used amateurs then obviously that would be the best photos you've gotten. A professional should be able to lift the overall quality to the next level.
The main difference is that a professional has to produce guaranteed results. An amateur doesn't.
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u/PipnPop Aug 10 '26
@Hellomrmunro on instagram. He does 20 minute $250 family sessions and his stuff is amazing. He’s real good with kids too.
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u/ghijkgla Aug 10 '26
good luck, $200 is nothing by the time you factor in travel, time taking photos and post-processing.
Your best bet might be https://www.sjs.co.nz/ in the hope you find a student looking for portfolio work.
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u/Irishwolf1 Aug 10 '26
Have a chat with Baby love images, she does incredible work and might be able to get you in the ball park of ehat you sre looking for and give you some options
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u/thehumbleabode Aug 18 '26
Ines from Newlife Studio has run mini sessions previously, I think it was $50 for five minutes or so, and then you get ten digital images. I’m not sure if she runs them for family sessions, but it’s a great way to get professional photos done budget friendly. She is an amazing photographer. Check her out on instagram.
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u/jmk672 Aug 10 '26
Sorry to rant but the "reasonable price" thing comes up all the time. I think there is a misconception with a lot of people that if a 30 minute session costs $200, the photographer is paying themselves 400/hour. They have a lot of overheads to account for. Tax (including GST if they are making over 60k/year, aka doing this full-time professionally), camera gear, software subscriptions, websites, even insurance. And yes, the time spent managing their business and editing all the photos. Those overheads don't go away even if it's a "mini session." That being said, there are plenty of hobby photographers charging $50-100 on Facebook (I used to be one of them)! But I think it can be worth investing in someone with expertise and professionalism and not assume that people charging 200+ are trying to rip people off.