What services do you offer?
BennyAni specializes in capturing newborns and their families within their first few weeks of life together. We love working with children and find joy in capturing their early moments in life. They are only little for so long and we love to freeze those moments forever! In addition to our specialty, we love to capture baby's first year milestones and expecting mothers.
How would you describe the style of your images?
We are all about capturing candid moments! We love for the sole focus to be on the ones in the image and not the surrounding area or the stiff pose they were put in only for pictures. Everyone loves to look back at a picture and see the laughter and fun or the beauty and love in a moment that was captured forever! We like to keep our images simple and timeless so as not to pull attention away from the person or family. We want you to have images that will hang on your walls for years to come!
Where do sessions take place?
Our studio is located in Burnsville with a door that walks right out to Sunset Pond Park. We recommend that sessions take place at the studio where we have everything set up and provided. You will find you can have a lot more variety while at the studio as we have indoor and outdoor spots to shoot and lots of outfits for little ones! We have everything you need! We are willing to travel upon request for full family sessions.
All newborn sessions take place at the studio as we have too much equipment that we cannot easily transport.
How do I book with BennyAni Photography?
Each session style tab on this website has a “Let’s get started” box at the the bottom or side of the page where you can fill out your information to get started with the booking process! We are also available via e-mail or phone: BennyAniPhotography@gmail.com or 952-426-0051.
How soon should I book my session?
It’s never too soon to schedule! Our calendar fills up fast so we always encourage you to book as soon as you can. Newborns play by their own rules and can always be born early or late so as soon as you know you’d like to book with us, contact us and we’ll put your due date on the calendar to reserve a spot for your session!
What is preferred time frame for newborn and maternity sessions?
It is best to capture newborns within the first 16 days of their arrival while they are sleepiest and still look so new! We are willing to capture newborns past the 16 days but please keep in mind that your images may not have as much variety if we have to keep the baby swaddled to stay calm and sleepy for pictures. All swaddled images are beautiful too but to get those squishy newborn poses we need very sleepy and moldable babies that are only a couple weeks old. Once they get older it's impossible to pose them as they become less flexible as time goes on.
Maternity sessions are best scheduled at your 32 - 36 week mark so that we can be sure to capture your maternity images before you deliver. If we wait too long your baby might come early and we will miss out on capturing your pregnancy.
How long should we plan on being at our session?
We never put a time limit on our sessions. We would never let you walk away if we weren’t sure we had enough images for you! For newborn sessions we block off about 4 hours. We never know how long those will take as the baby is sort of the boss! Other full sessions typically take about 30-45 mins but again, we can’t guarantee that it won’t take longer from time to time. Mini sessions are very quick and can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. It really depends on whoever is the star of the show!
How many images will I receive?
The amount of images you receive depends on the session you book with us. A full session is 20 images and a mini session is 7 images. If we end up having a lot more images with good variety that exceeds the 20 or 7 that you have purchased, you may receive the option to purchase more pictures. Cake Smash sessions include 25 images.
When will I receive my images?
We comb through and edit your images with care so that we can give you the best images. Gallery turnaround time is 4 weeks following your session date. We know it’s hard to wait to see them so we like to give out sneak peeks! Sneak peeks are 5-7 images given to you within about 48 hours following your session. That will hold you over until we can get your full gallery to you!
Are images given in digital form or print form?
All images come in digital form. We recommend printing images professionally through us, however, we will always give you the option to have your images in digital form. We strongly encourage printing professionally through us so that your investment in high quality images can also turn into high quality prints! We are happy to work with clients to decide what to do with prints so that they see their special investments every day. If you are planning to print a big photo, we suggest printing through us so that the quality is perfect when it's blown up. We can't guarantee the quality of images printed through other companies.
How does payment work?
To book your spot on the calendar, there is a $50 session deposit that reserves your spot. The deposit goes toward your session total which is due on the day of your session. For our packages, payments are split in half. Second half of payments can be split up further if need be. We understand that these are big investments. Payments made at sessions can be paid with card, check, Venmo, or cash.
Do you have weekend availability?
Unfortunately, we are only in studio Monday - Thursday. However, we are very flexible with scheduling and are willing to come in early or stay late on those days to work around school, childcare, or work schedules. We reserve the weekends for time with our families. If we didn't, we would never stop working because we love the work we do so much!
What should we wear?
Our first tip is to not overthink it! Start with one outfit and coordinate everyone else with that one person. We suggest bold primary colors that will stay timeless. They are your images so you are ultimately the boss, however, we will always offer our expertise! For children 1 year and younger, we have plenty of outfits in studio that you can use. We have a few items for older children as well but we suggest checking with us before your session just in case! We also have dresses that can be used for mama's at their maternity or newborn session. They are all stretchy and are "one size fits all".
Have you received any newborn specific posing training and with whom did you train?
We are constantly working on improving our training and education. A photographer should never stop taking classes, going to workshops, refreshing their safety training, etc. We are always doing whatever we can to better our work and safety! Safety is our NUMBER ONE priority in the studio. It won’t take long for you to see that while you are here!
What are the safety practices you have in place in your studio specifically geared towards the newborn client?
Everything we do at the studio is based on your little one’s safety. For sibling pictures at the newborn session, your little one will be safely swaddled the whole time. This is done so that if anything were to happen and we had to quickly grab the baby, we won’t grab an arm or a leg.
Calissa, BennyAni Photography Assistant is always nearby to spot for any pose that the baby could potentially be harmed by falling or rolling. Hands are always at the ready to catch or hold. The safety of your baby is our number one priority. No picture is worth anyone being harmed!
Both Marggie and Calissa are trained in first aid and CPR. We are prepared for anything! Don't forget Marggie is a former Labor and Delivery nurse so she is the ultimate safety expert when it comes to newborns.
If you ever have questions about how things roll at BennyAni Photography, we're happy to answer them for you! Just reach out with any questions or concerns and we'll get back to you as soon as we are able!
