What Is Lifestyle Photography and Is This Session for Me?
What is lifestyle photography? It is definitely the trend now to have a lifestyle photography session, and for good reason. The memories and interactions you can capture from this style of photography are really beautiful. Lets talk a bit about what this type of photo session is.
What Is Lifestyle Photography?
Lifestyle photography is a type of photography that focuses on capturing life as you are experiencing it instead of posed portraits. For this type of photography, we focus on prompts instead of poses and capture authentic interactions.
The main idea behind lifestyle photography is to document what’s happening in front of the camera while also being mindful about what light your subject should be photographed in. This creates a natural experience that comes across to viewers.
You are taking what would normal happen in real life and simply putting it on camera. You are capturing what the viewer would see if they were there with you documenting what is happening. For example, the image below was captured on a walk around the neighborhood. No posing, just positioning myself in the right spot to capture what was happening with the best lighting possible.
What to Expect at a Lifestyle Photography Session?
Now that we know ‘what is lifestyle photography,’ what should you expect? Your Lifestyle photography session will be very relaxed, especially because you won’t be posed. We give a few prompts and let what happens naturally happen. What happens at the session really depends on what type of lifestyle session you are having.
Options for Lifestyle Photography Sessions
Literally anything you do as a family can be turned into a lifestyle session. Spend some time at the park and go fishing and play or a have a picnic. Lifestyle photography can be documenting your time together in whatever way you choose. You could also do a photo session with prompts in a field or mountains to get the beautiful backgrounds if you want. You could take a family trip to pick blueberries and have a photographer document it. Or you could make cookies as a family or just spend an evening together while the photographer documents your time together. I really love these types of sessions because parents never get in photos with their kids enough! Plus, these are real memories and routines that you do regularly.
The image below is a picture of my son when we were visiting an art museum as a family. I didn’t position him, I just watched him walk around and waited for the right time. Are you interested in seeing more lifestyle images?
Is a Lifestyle Photography Session Right for Your Family?
This is something you should ask yourselves. A lifestyle photography session might fit one family perfectly and others, not so much. Although I love the interactions and the realness of a lifestyle session and do think families should have these done, I personally believe that formal, fine art portraits will never go out of style and should be something every family has hanging on their wall. While lifestyle photography is trending now, I do believe there should be a balance in sessions to ensure there are timeless portraits to pass on for generations.
If you choose to go with a lifestyle session, one of our heirloom albums are the perfect fit to save these memories.
