This is a question I have gotten many times. Not unlike family photographer, wedding photographer, food photographer... it kind of explains itself. Some have different interpretations, but to me, lifestyle photography is the art of the everyday.
It's as simple and as complicated as that. This style of photography aims to capture and document real-life events, situations, or milestones in an artistic manner. Life is captured in a way that you get a feeling like you know the family just by looking at the images and you can piece together what a typical day is really like but in a professional, more put together way. Still there are no fake smiles, no poses, just real life in an artistic light.
Now that I explained a little about what it means, you might be thinking: WHY? ... "Our day to day is boring" or "Our home isn't extraordinary" .. Guess what. Most people don't live in a house that looks like a page out of a magazine and that is OK! Your family will want photos to look back on and the images frolicking through a field won't give you the same trip down memory lane. (Don't get me wrong, I love the field photos with the glowing natural light where everyone is grouped together and smiling perfectly at the camera but everyone is posed and that is family photography, not lifestyle.) Also I guarantee your day to day is anything but boring.
It's the simple life moments that are often the most important and most memorable.
I actually have photos from my childhood that allow me to look back on a time that I don't remember because I was too young. My parents captured moments that help me get an idea of what our lives were like and they are some of my favorite photos. We lived in a tiny apartment complex in Mishawaka and luckily they didn't think twice about needing everything to look perfect and kept snapping away. I still like to look back on those photos. So it doesn't matter how big or small, messy or organized, boring or crazy your life is.
Lifestyle photography captures the love your family shares.
There's photo of me "helping" my brother wash our parents car and I was just two years old so have no memory of how I kept spraying my brother instead of the car - but that photo is one of our favorites and it makes me laugh everytime!
Now of course those moments just happened and my parents captured it, similar to what people now capture on their phones but never print out. As a photographer, I capture your own favorite memories through a re-created activity or situation and develop it in an artistic way, worthy of being displayed in your home.
What does your family do together that you would love to have captured?
Do you play board games at home? Do you read a book each night to your kids before they go to bed? Do you love baking cookies together? Do you have movie nights where everyone has popcorn and is snuggled up with their favorite blankets? Maybe you play tag in the backyard or like to walk to the park? Is there a special ice cream shop that you visit if you're celebrating a special occasion? Or maybe you like to visit the library or a museum and would like to have a special trip captured... it could literally be any place or activity that means something to you and your family.
Shoot me a message and we can work a plan around any activity you have in mind. I'd love to incorporate any real-life events into your session.
xoxo
