Why Lifestyle Family Photos Are Perfect For Your Family

In the past decade, family photography has moved from highly posed (think JC Penny portraits of the 80s) to a more relaxed style that reflects your family’s personality and relationships.

Lifestyle photography is the happy medium between “traditional posing” (your photographer tells you how to stand and exactly where to put each limb) and “documentary” (your photographer does not interact with you at all and photographs what plays out).

Honestly, every family I have worked with, has wanted somewhere in between! A lifestyle photographer offers gentle guidance and prompts, then allows space for your family’s personal interpretation to play out, making each family’s pictures unique to them.

Read on to learn more about lifestyle photography and why it is perfect for your family.

Lifestyle Photography looks and feels relaxed.

Family photos are only stressful when there are expectations around how family members are posed and whether everyone is smiling and looking at the camera. Instead, lifestyle photography allows families to let down their guard, interact with one another and have authentic emotions and connections while being photographed.

If you have ever worried about how your children might act during a session or how your photos will turn out, lifestyle photography takes the pressure off. No longer do you have to worry about perfection, instead you get to have fun and spend an hour with the people you love most. The result being genuine and authentic photographs that you will cherish.

You receive gentle posing and direction to bring out natural connection that is all your own.

Maybe you like the look of lifestyle photos, not having to pose in awkward or forced ways, but you are worried you may not know what to do during your session - how to look candid without being candid.

Rest assured, my job as your photographer is to make sure you are never left hanging. I come to every session with a planned (but flexible) shot list in my head. I provide gentle posing so your family is arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way and looks connected, then I guide you with prompts so your family’s natural connections are highlighted. When your family is engaged with one another in an honest and natural way, there are no longer forced smiles, but instead true, beautiful emotions worth being captured.

Lifestyle family photos become more valuable with time.

We want family photos because we all know time is fleeting. We see our children growing before our eyes. Every time we blink they have reached a new goal or are starting a new grade in school.

Lifestyle photos capture who your family is right now. They capture the details that will be different just one year from now.

When families receive their photo galleries, they often look through their photos quickly and choose favorites based on how they look and what they want to present to the outside world or on social media. As time passes however, they look back at their photos and start to feel.

They remember how their child used to wrinkle their nose when they smiled or only had half their adult teeth grown in with a gap where a baby tooth had recently fallen out. They notice how tall (or short) their children were or how uninhibited they were when playing. All these little nuances become more valuable to parents after time has passed - when the only way to look back is through photographs. Lifestyle photography bottles up these moments to be relived later.

Interested in a relaxed lifestyle family photo session with Stephanie George Photography, reach out! Or read on to learn tips for creating beautiful connection in your family photographs.

Curious about a family photo session with grandparents; check out Why You Need An Extended Family Photo Session.