What is "Lifestyle/Documentary Photography"?

Lifestyle and documentary photography offer a different approach to the traditional family photo shoot. The focus is on your family being photographed in your own home or at a place that's special to you such as a favourite park, rather than posed in a studio with stiff smiles. 

My style falls somewhere in the middle of the lifestyle-documentary spectrum. I offer minimal direction to ensure we're using the best light available and help position you and then I step back and ensure I record the natural moments and connection between you and your family, as they happen.

What if my kids are grumpy?

Kids are unpredictable, I know, I have two 3-year-olds!  The good thing about booking a lifestyle/documentary session is that most of the time we just go with whatever's happening.  If the kids are being shy or kick off, don't stress, sometimes that can lead to some beautiful pictures of comfort or just the hilarious face of a full on toddler rage!

What should we wear?

When you have booked a session, I will be in touch with my welcome guide, explaining all you need to know, including further advice on styling your session.  I would recommend thinking about the colours and patterns of everyone's outfits together, you can make it cohesive without being matchy matchy. 

Your session is to record the real you, your family story, it's important that you're comfortable, if you live in jeans, don't get all dressed up (unless you really want to) as you might feel stiff in clothes you're not used to. 

That being said, bear in mind that dresses can create amazing movement in photos if you're the kind of family that likes to twirl around your kitchen or run through a field! 

I'm not afraid of colours - like I said on my about page - bring me all your colours, I usually dress my twins in bright, happy colours and love creating vibrant photos so don't be scared to go all out if that's your thing.  If you're not into all the brights, neutrals are fine too, just remember to be YOU!  

What time of day is best?

It depends what you're after.  If you love the glowing light of golden hour, we can aim for an evening session just before sunset, of course the light available depends on the weather as well as your chosen location.  I only work with natural light and love seeing how I can make it work in different homes and settings.  When you enquire about your session we can chat about any ideas you have and work out the best timing depending on the time of year.

My house isn't big/tidy enough, will it look OK in photos?

Please don't stress about having the perfect home!  It really doesn't matter if you have a huge house or a small cosy flat, the purpose of our session is to record you and your family as you are at this time.  Sometimes that will include the chaos of young family life, including the messy breakfast table or piles of washing.  I can make it work with a combination of more documentary style photos showing your real every day but in a beautiful way including the bits you really do want to remember and the more lifestyle end, finding patches of light to enhance the beauty of life in your home.  Some of my favourite photos are taken in narrow hallways!

You're all about the colour, will we get any black & white photos?

Yes!  I always choose a few which I think look fabulous in black & white and these will be included in your gallery.  I do love colour but sometimes the drama of a good monochrome conversion can work wonders and change the whole image.

What if we have more than six people in our family?

Larger families or extended family sessions generally take more time during the session as well as extra editing time as there will be more images in these longer sessions with more going on.  They can be great fun but take a bit more organising to ensure it doesn't descend into too much chaos.  As a result, there is an added fee per head over and above the package price for the extra people to be included, you will also receive more images in your gallery.

What if we're ill or the weather is terrible on the day?

Things happen, sometimes it can't be helped, so if you do need to postpone your session, please give me as much notice as possible.  

We want to invest but can't afford one big payout, can we pay in installments?

I understand it can be tough paying a large chunk at once, even if you do value the investment.  When you book a session, I take a £200 deposit to secure the date.  The rest can either be paid in one lump sum, due by the session date or you can pay incrementally as long as the full balance is received by the session date.