samantha, Christmas photos outside Zehnder's of Frankenmuth in Michigan's quaint Little Bavaria

Before I dive into this session's details, and keep you here for about five minutes, I want to get one thing out of the way:

SAMANTHA'S OUTFIT.

If you read my blog regularly, you know this is something I am bound to talk about no matter what. I love a good outfit. Outfits can completely make or break a session. That’s why photographers like myself will provide client wardrobes (mine is in the works, and I am open to any donations one might have!), a styling guide, and even assist in selecting client outfits. This session didn't require any of the above though!

When Samantha’s mother first contacted me on November 27th to see if I had availability for a Christmas photo session in Frankenmuth, Michigan, she already had Samantha’s outfit selected. I was told Samantha would be wearing a red coat and beret. This sounded perfect to me. Then, when I actually met up with them for their session on December 2nd and saw Samantha in her Christmas outfit, I found myself thinking, “This is absolutely unbelievable.” Samantha looked incredible! Not only did her outfit suit her so perfectly, but it screamed Christmas. Backed by sparkling lights and a town filled with reds and whites, her outfit coordinated with the scene so effortlessly.

Now, if you are really great at putting two and two together, you might have noticed that I mentioned November 27th as being the date that I was contacted for this session. You probably also realized that today is only December 9th. Yes, that means that Samantha’s Christmas photos were taken and finished in only about 12 days! Similar to Hillary and Craig’s fall family session in Grand Ledge, Michigan this last October, Samantha's session was planned last minute and extremely quickly. In fact, this session was planned even quicker than Hillary and Craig’s! It also has a few elements that are not typical of Pábitel Photography.

Here is a breakdown of this Christmas session’s timeline with the unique details italicized:

• November 27th - Samantha’s mother messaged me on Instagram to ask if I photograph children in Frankenmuth and whether I had availability for the upcoming weekend (December 2nd through the 4th). Clearly, I had the availability! I quickly sent her my pricing guide as well as pricing for a limited session of 30 minutes. We discussed a few more details such as times and what aesthetic we wanted these Christmas photos to have.

• November 28th - I emailed the contract.

• November 29th - The contract was signed and the session was paid in full.

• December 1st - I emailed over a recap of the session details along with an updated time and location of where to meet for the session.

• December 2nd - We did the thing! We met at 4:40 for a half hour session filled with glowing Christmas lights and bright colors.

So, as I have said in the past, as long as you are able to find a photographer with availability, planning a last minute session does not have to be difficult! The outfit, location, and times can be selected easily with a little bit of effort and great communication. Looking at these photos, I bet you would have never guessed this session was planned in only about five days!

christmas photos in frankenmuth, michigan

Finding the right location for this session was a little more obvious than with most sessions I have had and for a very exciting (to me) reason too! Samantha’s family was on vacation! I am still so humbled, grateful, and even floored that they were willing to take time out of their vacation to spend it with my camera and me.

As most Michiganders know, Frankenmuth, Michigan is a tourist town. It is actually one of the busiest towns in the state with festivals every weekend in the summer and crowds from all over the world visiting. Known as Michigan’s Little Bavaria, this quaint town is modeled after the home of the German settlers that originally founded Frankenmuth. Frankenmuth is also home to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, the world’s largest Christmas store. With this claim to fame, it is no wonder that Frankemuth is a worldwide Christmas destination.

While Bronner's keeps their Christmas lights up year round, the rest of the town does not light up until mid-November. As many of you know, I worked at a hotel in Frankenmuth for three years and have had my fair share of complaints about the town, but one thing I will absolutely never tire of are the Christmas lights. Frankenmuth is absolutely beautiful at Christmastime. Every building, pole, and tree is lit up with sparkling white lights. Lights even hang over the Main street as well, and in more recent years, the town has created “Instagram Selfie Stations,” two of which we made use of during our time together.

On top of Samantha’s family having been on vacation in Frankenmuth, they are also from out of state, making them the first group of people I have worked with who do not live in Michigan! Apparently my Instagram hashtags are working too, because Samantha’s mother found my business through Instagram after having searched #frankenmuthphotographer!

the session

When photographing young children, it is important to let them lead the session. If you don’t, it is very likely you may end up with an unhappy model! Luckily, this didn’t happen with Samantha. She was so sweet and such an incredible listener. Every time we went to take a photo in a new spot, I would give her a small instruction and then let her do her thing.

For instance, we had Samantha mail Santa a letter. I told her which way to stand and then took a few steps back to capture the moment as she moved around how she felt comfortable while doing it.

Samantha’s mother and I were aiming for a magical Christmas glow with these photos, with inspiration coming from photographer Meg Loeks’ work. One of the pieces we especially took inspiration from made use of a window front’s light to create a warm glow on the model. In trying to recreate this photo, I think this may have been the one spot we lost Samantha’s focus. We started at the window by taking a zoomed in photo (pictured below), but when I changed my lens to take a photo from a distance, Samantha was ready to move on to a new spot! The window shot still turned out beautiful though, and we were able to capture many more magical photos of her throughout town.

Samantha’s mother also had the genius idea of taking photos outside Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth. Not only is this an iconic dinner destination in Michigan’s Little Bavaria, but it is also a striking white building that decorates impeccably for the holidays. Samantha’s red coat and black beret looked gorgeous backed by this setting, and we were able to create such magic by simply having her sit in front of it.

I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. While I don’t normally photograph children or do limited sessions, this Christmas session was a breath of fresh air. It was both a session with a couple of firsts for me (out of state family, being found on Instagram, etc.) and a session where I was able to be really creative with my editing and use of light. Thank you, Samantha, for being the perfect little model, and thank you, Samantha’s family, for taking a chance on me and for allowing me to steal you away from your vacation for a little bit.

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A few of my typical side notes:

• I am currently booking all of the sessions! Contact me to learn more, or check out my services to learn more about what session types I provide.

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• The 2022 calendar, "simple pleasures on mackinac," is out now. You can see the photos included in this calendar here. To have it shipped directly to you, please visit my Etsy listing. Contact me with any questions!

• Read about my fall family session with the Feathers family.