I recently was asked if I am still taking on clients for family sessions. Yes, ofcourse.. I love my family session time when it is of clients whom I have grown to know and care for over the many years. I still accept posed sessions as well but you will not see me advertise these sessions because I do not want to be hired or known for these styled sessions because I do not feel they genuinely represent me or my work.
The reason why is because I truly feel that you can only do so many years of work and when it is posed, controlled and planned.. it just takes the magic out of it for me. There are no surprises and they start to all look the same. The standard, posed Christmas family cards of pretty locations and perfectly planned outfits look too generic, too common and too forced.
Photography needs life, personality, authenticity and most importantly.. photography should represent more than what you look like. It should shout out to the world WHO YOU ARE!
Life with your loved ones is every single day.. not just one day a year of perfection. You won't remember that day you wore all white shirts and khaki pants and sat on the beach.. No. You will remember the day on the beach, spending time together, enjoying playing in the sand with your children, grilling out with your loved ones rather than listening to orders from a photographer.
Why not document that instead with a trickle of posed photographs? These guys are ahead of their game, and blessed that our paths crossed.. because they get it.. They get life and enjoy remembering it as it is.
