My Idea of Picture Perfect
Portraits are lovely. They’re wonderful and capture your families in an extremely uniform way. It’ll allow for everyone to be seen as they are, captured perfectly in time. But… What about capturing a moment? What about capturing laughter and joy? Capturing that goofy smile or expression you love so much? The relationship between siblings, or the love between two people? Not all of that can be shown through cut and dry pictures. I will introduce you to the concept of lifestyle photography!
I.| What is lifestyle photography?
Lifestyle photography is a blend of portraits and documentary style photos. Often, these photos can be referred to as ‘candid’ photos. They often appear as moments frozen in time, suspended in a moment. They capture something unique that a perfectly posed image may not.
Lifestyle photography can appear in a number of ways. Some people may want them to be exceptionally goofy, while others may want it to seem casual but purposeful. The goofy ones can come from running around playing tag, looking at each other making silly faces, splashing around in water, and so on. For more casual but purposeful candid moments, it could be walking and laughing with one another, giving a piggyback ride, running through a tossed blanket, and more.
II.| More on lifestyle photography
I always try to include some of these candid moments in my sessions. When it is just portrait after portrait, it can lack interest. It lacks that personality that many people crave in photos. A picture is worth a thousand words as they say, but it is our job to make them tell a story. You want people to be able to tell who you are from a photo. You want your personality and light to shine through, even if what people are looking at is 2D. Lifestyle photos are so powerful, they can give insight into familial relationships, personality traits at the time, favorite poses, genuine smiles, and so much more.
I always like to encourage families or clients to just get a little silly with me. I want to see that side that isn’t totally perfect. When we get ready for professional sessions we often get lost in being done up, not a hair out of place, but we forget we are paying to have ourselves immortalized in picture form. I even say that the ‘dumber’ you feel in the moment, the better the pictures turn out. In fact, some of my personal favorites from client galleries tend to be the lifestyle photos!
Well, that’s all I have on lifestyle photography! If you have any more questions, please feel free to reach out. Until next time!
