Lifestyle photography has an almost photo-journalistic reputation. This is where interactions were candid and without any direction from the photographer. Nowadays, it’s somewhere between true documentary photography and classic portraiture. Read on for all the lifestyle photography tips you’ll need to capture stunning images.
How To Structure The Interactions
Lifestyle photography captures portraits and real-life events. Day to day interactions and situations are the best way to tell the story of the moment in an artistic manner. Don’t over plan client interactions during lifestyle photography shoots. This doesn’t mean your photoshoot should not have a structure. But lifestyle photography needs a different approach than classical portraiture.
Take the time to understand your clients. Ask about their likes and dislikes. Ask about activities they do as a family, places they like to hang out on the weekend. And what they do for fun. Once you understand them, suggest activities that are a natural fit for them. This way clients are doing something they enjoy. They’re not worrying that they’re in front of a camera during the lifestyle photography session.
Give Directions That Help Set The Stage
This tip goes hand in hand with the first one. Don’t be afraid to give further directions on how you would like the environment to be. Let’s be honest, very few of our clients are completely at ease and comfortable in front of the camera. It is our job as photographers to make them feel relaxed.
One way to do this is to give clear directions on what you are looking for without being restrictive. This is why I always tell my clients the end result of what I want and leave how they want to get there up to them.
Capture Those Candid Lifestyle Photos
My style is a mix of documentary and classic portraiture. One way I do this is to capture the in-between moments as well as the end result. Candid photos are a beautiful way to show the true personality of your clients.
I cheat a little and tell my clients that I am testing the light or making sure I have the right settings. That way, they’re interacting in a casual, normal manner. A lot of times, my favorite moments from a session are these in-between shots. My ultimate goal is to make the clients feel so comfortable they forget I am there.
Some may argue that a client is never at ease during a lifestyle photography session. I can understand that line of thinking. But I also know that, as a photographer, I want my clients to trust me, my work and my style. At the end of the day, I want them to love their photos. And feel like their photos are an extension of themselves. They’re precious memories of that moment in their lives.
Focus On The Details
A great story has a strong beginning, middle, and end. It also has enough details that take the reader/viewer on a journey. It’s as if they were experiencing that story for themselves. A huge part of giving a sense of place and space is to capture the details. This does not always mean the clothes, accessories, and props. Details are important to the client and help tell the story – no matter what the story is.
What Settings Should You Use
You might think this is an odd one to add to a lifestyle photography checklist. But this is one tip that should be a staple in any photography article. Lifestyle photography and documentary style photography are generally quite fast-paced. You are trying to capture a scene as it is playing out in front of you. You don’t have the time or the opportunity to re-compose the shot and then click the shutter.
This does not mean that you have to fire away at the max fps (frames per second) that your camera can handle. And then hope you can make the best of the lot in post-processing. Instead, use your technical as well as artistic skills to read the scene. Analyze the light and assess the right camera settings. Then imagine the outcome, the shot and then take the picture. Oh, by the way, bear in mind that if you keep asking your clients to ‘re-do’ often, they might not trust your skills anymore.
Try Lifestyle Photography When You Travel
Lifestyle photography is not the same as street photography. But you can use street photography tricks for lifestyle travel photos. Try and capture candid shots of people and places. Engage with the locals and photograph them in their element.
Are you traveling with a group? Capture the in-between moments of travel in an unrehearsed way. This tells the story of your travel adventure from start to finish. Focusing on the in-between will also help with verbalizing the story. This is great if you want to submit your photos as a travel essay to travel blogs or magazines in the future.
Use A Lifestyle Photography Approach For Candid Wedding Photos
Sometimes you’ll get clients who want a documentary approach to their wedding photos. Otherwise, keep capturing in-between the family formals, ceremony and reception photos. Weddings tend to be very stressful events for almost all parties concerned. There are plenty of opportunities where everyone wants to take a break and relax. I find most of my lifestyle shots and wedding photos in those in-between moments.
How to Get Lifestyle Fashion Photos
These days, fashion photography is leaning towards a lifestyle photography approach. Brands are finding that people relate better to lifestyle images. This means models doing some action or interacting with the environment. This is more realistic than true in-studio fashion editorials.
More and more brands are investing in an editorial that revolves around an action or a storyline. The products appear naturally in the scene. They take the viewer on a story of how they could use their products.
Conclusion
This genre of photography is a great way to let your creativity and art come into place as well. Keep in mind to take cues from your clients. At the end of the day, clients want images that show who they are as people. It is not about the clothes they’re wearing or the location they’re in. Instead, lifestyle photography is about relationships. As a lifestyle photographer, you get to capture the interactions that matter.
originally posted on expertphotography.com by Karthika Gupta
