because you can feel the difference | a comparison of traditional and lifestyle portraits | Mobile AL family photographer

In my last post, I talked about what lifestyle photography is. You can click here to read that post if you missed it! 

Now I want to show some comparisons from a family photo session so you can see the differences for yourself!

First off, I do know that families would like a photo of everyone looking at the camera, and we do get that shot. I actually try to go ahead and shoot that first off because once we start the "active" stuff, everyone's having too much fun to worry about looking at the camera!

So let's start with this photo. This was actually one of the very first shots of this session. I mean, it's a sweet shot. Everyone's looking and has a happy look on their face. But you'll see in later shots, that especially for a certain adorable little boy, this is not his real smile. We get real smiles later!

The following 3 photos are examples of shots later in the session with the whole family. Now you see real smiles, you see how they look at each other and their interaction. Now I can FEEL something about them! This is what lifestyle photography brings out!

At this point in the session I was getting shots with Dad and his son. This first one is a sweet, more traditional type portrait. 

Then I had them begin to play. Compare the smiles and connection in these next photos to the one above. 

Pure love and joy!

I mean, a shot like this one just melts me. Those little hands around his dad's neck. This is why I continue to shoot, because moments like these happen as families interact and play.

So here's a good before and after comparison. The shot on the left was before we started playing. This was a "look here and smile" type image. The one on the right shows you the connection between a boy and his dad. This happened just a few minutes into playing together. Which image lets you FEEL their connection beyond just a pretty picture?

Here's another comparison with photos of mom and dad. {I always get some shots of just mom and dad at my family sessions!} So the first one is a nice image with some cooperative adults, haha!

The next one though, now I FEEL something. I don't just see what they look like; I see how they love each other. Which one speaks more to you as a viewer?

Here are some shots of mom with the kids where you can see their connection through play. 

And just in case you need a LITTLE more proof of the power of real smiles and connection, these images of dad and his girl are so priceless!

So, you can see that a lifestyle family photo session is anything but stiff and boring! And hopefully you can see the difference in not just what you SEE in the images but more what you FEEL. 

When you're selecting a photographer, think about what you want out of your final images. Some people are more drawn to traditional type photos, and that's just fine! There's thankfully a photographer out there for everyone! 

If this lifestyle type session seems like a good fit for your vision, I'd love to photograph your family playing and connecting together! You can contact me to begin working on your session, where we'll capture in photos your family's imperfectly perfect love story!

contact me to book your session!