One of the questions I get asked the most when it comes to photographing families is “what is the difference between lifestyle and storytelling?” I feel like there are a lot of different answers to this question depending on who you ask, but the way I approach it is, a lifestyle session shows what you look like. It is a representation of what your family unit looks like at a certain point in time. A storytelling session shows who you are. It’s messy and less than perfect. It tells a story. It shows happy and sad moments. It documents your life as is. Each session is important for different reasons.
I try, really hard, to bring out personalities during lifestyle sessions. My family’s interact with each other. They laugh and joke and dance and sing. They have fun.
October is a busy month for me. It’s filled with storytelling sessions and lots of lifestyle sessions. I get to photograph new and returning clients, friends and family. Being asked to photograph a friend, whether it’s for a lifestyle session or storytelling session is always such an honor. It means even more to me when that friend is also a photographer herself. It’s hard, sometimes, get on the other side of the lens for a session when you’re so used to being the photographer, but Jamie’s family was a dream. She values photos of her family, and she let go of any worries she had to have these taken. Hearing how happy these make her, makes me happy.
