OKLAHOMA CITY/EDMOND OKLAHOMA NEWBORN CHILD AND FAMILY DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER
Documentary photography is fairly uncommon and sometimes even unknown, so I've simplified it HERE. Maybe you already know and admire this type of photography, but the worry of the results has you always leaning towards the safe side of portrait photography. I get it. Choosing different is difficult, especially with an investment this personal. Just ask any of my clients! Every one of them had doubts about their documentary, but I can happily say their hesitation was just that - a slight pause before going bold. By the time they viewed their gallery, they were overcome with emotion and thankful for forging past their fears.
Your concerns are just as real and personal, but left ignored they could feel a lot like regret.
Do these sound familiar?
"I feel awkward in photos, so I need direction and posing to feel my best."
My style of photographing your family is comparable to your wedding day. My subjects aren't posed, the moments aren't manufactured, and the surrounding details in the scene are left untouched. I notice every detail, prepare for every emotion, and journal the entire experience without any manipulation. I also promise a few formal portraits because I believe they serve an important purpose. My point? When reality is left to itself, I'm able to tell your story as it is, uninterrupted. You only feel as if you and your family need to be posed because that's what feels safe and familiar. But isn't feeling free and natural so much more appealing than safe? Your mannerisms and quirky qualities are the very features that make you YOU. Same goes for your entire family! This is the very reason I refuse to interrupt how you nuzzle your newborn's cheek or attempt to wrangle the wild in your kids. What if during your wedding ceremony, I stopped you to say cheese as you walked nervously down the aisle? What if before your first kiss, I stepped in to fix your hair, position your hands, and refresh your lipstick? What if mid-dance at your reception I interfered to choreograph a number that made you nervous? With every 'what-if' interference, what have we lost? The subjects? The scene? The moment? No. What you've lost is the very thing that pulls your heart back to how it felt during the photo: EMOTION. Adopt this 'do not disturb' mindset for your life today, because even the minor milestones are wedding-worthy. This alone is what turns my sessions into an effortless, comfortable, laid back and REAL experience. I guarantee you that this bold, beautiful representation of your life will bring you all the feels, and you'll never want to pose again.
"Our life is too busy with boring responsibilities to be documented right now."
I won't argue with busy, because yep, I can totally relate. We all can, right? No matter the season, you feel stretched thin to be everywhere and do everything. Layer on the laundry, the homework, and what to feed your family and hiring a photographer seems absolutely absurd. Any few free minutes you find routinely fade fast because a diaper needs changing, snacks need opening, and for the sake of your sanity, the tattling must.be.muted. Speaking of routine, every family has one, right? The Saturday morning chaos of cleats and clean uniforms piling into the minivan, or the slower Sunday mornings cooking breakfast together. It could be the pre-bath playtime your kids cherish with Daddy every evening before it's your turn to tuck them all in. You've never even thought of photographing this ordinary and sometimes tiring, tedious part of life because why would you? OH MY GOSH WHY WOULD YOU NOT?! This cycle you're in? The one that's evolved over the years from bottles and diapers to lunch boxes and confusing amounts of laundry? From teaching them to tie their shoes to yelling "GET YOUR SHOES WE GOTTA GO!" You may call it boring, except it's anything but. It's your family's story, and when your role as their nurturer lessens, you're going to want this busy back.
"Our house is too messy/dark/ugly/cluttered."
Valid point, and to that I say "who cares?" Not me. And more importantly, not anyone who will have the privilege of inheriting these photos. Plus, what matters more - the "imperfections" of your home and how it looks or the love and lives within your home? Also, who's to say the memory you want documented has to happen at home? What about the weekends with Nanny and Papa, where the spoiling doesn't stop and the joy flowing from both generations is abundant? Or when your kids are granted gradual independency, hopping on their bikes and balancing their fishing pole as they race to the neighborhood pond with friends? What about the times when your Sunday dinner looks a lot like getting it to-go and bringing it to your husband who's on shift at the firehouse? When your kids are grown, they won't want the shoebox full of posed portraits wearing outfits they hated. Instead, they'll be fighting over the images that show them doing what they love, with who they love, wherever and whatever that is. The question is, what is it? And will you choose to document it for them and with them?
In the end, it's the fear of the unknown that's stopping you from following through. Stay connected with me, pressure-free with no strings attached before you decide NO to documentary photography.
Without your worries, what would you choose today to document?