When I first started in family photography in Brisbane I was very attracted to lifestyle family photos. I thought what you most likely think, but what I was led to believe is actually a “lie”, now bear with me and I’ll tell you what I mean.

Something I noticed a lot of lifestyle photographers comment on is how much they love “unposed photos”, how they love the “in between moments”, how they watch and wait for those “perfect emotional connections”. When I started trying to capture lifestyle images myself I realised something was a bit off. I was struggling to get the images I wanted and I was not happy with my final galleries “This should be easy” I thought “I just need to sit back and watch them be a family together” I soon learnt how wrong that can be.

The truth is, most family photos are posed in a way. Everything in a photoshoot is directed in one way or another. I like to call it prompting rather than posing but it is still a form of posing all the same. 

My work of course has some picture perfect posed family images for your christmas cards, but most of my work looks natural and not stiffly posed. After my first few sessions I realised something more was needed than trying to allow things to naturally form on their own. 

I am someone who soaks up knowledge and experience everywhere I can, fortunately I have found a number of good lifestyle photographers who have given of their time in sharing their years of experience with newbies like me. 

At first I thought I was doing something wrong but now I want to set it right. Lifestyle photographers give an impression of easy sessions that flow naturally when it is anything but. For example the image above I actually had a good laugh when she started hanging her legs out to the side, it was all her and naturally came, but, it didn’t happen without a prompt! While this session was all them, the whole thing was directed. Prompts such as, push the bike with your wife down the road, push her back up the road, walk along the road holding hands and bumping hips, now kiss her in 3 different places that’s not her lips! These bring forth natural lifestyle images but they don’t happen by chance!! 

Now I am in total control of my sessions! My sessions and my clients visions come to life just the way we want them to with a little directing and I still capture in between moments as well. The thing I learnt is, my clients came to me wanting to be given direction, unless they are trained models they don’t really know what to do or how to be, even trained models need some direction here and there. If you don’t know how to elicit real laughs from your children when everyone is feeling a little nervous. I have a list of prompts that get the whole family, yes, even the Dads enjoying themselves. So when you book a Brisbane family photography session with me don’t be surprised if I act a complete goofball in front of the kids to get them laughing, yes I will pull funny faces, I will get the jokes flowing, I will dance like a complete nut, I will prompt some games from the children and even the parents and there may even be farting jokes for the boys, because boys will be boys. All I can say is we will have lots of fun!!!