I am a documentary and lifestyle family photographer based in the New Orleans area.
But what does that mean, exactly? There’s a lot of confusion with the terminology when it comes to styles of photography…and no, it’s definitely NOT all the same. Choosing a photographer whose style you resonate with is so important. It helps to ensure that you’ll end up with images that you will love and cherish. It also means that expectations of how the session will unfold will be understood on both ends.
Let me start off by saying that there are MANY types of photography styles and I’m only touching on a few basic ones here. There are also different words to describe these styles of photography. An example being Documentary and Photojournalism. They are often interchangeable terms. My point being, this is not a complete overview of all the types and
Documentary Photography
The style of photography you see in most of these images is Documentary. This means they were unposed and unprompted. I was simply an observer, documenting what was authentically unfolding around me. The goal here is to capture true emotions and real expressions, and to tell peoples stories in an unscripted way.
Lifestyle Photography
However, a few of these images fall into the category of Lifestyle Photography. This means that the interaction was prompted in some way. Not necessarily posed, but it simply didn’t happen all on its own. I’ll give an example from this session.
Every once in a while, a kid is more interested in building a sand castle or burying pirate treasure than interacting with his parent. Shocker right? When this happens, I usually prompt them in some way to get them to make a connection with someone in the family. In this case, I told Mama to sit in a pretty pocket of light and then I conspired with her son about planning a super stealthy tickle attack on his mom! It worked like a charm and the end result was a huge hug from behind.
My style of photography is a mix between documentary and lifestyle.
Traditional Portrait photography
There are many styles of portrait photography. They can be professional, candid, creative…the list goes on. But for my purposes, we are going to focus on TRADITIONAL portrait photography. It usually consists of posed portraits (not candid moments) and typically everyone will be looking at the camera.
Traditional portrait photography is not something I offer, but I have some great recommendations for these type of photographers if that’s your thing!
I hope that clears up the confusion a little and helps you to make a more informed decision when choosing your next family photographer. Now, please enjoy this beautiful motherhood session, and let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Every Mother’s day I do a giveaway and gift the winner with a motherhood session. This year I ended up giving away two because I have two little girls who couldn’t agree on who got to pull the name. Next year I think I’ll use one of those random name generators! Anyway, Brittany was one of the winners this year and I’m thrilled to have been able to document the sweet personalities of her children and their connection with her.
Brittany is a New Orleanian, mama, and teacher who also happens to be a wonderfully gifted blogger. Follow her along on her journey HERE!
For more information on booking me as your New Orleans Documentary and Lifestyle Family Photographer click HERE!
Sorry, i Am just catching up on life rigHt now. These are still as beautiful as ever. Thank you so much for the feaTure and the photos ❤️❤️
You are so very welcome Brittany! You have beautiful children (inside and out) and I am so happy to have been able to document your bond with them.