What is Lifestyle Photography Anyway? - Ottawa Lifestyle Photographer

I wanted to touch base and give you what I think might be a helpful explanation of the lifestyle family photography approach. Gone are the days of the stiff Sears portraits, standing in a dark studio, staring and fake smiling into the camera or yelling “cheese”; many people today desire something more informal and candid yet still beautiful and artful. My Ottawa lifestyle photo sessions are just that.

So, what is storytelling, lifestyle photography anyway?

In a nutshell, it’s meant to tell a story. YOUR story - of a point in time, personalities, emotions, relationships, connections - to others and to your environment. It fits somewhere in the middle of traditional posed portrait photography and completely unscripted observational documentary photography. Lifestyle photography incorporates playfulness, movement, and interaction to convey your story in a genuine way, including the perfectly perfect elements. This doesn’t mean it’s fully unguided, however. I’ll be there to assist you the entire way with gentle prompts and games.  

I want you to think of photography as capturing your family’s legacy in an artful yet enjoyable way. Your photography experience should portray a moment in time and display the characters, personality and love that exists at that moment. Look, we’re ALL busy. Yet we all deserve to slow down and enjoy the moment, too.

Life is way too brief. And as much as we say we’ll always remember it, the reality is that we sometimes don’t. Your images, however, are timeless. 

How do we do this?

We work together. Remember how I said I’ll prompt? This means giving you some directions on where to place yourself in relation to the light or the setting, as well as to each other. I will ask you to look at me for a few “standard” photos (I call these the Christmas card photos haha) but I will mostly prompt you to look at each other. I’ll also prompt you by doing something silly (or asking you to do something silly!). I may also prompt you to just breath, focus on the air on your face and snuggle into that special person next to you. Every session is a bit different because each person, couple, or family is different. I will follow your lead here and while I see it as my job to help get you relaxed, I’m not going to make you do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Some families are straight-up goofballs and are willing to do lots of wacky, active things. Others are more reserved and appreciate quiet exploration as their form of interaction. 

And those years come way too fast - you will never regret getting your family photos taken, no matter what age and stage you’re at. As a Mom whose girls just keep growing and growing, trust me on that. 

Regardless, the goal is the same: emotive, nostalgic images that you can enjoy for years to come. Please visit my contact page if you’d like more information or to book.