Entry 3: What Lifestyle Photography Actually Is

When most people hear "lifestyle photography" they have no idea what it means. It's a term that has become trendy in photography — and honestly, it can be difficult to understand from the outside. So let me explain exactly what it is, what it isn't, and why it might be exactly what your family has been looking for.

Here is what lifestyle photography is and what it is not.

What lifestyle photography is NOT

It is not a studio session with a screen backdrop and a photographer telling you where to stand and when to smile.

It is not twenty minutes of rushing through a checklist of poses while your toddler melts down and your baby refuses to look at the camera.

It is not the stiff, the stiff, slightly uncomfortable family portrait that ends up in a cabinet or drawer never to be seen again.

If you have ever walked away from a photo session feeling like it didn't quite capture your family — this is probably why. Traditional posed photography asks families to perform. And most families are not performers. They are people. Real, messy, wonderful people.

What lifestyle photography actually is

Lifestyle photography is documentary-style portraiture, but not completely. Documentary photography captures a family's life from behind the scenes. The photographer takes the pictures of everyday life, not interfering with the family. In lifestyle photography, it is more guided.

Lifestyle photography is also similar to portrait photography but not quite. Portrait photography is often stiff and posed. I feel like the word portrait is misleading...when I hear "portrait", my mind becomes nostalgic thinking of school "portrait" day. Portraits capture the beautiful details of a person but in a very structured fashion.

Lifestyle is kind of in between documentary and portrait. It sees your family as they truly are- real, chaotic, perfectly imperfect, authentically themselves and, at the same time, captures the beautiful details of your child's little curls or dimples or how your children giggle with their siblings. It is real moments, genuine interactions, and authentic connection ...created intentionally by a photographer who knows where the light is and how to set the conditions for something true to happen. The photographer may pose you but then leads you through a series of prompts to engage with your family.

It is the laugh your daughter lets out when your son does something ridiculous behind your back.

It is the way your partner looks at your baby when they think nobody is watching.

It is the quiet moment between the chaos when everyone exhales at once and something honest and beautiful happens in the space between.

I don't ask your family to pose. I guide you through movement, connection, and play — and then I photograph what happens naturally in between. The moments you almost missed. The ones that are gone before you realize they happened.This is how those natural smiles and candid moments happen. This is how the small details are caught on film.

Those are the images that go on your walls. Those are the ones you still love in thirty years.

Why location matters differently in lifestyle photography

In traditional portrait photography the location is a backdrop. Something pretty behind you while you look at the camera.

In lifestyle photography the location is part of the story.

Your backyard where your kids spend every summer afternoon. The field near your house where you walk on Sunday mornings. A park that means something to your family. The nursery you spent months decorating in anticipation of your new little one. These places add context and meaning to your images that a studio backdrop simply cannot replicate.

Most of my sessions are held outdoors in natural light...the hour or two before sunset when the light is warm and soft and makes everything it touches glow. All newborn sessions are in your home and at times, maternity sessions are dictated by the seasons and therefore, may need to be inside. The inside sessions use the beautiful natural window light of your own home.

Either way, the location is chosen because it feels like you...not because it looks good on a backdrop catalog. I ask for your input on location during our scheduling process.

What your family actually looks like in a lifestyle session

Kids running. Toddlers climbing into laps uninvited. Parents laughing at something nobody planned. A baby discovering grass for the first time. Siblings making each other dissolve into giggles. The beautiful, honest, perfectly imperfect reality of your family exactly as it is right now.

I have never once photographed a family session where nothing beautiful happened. Not once in twenty years. Never. Even with cranky toddlers and tired or irritated 8 year-olds. Because when you stop asking people to perform and start letting them just be...something always happens worth keeping.

That is what I am there to catch.

Why these are the images that last

The posed portrait sits in a drawer. The real moment hangs in the hallway.

I say that not to be dramatic but because I have seen it over and over again. The images families treasure most — the ones they print and frame and show their children and cry over at anniversaries. They are never the ones where everyone was perfectly arranged and looking at the camera.

They are the ones where something true happened.

That is lifestyle photography. That is all I do. And it is the only way I know how to photograph a family.

If you have been looking for a photographer who works this way — I would love to connect. The Founding Sessions are open now for a small number of families this season. Link in bio or visit the Sessions page to learn more and inquire.