Lifestyle Photographer| Clovis|Three things I love about photographing families
Three things I love about photographing families
When I started charging people for my services, I started off focusing on family photography. There are a couple of reasons why. First, I thought it was the easiest to photograph. Second, I had a lot of practice photographing my own family. Third, there was something special about how every family was so different and unique to photograph. Now that I’ve been in business for a while, and that I have photographed tons of families, I still go back to the three main things that made me fall in love with family photography.
It’s never the same experience
You can ask photographers, most of us have our go-to poses or go-to routine when it comes to photographing any session. When it comes to family photography, it’s always super different. This keeps me on my toes and never bored. Let’s face it regardless of how much I love photography it can be a little repetitive and sometimes a little boring some days with family photography. It’s never the same though, every family unit is so different. You really don’t know what you’re going to expect. You’re dealing with groups of people of all ages newborns, teenagers, grandparents, and so on. It’s always such a unique experience. Also, each family has different comfort levels. I can start the day photographing a super laid-back family that is 100% willing to take off their shoes and jump in the water. Then later that afternoon I have another family that’s a little bit more reserved and rather stick to more traditional posing styles. Also, family bonds are super different. I get to witness super special moments between grandparents and grandkids, and siblings amongst each other. Wife and husband bonds. It’s super cool and reminds me of my own family in a way. With that being said, the fact that not every session is the same brings a certain level of challenges. Such as having to manage every family member’s unique personality and trying to make each one of them as comfortable as I can. Making mom, dad, kids, and even grandparents all happy with the same photo is not always an easy task.
The more imperfect the better
This is probably going to sound wild to most of you, but I never shoot for perfection when I photograph any of my clients. I like to say that I focus on their personality and how I want to represent who they are. With that being said, it allows my clients to always feel comfortable and not like they’re being forced to do something they don’t want to. The cool thing about family photography is that they’re perfectly imperfect. As a lifestyle photographer, I don’t always follow traditional rules so this type of technique works perfectly for families. Rarely do I have a family where every single person is so focused on getting the shot and not distracted or maybe looking away or blinking. So the majority of the time I have to give direction to multiple people to do different things. Maybe I’m telling Mom and Dad to look at each other and think of the first time they met, or perhaps I’m telling the siblings to look at each other and remember the happiest moment they shared. The outcome of that photo after giving that kind of direction may not be perfect to some people, but it’s super special to that unique family and that’s exactly what I’m looking for. How I’d like to describe it is also kind of related to interior design. Now hang in there hopefully you don’t get too confused about what I’m trying to say. An interior designer focuses on creating a space that showcases who their client is. Each designer has their spin and interpretation of each design. So in my design for my photography, instead of focusing on trends, I like to also focus on what the client feels, and what they want to be showcased as.
Watching the growth
Watching families grow is probably one of my favorite things about this job. I have clients for who I’ve taken their first-ever family photos and now I get to witness them add to the family, watched their kids grow up, and watch them evolve into something incredible. It’s such a cool thing to witness and I’m super grateful that they allow me to be a part of it. I know clients whose babies were newborns when we first worked on their photos and now they’re starting kindergarten for the first time it’s so precious because these little kiddos recognize me and they know I’m the silly lady with a camera. There’s something super special about that. Whenever I see the families again I get to catch up on cool milestones they’ve hit together and on life memories they’ve experienced since the last time I’ve seen them. It’s always a super good feeling knowing that they trust me to capture the growth of their family.
Family photography has become so important in my business, and I always make time to prioritize some family sessions a month. I can’t wait to see returning families this upcoming year. Also cannot wait to meet new families and capture their beautiful families.
