Real Lifestyle Photography

Ok I might be dating myself but as my eleven-year-old son says, “In the olden days – you know the last millennium”, lifestyle photography as a genre in the advertising world was always a big production. To create the type of aspirational imagery that defined a brand it entailed conceptualizing, casting, location scouting, huge crews and weeks of planning. Every brand had a style and a campaign lasted a few years so the investment in production was worth it.

Well it’s all changed these days. Budgets have been cut yet social media has created a cavernous demand for a constant flow of imagery. Combine those facts with the acceptance that reality TV can create stars from ordinary people. So now lifestyle photography is best when it’s real life as opposed to a big production. Having your cameras present when your hanging out with your family or friends, being part of a mother’s group, or going to someone’s graduation are all amazing opportunities to capture images that people can relate to.

There still needs to be some production value to the imagery so it doesn’t look like generic stock. Like any shoot you need to be prepared. One camera and a zoom lens is not enough to capture a story in real time. Remember it’s real people and they don’t do do–overs! I always send releases to everyone before the event and sometimes I create a party or an afternoon outing just to photograph it and in those instances you can ask for a do-over! I love that lifestyle photography is seriously real life and you’re creating with real people in real time.