What is Lifestyle Photography?

If you’ve snooped around my site or checked out my Instagram, you’ve probably seen the term “lifestyle photography” more than once. So what IS lifestyle photography? And is it what you want? I’m glad you asked ;)

Lifestyle photography is all about connection. I want to capture your family interacting with one another. I want your best friend to look at the photos you post on facebook and say “I love when photographers capture candid moments!” Lifestyle photography is about laughter and tickles. It’s about sweet kisses on your newborn’s forehead and about the way your husband looks at you with so much love in his eyes.

It’s easy to look at photos like this and say “Oh, but we couldn’t do that! We wouldn’t know what to do! We’d look awkward.” So for all of you guys out there thinking this - I’m going to tell you a little secret. These “candid” photos that feel so unposed, typically require some…posing. And I’m going to walk you through that! I will give you prompts to inspire interaction, and I might even play some music to lighten the mood. It’ll be fun!

When we start taking photos, I’m going to ask you to ignore everything your mother taught you about posing for pictures. I will ask you, no no I’ll beg you to not look at the camera. I want you to pretend like I’m not there. Let’s clarify that I’ll absolutely be right there talking you through it all. But the people looking at your photos won’t know that I gave your kids a silly prompt to make them giggle. They’ll just see you guys interacting as a family and love it.

And yes. I know. Your mom wants a photo of you all looking at the camera. I’ve got you covered!

Because for every handful of these…

There’s 1 of these…

<3

Happy Valentine's Day, Single Friends!

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Today, I want to dedicate my blog to all of the single women out there. I spent way too many Valentine’s Days feeling marginalized and alone because of my singleness. This silly holiday has a way of stealing joy, and I’m here to say “NOT TODAY!” I’d be lying to you if I told you that I LOVED being single. I didn’t. I so admire women who embrace it with such beauty and confidence, but I was not one of those women. At a certain point, I deemed myself “perpetually single”. I spent years without a date and then I spent years with a whole lot of very bad dates. I’m not entirely sure which was better, but I came out of it all with a whole lot of stories (those are for another day…). Anyway, today I want to tell you why I’m so thankful for my single years. Because who wants to hear one more sappy love story today?!

1.Awesome Female Friendships: I knew almost no one when I moved to Pittsburgh. So I found a church and joined a women’s small group. Every week, we would all get together, drink a glass of wine, and talk about Jesus. We became best friends, and it was awesome.

2.Doing Stuff Alone: Have you ever plugged in your headphones and gone for a long walk by yourself? Or just a casual trip to Target? Or to the movies - whatever you wanna see? It’s so liberating!

3.Habits: You can really sink into (and enjoy) your habits that other people don’t appreciate. For example, I love drinking milk straight out of the carton! And I squeeze the toothpaste tube right near the nozzle instead of from the end.

4.Identity: If I had a boyfriend all those times I WISHED I had a boyfriend, I would not be the person I am today. Because no matter how much I would have denied it then, I was pretty moldable. I was still figuring things out, and I’m so glad I got to do that without the influence of a guy.

5.God’s Timing: If I could have written out my love story and then snapped my fingers and lived it right then…it wouldn’t have been as good as what actually happened. Because God’s better at writing love stories than I am. I know that now.

So remember, your value is not based on your relationship status. It’s hard to embrace singleness sometimes, especially on Valentine’s Day, but I’m here to cheer you on :)

Now here’s my favorite small-batch chocolate chip cookie recipe. Go have yourself a treat!

2 T Melted Butter

1 T Sugar

2 T Brown Sugar

1/4 t Vanilla

1 Egg Yolk

1 Pinch of Salt

1/4 t Baking Soda

1/4 C Flour

Chocolate Chips

Mix butter, sugars, and vanilla. Mix in the egg yolk. Mix in the salt, baking soda and flour. Mix in chocolate chips. Spoon into 2 balls on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

(recipe courtesy of the HGTV Instagram page)

Baby Eliza & Her Lifestyle Newborn Session {Pittsburgh In-Home Newborn Photography}

I absolutely love lifestyle photography. And if you’re unfamiliar with what that means - you’ve come to the right place! Gone are the days of stiff posed shots with everyone (hopefully) looking at the camera and forcing a smile. Lifestyle photography is all about capturing authentic emotions and reactions - it’s story-telling. It’s about taking a snapshot of life as it is in that moment. It’s a guided process, typically. I offer prompts and some posing, but the photos feel candid and natural.

I visited Dan, Stella & baby Eliza on a Saturday afternoon at their home in Pittsburgh. Eliza had a full belly and was just starting to feel quite sleepy. While she was awake, I took pictures of her looking at Mommy & Daddy and even a couple of her looking at the camera (what luck!). Then we swaddled her and Daddy rocked her as he paced the nursery floor. Stella leaned over to tell me that this is his trick for getting her to sleep. And it worked like a charm! We then took pictures of her in her crib and in the basket she has become accustomed to sleeping in. We captured some mom & baby snuggles and some dad & baby snuggles as well as the whole family together.

The great thing about lifestyle photography is that it doesn’t matter if the baby is awake or asleep - both are great! We let the baby be who he or she is and capture those moments. When we removed Eliza’s swaddle at the end of the photo session, she posed herself (scroll to the bottom for the picture) - and it was so sweet! She then sort of sprawled out, and I think that was almost equally as adorable!

Not all newborn sessions are quite so seamless. And that’s okay! Bring your chaos. Bring your crazy. Bring you. I want you to look back on these photos and say - remember what life was like when we brought our sweet baby home? She loved sleeping on your shoulder and being rocked to sleep as you paced across the floor. Let’s capture life as it is in this moment. Let’s tell your story through photos.