I'm obsessed with shooting in-home lifestyle and documentary style sessions. I will say, without a doubt, I feel it is the only way to tell the true story of a family. You get genuine interactions and things they do together that defines them in this season of their lives that shines through every single photo. My dream session? Documenting a family camping trip. Sigh.
And while I love that and can show future clients photos of my lifestyle sessions which they gush over until they are blue in the face, families almost always choose a park or some other location that has virtually no significance to their lives. The odds are not in my favor, friends. (Just an FYI, by "in-home" I mean house, yard, porch, etc)
So why the "I love it but not for me" attitude towards in-home lifestyle and documentary sessions? Are they like lipstick or floral printed pants (which I love!)? You know ladies, the ol "I can't pull that off but it looks great on you..." mindset. Let me just say this, you could rock those pants if you really wanted to and had the attitude to go with it. Same is true with lifestyle sessions. Every time I talk to future clients, it basically comes down to some kind of self-conscious attitude about their home or idea that the things they do together, like going to an ice cream shop or canoeing down the Illinois River, aren't special enough for photos. Screeecchhhh! (scene where the music stops and the camera zooms in on one person)
Future clients, I'm here to tell you, your home and hobbies are perfect.
Your house might have a color scheme that makes me cringe or knickknacks that give me PTSD, but who cares what I think, they tell
your story. Another concern is cleanliness. I was talking to some co-workers at school a few months ago and said how much fun I thought it would be to document a mom and kids folding laundry together or baking cookies for Christmas. Their response? "Umm...not in my house, Ashley! It's a disaster!" Lame.
Let me tell you why you are wrong.
First of all, for newborn sessions, I only do in-home. These are new parents that don't give a crap about anything, much less takeout containers and laundry. If you've ever had a baby, you can relate. And I hope I speak for all lifestyle photographers when I say this: I don't care. I literally couldn't care less what is going on in your home as long as I don't need a hazmat suit to handle it. I will do one of two things: move whatever "stuff" doesn't tell your story or crop it out. Ahhh...the power of photoshop! The last thing I want to do is deliver photos to a family where they are focused on clutter or untidy elements of their home! What I want them to see is
their story.
The other issue I notice with getting clients onboard is the fact they are often thinking about right now. I want pretty pictures of now to hang on my walls. I want pretty pictures of the trees for my christmas cards. Blah, blah, blah. I get it. If it wasn't for fall leaves, I wouldn't have been a busy beast Sept-November. What people often forget about is the significance of these photos
later. If you move tomorrow, do you feel okay with the amount of documentation you have about the memories in your current home? Even if it's your first home with cheap appliances and furniture you hate, don't you want to have that to hold onto, if not just to reflect on your beginning? Maybe it's a house you have saved 10 years to build and you feel so proud every day you walk through the front door. And think of your kids. They will probably think your park photos are pretty, but imagine the memories they will stir if they are photos of the family building castles with legos on the living room floor and eating cookies at their beloved kitchen table? What about photos of them in the treehouse that dad spent an entire weekend building?
And if you don't think a session in home would be a good representation of you and your family because you are always on the go, then shouldn't your photos reflect that? Photo sessions of traveling, trips to libraries or museums, hiking, golfing, or an afternoon bowling. I promise you with ever ounce of me that loves photography, you will be so happy you have photos that show that. I promise.
I'll end with a personal story. Early in my relationship with my husband, we lived on a boat in Charleston, South Carolina. It was a magical and frustrating experience all wrapped into one. We had no space and lived minimally. The kitchen area (if you would even call it that) was so small, I couldn't pour a cup of coffee without knocking over a stack of dishes. And Kokomo, our yellow lab, also lived there with us and had a favorite spot to lay on the top deck. We had this little table where we would play endless games of cards and drink glasses of wine. It's where I learned to love red wine. Our shower was so small if I tried to shave my legs I would hit my head on either a wall or the toilet. Kevin, far from being a carpenter, built a set of steps for us to get on the boat that looked like something from a Charlie Brown Christmas. And after years of the boat having no name, I stressed and stressed before I designed and ordered a large decal naming the vessel, "Oceanfront Property." Now, living a more traditional life in the cornfields of the midwest, I have no photos of those details or of that life. A few snapshots of friends visiting the boat, but nothing that documented our life at this rare and special time. I'll never get that back and eventually my memories will fade reminding me of those little details and what it was like. As much as I hated it some days, I loved it even more.
Embrace the fall leaves and the beautiful parks, but don't forget to document who you really are. Not the people posing on a blanket, but the people drinking wine while the kids wrestle on the floor amongst all the toys you can't find time to put away. People that walk the dog around your neighborhood for the sole purpose of seeing what the crazy neighbor is doing. If you lost your memory tomorrow and could only take one with you, would it be a park with everyone staring at a camera? Probably not.
I promise you, your home and hobbies are perfect. And if this post didn't convince you to change the way you look at photography, one of my favorite photographers, Marie Masse, suggests this exercise: write down the most important people in your life and then list your 3 favorite memories with them. Those are the things you should have photos of. My guess? You probably don't have "sitting in an insignificant park smiling at camera" on the list. (to see her full post and fabulous photos to support this point, go
here!)
xo
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