This year’s mini sessions started off a little bumpy.  Day 1 was scheduled at Phoenix’s Heritage Square, but it was raining.  So after some rescheduling, Day 1 finally got going.  Day 2 of this year’s minis took place at Scottdale’s DC Ranch Marketplace, and thankfully, that day was sunny.

All of my families that came out this year are clients I’ve worked with in the past.  I absolutely LOVED seeing everyone again, especially all the kids.  It’s amazing how fast children grow!!  I am so grateful for everyone that came out.  Every one of these folks are awesome and I’m excited I had an opportunity to photograph them again!!

Here are the results…

A while back, I had the chance to photograph my friend, Sarah, and her family.  If you’ve read my posts, you know Sarah works with me at weddings and she’s an awesome photographer.  When Sarah asked me to take her family photos, she made it clear that she wanted their lifestyle documented instead of taking normal family portraits.  She came up with some fun games and activities to keep everyone occupied and to pull their attention away from me.  This allowed the family to be themselves and have fun while I quietly photographed authentic moments unfolding in front of me.  The experience had me thinking about the “lifestyle photography” term ever since.

It’s a popular thing to say these days: “I’m a lifestyle photographer”.   But what does that mean?  I always thought it meant photographing people doing something in their natural environment.  A documentation of someone life.

But these days, the term is used so often that its meaning doesn’t feel so obvious anymore.   I often see regular portrait photography displayed on websites and blogs by “lifestyle photographers” with very little signs of “real life”.  Last I checked, I don’t walk around every day smiling at cameras.  That would not be my lifestyle, and I think it’s safe to assume it’s not the lifestyle of most people (unless you’re famous).  So how did this term get so abused?

I think we all love the idea of capturing real moments and that’s why the term is so popular.  You can tell a lot more about a person when they are in action and captured in their natural state.  But for some reason, when we are in front of the camera we are aware we are being watched and our behavior changes.  We act less like ourselves.  And even worse, we make eye contact and smile at the camera!!!

I don’t think the term “lifestyle photography” is abused on purpose by other photographers.  Documentary style photography is really hard to do when the session is planned and your subjects know they are the focus of your camera.  And when these plans don’t unfold in a way that inspires real life action to be documented, we resort back to what is safe and familiar…  ”smile at the camera”.   So I’m sure the intent to photograph real life is there, but the results don’t always manifest that way.  I think as photographers, we need to be honest about when our work is truly “lifestyle” and when it is portrait photography.  Both are equally as important and beautiful.  We don’t need to blur the lines.

Below are some of the photos I took of Sarah and her family.  There’s a few pictures below that I would NOT consider “lifestyle worthy”, but they still feel cohesive to the overall session.

So I put the question out there to all of you folks on the internet… What does Lifestyle Photography mean to you?

I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been super busy, and definitely behind on my blogging.  This family session was actually taken in May, in Tucson, Arizona.  I’ve been photographing this family for about two years now.  I just love getting to see these guys, especially the kiddos.  They are growing so fast!!  I finally got around to posting a few pictures from their outdoor session.

This appointment has been on the books for months.  Kari reached out to me long ago to photograph her family… and at the time, it felt like her appointment would never arrive.   But it did finally arrive, as all days do, and it was worth the wait!   I loved photographing this bunch!!

Below are a few of the photos we took that day…

Another cute family session completed!

Liz and her little girl are awesome to work with.  They get right into being themselves and seem to forget the camera is on them.  I get to capture so many real moments this way, and I LOVE that!   Liz’s sister and father were in town and hopped in for some photos too.

Thanks girls (and guy) for the fun session!!

I’ve known Chris for a long time, so I was super psyched when I got to photograph his family this holiday season.  His wife, Robyn, and their children are awesome, and I had a great time hanging with all of them.

We started our session in downtown Phoenix by the Science Center.  Heritage Square has so many fun options for photographers, so I’m always happy to shoot in that part of town.  But it got really fun when we made our way through a back alley.  I was so happy this crew was up for a true urban photo session.   Love them!

Here’s a few photos of this beautiful family…

I first met Kara about 6 years ago…  she used to be my boss!   It’s so funny how much can change in such a short amount of time.  I love that about life.

Seeing Kara again was awesome, and taking her family photos was so much fun for me.  Her husband, Charles, and her two gorgeous boys were awesome to work with.  I felt like I was on a photo shoot for the Gap!  Don’t they look like perfect models for that store?

Below are some of my favorites from their session.

It’s that time of year again.  The holidays are right around the corner, and that means I’m going to be super busy taking photos!  I’m going to try and blog everything this year… they just may be really short posts.  Starting with this one…

The “J” family is my first official holiday session this year.  We went to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park.  If you are in the Phoenix area and have kids, you have to check this place out.  It’s one of the best parks I’ve been too.  They have a train that will take you for a ride around the park, and they also have a merry-go-round.  But I have to say, photographing on these moving objects takes some getting used to.  It made me a bit dizzy!

Here’s a few shots of this super cute family!!!  Love them!

I told you these were going to be quick blog posts!

Here’s another session I’ve been way behind on…

My awesomely cool friend, Desiree, met me at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale about a month ago to take some photos of her adorable son.  Little “R” has the most amazing eyes…  and he definitely uses them to his advantage!  When he looked up at me my heart turned to mush.

Des, how do you ever say “no” to him?  I would be such a sucker when he looks at me like this!

I never get sick of the cute faces kids make when they put something new in their mouth and realize it doesn’t taste that good…  Little “R” was determined to figure out what this flower was all about!

I am officially going on record that I will never do photos on a merry-go-round again.  First of all, I think this ride went way too fast for young kids… but that consent circling motion made me feel so sick!! Ugh!  Why did I ever think this was fun?

These are some of my favorites which were taken at the very end of the session.  Ah…  those eyes!!  I’m so jealous!

I finally finished this session from about a month ago.  Little Miss “O” is turning one and I must say, she is an absolute doll!  She is such a gorgeous girl with an amazing personality.   I could have photographed her all day long!

Her mom was ready with outfits and props… but one of my favorites was the pink converse sneakers and tutu.  Super cute!!

This family means a lot to me.  I first met Nicole and Chris when they were looking for a photographer to do their maternity photos.  I later got to photograph Miss “O” as a newborn and as 4 month old.  Getting to know all of them has been such a privilege.  I feel so lucky I’ve had the opportunity to document their lives for over a year now.

I thought “O’s” face was adorable when she tried to eat the flower.  I guess it didn’t taste so good…

We ended the session with some cake smashing fun!  Oh boy it was a mess… but oh so adorable!

The dogs were happy to help clean up the mess.

This is one of my favorites…  I was able to steal this photo at the end of the session when “O” was all cleaned up and getting ready for her nap.

Thank you guys for asking me to do more photos for you.  And thank you for your patience…  I know it took a while to finish these!

When I first moved to Phoenix, just over 5 years ago, I was hired as an executive assistant at a financial firm.  That’s where I met Julienne.  I immediately liked her.  She was easy to talk to.  She was honest.  She was funny.  She was real.  It didn’t take long for me to considered her a dear friend.

Life has changed a lot since then.  We no longer work together.  She’s a mommy now.  And I don’t see her nearly enough as I’d like to.  But even with all those changes, I still consider her one of my dearest friends and feel lucky to know such a special person.

Julienne loves to document her life, especially her son.  She takes many, many photos of her own.  Anyone who belongs to her flickr page would know this.  But every year she has a photographer document her son around his birthday.  When she asked me if I’d be interested in taking his photos this year, I was honored and excited.

This was a great excuse to hang out with Julienne and her family.  Her little boy is now 3, and he is amazing! He’s beautiful, smart, funny…  he’s just perfect.  My heart swells with happiness for her.

Julienne and her husband, Rob, are not only amazing people… they are gorgeous!!  Seriously, is this a beautiful family or what?

I don’t know why, but these next two photos really got to me… in a good way.  I just really like them.

Little “M” is so super cool in his big boy leather jacket.  He is such an awesome little dude!  When he hugged me at the end of the session, my heart melted.  He’s going to be a little heartbreaker in a few more years!

Julienne…  I love you girl!!!  I hope you like your photos.  :o)

This is a super quick sneak peek for my friend, Stephanie.  We did some photos the other weekend with her entire family.  Here’s just a few from the morning…