Family Documentary

What makes a session with me different than from what you’ve done before or heard about?

I can point to several posts I’ve written on how I’m passionate about capturing your Everyday life. From newborns to families,  it’s so true that your beautifully ordinary life is perfection. But what might that look like from my perspective? When I sit down with families after a session, I share what I saw–be it emotive: connections, joy, intense focus & interest, and fine art qualities: lines, composition, color, use of light. While your family is all yours and no two sessions of mine are the same (no cookie-cutter sessions), I want to take a moment to show you what kinds of things I’m seeing when I’m with you.

The Family Dinner

This beautiful family of four is sitting down together on an ordinary Tuesday night. Both Mom and Dad have changed out of work clothes and the girls have chosen their own attire; no one bought a single thing for this session. While I have many images from this meal, what draws me to this one all the layers. The 5-year-old girl on the far camera left is watching & patiently waiting (soft eyes, hand on chin) while Mom scoops that gorgeously steamy baked pasta. Dad is pouring the dressing on his 3-year-old’s salad while she looks on. Everyone here is engaged.

The scene is bathed in pale blue light from the evening sky and the entire tabletop pops with color and circles.  We not only showcase the girls’ continued obsession with the movie Frozen (what I would give to have a picture with my own 1981 Muppet Movie glasses from McDonald’s), but it also highlights a meal that is a family favorite at this time in their life.  We all have that ever-changing arsenal of dinners that we know our kids will eat without a fuss.

Compositionally, I’m seeing a spiral that begins with the oldest daughter’s head, down her forearm and circles toward the edge of the table and then inward to draw your eye to Mom’s hand, while loosely skimming the curves of plates, bowls, glasses, and heads.  A repeated theme in my work is hands doing the work; you will see that layered throughout many images. The primary focus of the image is Mom serving her family; the spiral composition allows your eye to start at the edge and swoop the table and land at Mom’s hand.

While at a cursory glance this image may not speak to you since it’s not your family, if you let your eye wander a bit you’ll see that it is richly layered with a family connection, history, and art.

 A Pre-Teen’s Space in  a Family Session

While in a family session, I spent some time with this incredibly talented and smart and lovely girl. We talked a lot about her interests and past times, and what struck me is how out-of-this-world organized she is.  She was given this space to herself in a larger family common room and she made it all her own.

The titles of the books she has displayed will tell of this time; I suspect she will always have a stack of books at her fingertips. The green graph board is a literal and figurative foundation of her desk; she uses the surface and her hands to create interesting and beautiful things. I’m drawn to all the vertical (books, chair back rails, her body, the feather) and horizontal (her forearm, the tops of the books, the desk, the top of the chair), and I so love that her white sweater and white feather & chair rail decor actually bookend the frame….. about books!

Also, you’ll notice this theme a lot in my style: I’ll purposefully back focus an image. I want your eye drawn to something, but I feel the foreground is also telling you something important.  In this image, she is here to represent her space, and I included her hands because she is a creator in both music and art.  While this image may not make it into a frame on the wall, it’s a strong detail in a larger story and has significance.

Daily Tasks

Messy bathroom & a testy toddler. He was so mad about having to brush his teeth that he closed his eyes–as if it made him less present for the task. The horizontal line of the toothbrush mimics the horizontal lines of the vanity and mirror.  The limited light in the space illuminates the front of his face, emphasizing the crinkled tightness of his effort, allowing the rest of him to fall into the shadows.   The light quality and expression just screamed for a contrasty black & white conversion.

Supporting Images

While a lifestyle session primarily focuses on people, I’m drawn to items that support your story: the front of your home, food, art, activities, books, plants. I love speckling these types of images throughout an album.

All these tidbits are just that: tidbits.  Your gallery will be chock-full of images that represent your life in a beautiful mix of engagement, meaningful environmental portraiture, and fine art.

xo!

Beautifully Ordinary is a trademark of Jen Lucas Photography, LLC.