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Being a documentary family photographer is quite a rewarding experience for me. I typically spend 2-3 hours at a client’s house and so the glimpse I get into their world is small. It is usually enough time to really see authentic moments, but in a way it is still a semi-orchestrated experience. I am always a little sad to leave and some of the best images I get are near the very end of the session when everyone has gotten really comfortable and the camera isn’t really as noticeable.
Enter Day in the Life sessions. Quite simply if I am there all day long it will get real. It will get honest. It will be an authentic experience. In the morning most kids are still a little fascinated by my camera, even if I spend time the day before hanging out with them and taking a few pictures to get them ready for the next day. They often still ask me to take specific images or beam their smiles at my camera for attention in the first few hours of the day. However by midday kids are acting like their normal selves, tantrums do happen and yes I still take pictures. I tell dads to go about their day as normal. If you typically sit at the computer and play video games or go to the gym to work out, do that. I don’t want anyone to feel like you have to perform for the camera. In almost 14 hours of shooting I really don’t expect the entire family to be together in every scene because that is not real life, at least not in my house.
If you reside outside Colorado and you would like to discuss a Day in the Life of your family, send me a note. For the remainder of 2015 I have one slot for June and one in November for a travel session!
Day in the Life Photography – New Orleans Family
Words from Jenn – I have known Colie “online” for a quite a few years. Sometime last summer she mentioned wanting to shoot a Day In the Life, and said “I just need a couch to sleep on”. I instantly responded “I have a couch.” From there I ran downstairs and ask my husband if he was game for having someone he has never meet spend the weekend with us, and take our pictures all day long. He looked at me a little skeptically, and sighed. Considering he HATES having his pictures taken I get it. But I said we are doing this, and started the booking process.
We had to postpone her trip by a few months, but after Christmas she made her way down to New Orleans to spend the weekend with our family. She arrived the day before we were scheduled to shoot, and spent the afternoon letting the kids and yes my husband get to know her. By the end of her first afternoon, my kids had made a new friend. They were climbing in her lap and taking selfies with her cell phone…and by the time they woke up in the morning everyone was excited.
We made breakfast together… pancakes, eggs and bacon (is there a better way to start your day?)…painted, ate at our favorite restaurants, played games and rode bikes. At the end of the day my six year old told me “Best Day EVER!” (imagine that in Rapunzel’s voice). Even my husband said it was a good day… did I mention we did this on Superbowl Sunday? Yeah and he still had fun 🙂
denver, dallas
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