How can we capture a family moment as beautifully as possible? That’s a nerve-wrecker that I am sure has riddled you as a photographer every time you do a lifestyle photoshoot. How will you create photographs that are instead, moments in life? How will this photograph be unique to itself? How will it tell its tale?
It’s hard to tell what your clients want as they are selecting your photographs and it’s up to their eye to choose which photos they like more. It cannot be explained, but the likelihood of one being chosen can at least be increased.
For starters, make sure you understand your client. How is their family like? What emotion do they exhibit a lot of? Are they loud? Are they more logical? How will you capture these telltale signs in your photographs, will you make them have hearty smiles? Have them look at each other as if piqued with interest and curiosity?
After that, know which location you will be shooting at, and at what time. Deciding on the time and location can make your photographs look better in general, taking pictures during the golden hour for example, emits a sense of warmth into your photographs. Put time into thinking which environment will fit the narrative the family brings with its personality, would a park or their apartment better suit how they are as a family?
When clients are looking at the photographs you have taken, they are always eager to look for signs of their lives, and what I mean by this is that they are looking not just for their physical presence in the photographs, but also their individualism. Their view of themselves. So, when taking the picture, remember to capture the essence of what makes the photo his’, hers’ or theirs’.
And of course, remember to take multiple pictures of different angles, perspectives, slight changes in posture, etc. A slight change in something could be what makes one photograph significantly better than the other nearly identical ones to the client’s eye. So having multiple photographs can be useful.
Onto editing, while this is more based on personal preferences, how you think the photograph should be processed. But I would also advise against using too much editing, part of the magic of lifestyle photography, which is its authenticity, the emotions it can emit, this can get lost in too much editing. Keep it natural as much as possible, do not edit beyond what is necessary!
Lifestyle photography can be difficult to do if you are not careful, there can be more than meets the eye and it is your objective to find out and become better as a photographer while you are at it. Sure, in its simplest form, you can still take nice photos quite easily, but putting thought behind it can produce a photo that stands out.
Here at Klaud9, we work with a network of lifestyle photographers specialized in this kind of photoshoot. Please contact us if you need the services of a professional photographer or directly follow the link below to book a photoshoot with us.