Lifestyle photography is technically a form of portrait photography, but the word portrait just sounds rigid to me. When you think of getting a portrait taken, you’re probably envisioning sitting on a stool with your back straight, hands in your lap, smiling sweetly at the camera. Your photographer directs you to move your head just slightly at a different angle. Turn your shoulder just barely to the left. It is very directed. That’s NOT what I do.

On the other end, you have documentary photography, which is pretty much just letting things happen as they will and not directing anything at all. So you show up to someone’s house and you take photos of a family’s daily life without interfering at all. That’s also not what I do.

Lifestyle photography is somewhere in between portrait and documentary photography. Lifestyle is more about capturing a moment. It’s about photographing emotions and connection. The photographer doesn’t just leave it up to the family to know exactly what to do, however. They will provide gentle direction. Sometimes we may give a prompt and leave it open to interpretation so the family can make it their own. Other times we may set a family up into a pose, but then tell them to do something sweet or silly to get everyone interacting. Or we will have games for them to play to get everyone having fun together.

Movement plays a big part in lifestyle photography. A lot of times the prompts we use incorporate a lot of movement, because it looks beautiful on camera and provides something a bit different. Another benefit to keeping our subjects moving is that it gives them something to do and helps them to feel more comfortable.

The results are perfectly captured moments in time that demonstrate the character, spirit, and heart of an individual, couple, family, or pet.