Lifestyle- means the way we lead our life. So, Lifestyle photography is nothing but everything we see in our day-to-day lives. Capturing real-life events, portraits of people in motion in an artistic manner is known as lifestyle photography.
Lifestyle Photography aims to tell stories through images to which people can relate and inspire people in different times. It also conveys messages and motivates people.
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Let us dig into this beautiful genre of photography.
Lifestyle Photography
A way of life photography session communicates a story with one image or a set of images that don’t always belong in order but give the spectator a sense of the life they are looking at. A lifestyle photography session may occasionally involve a family, particularly children, stimulating family activities. Your job is to capture that family in action so that the viewer gets a sense of the type of relationships and how they act with one another.
Thought to indulge in Lifestyle Photography.
Lifestyle photography is thought of for various representational processes; all focused on portraying the human experience, ranging from life reception to exploring the outdoors.
Style images can be used to capture a variety of ordinary activities, such as getting a haircut or planning a trip to the store. The most common example of lifestyle photography is people at the front desk performing routine activities. Cleaning the dishes, changing a diaper, and dealing with a sobbing child are just a few examples.
Let’s imagine you went on a long road trip and took images along the way. You can find yourself staring at photos of pals sitting around a fire, feeling unhappy at a gas station, or salivating over something delicious. Because all of these shots reflect the experience of being on a road trip, it’s acceptable to categorize them as “lifestyle” photos.
Categories in Lifestyle Photography
We, Human beings, perform plenty of activities throughout the day, and lifestyle photography covers them all.
Lifestyle Photography is a broad genre that can be further categorized into three different types:
1) Everyday Lifestyle Photography
2) Urban Lifestyle Photography
3) Outdoor Lifestyle Photography.
Everyday Lifestyle Photography
By the name, we can already understand that Everyday Lifestyle Photography must be the one that captures regular moments from our day, like waking up, cooking breakfast, going to the market, selecting a dress for the office, and whatnot.
This is the most common type of lifestyle photography, and if once you get into this, you will be surprised by its response.
Urban Lifestyle Photography
In this category of lifestyle photography, you can consider the lifestyle of people in cities. In simple terms, capturing the city lifestyle artistically is urban lifestyle photography.
Urban lifestyle photography captures pictures in a town or different urban locations. For example, somebody is smoking a cigarette on the balcony of his apartment. The hustle and bustle of businesspeople quickly shuffled down the sidewalks.
These pictures mix with street photography, operating to capture the everyday moments in an associate degree urban setting.
Outdoor Lifestyle Photography
Hiking, skiing, camping, and other outdoor activities are examples of outdoor lifestyle shots. Essentially, something that draws people outside and allows them to spend time in nature.
Examples of outdoor lifestyle photography are a group of friends sitting around a fireplace, a cyclist pedaling down a route, or even holding a backcountry picnic.
Photographs of outdoor lifestyles are commonly found in travel or action sports magazines. You will notice action images and outside fashion shots to strengthen the story’s storyline, mainly when presenting a story of associate degree epic ski descent, for example.
Some more types of Lifestyle Photography
Family Lifestyle Photography
There should be no outside props or staging and no external objects while capturing lifestyle photographs. Everything you would need for a lifestyle shoot must be available in the house you are shooting, and the members who live there are used to it.
Candid Lifestyle Photography
In candid lifestyle photography, you attempt to capture life as it is, but rather than anticipating great, ordinary moments; you plan a picture shoot that will naturally produce those moments.
Candid photographs may catch genuine, meaningful moments while shooting friends and family, making them far more appealing than a planned photoshoot.
Plandid Lifestyle Photography
A planned Candid is termed as a plandid. There are poses where the one is looking aside, flaunting the flare of the gown and whatnot. We call a perfect candid picture can often be planned and captured as plandid.
Planning before shooting Lifestyle Photography
Yes, we are talking about candid shots and natural shots, so that does not neglect that you need to have a good time planning.
You need to focus on two things: personal planning and technical planning.
Personal Planning
If you are shooting in a private place, say in a family, your planning should include interactions with the clients. Learn about their everyday activities, how their daily activities look like. How they gather for an evening gossip, how they communicate at lunch. Talk to them as much as possible and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera.
Technical Planning: Learn everything you can about the location where you will be working and be prepared for any eventuality. For example, if the photo shoot is at your client’s home, you will need to ask them about natural light and schedule your session accordingly. Also, make sure you know your camera settings like the back of your hand because if you are not up to par with the topics, you’ll have to adapt to any changes swiftly.
Lifestyle Photography Tips
LIFESTYLE is NEVER STAGED
There is no such thing as a STAGED LIFESTYLE. Suppose you have entered a children’s room. Do you expect the room to be clean, and everything would be placed at their respective place? Hopefully, no right! You would expect the most common view is some soft toys lying here; some toys are broken there. Paints, chalks, dusters, and everything that children can mess with. So that is what a child’s lifestyle is. If you try to change it and make things perfectly aligned in their room, it will no longer carry the charm and cuteness. They are the ones. They are as they are. That is the way things are right now.
DO NOT ‘PLAN’ FOR SUCCESS.
It is possible that planning for lifestyle photography will lead to disappointment. It is recommended that, before a session, you send a questionnaire to the family to learn more about what makes them tick. Decide about the personalities of the children. They listen to and shows they watch are just a few examples. Learn everything there is to know about the topics you have chosen.
Then let them know what they may expect from you. It would be your talent to capture them as a family. The more you let a family’ be,’ the excellent documentary your photos will be.
NEVER PUT DOWN YOUR CAMERA
Capture whatever you get. Do not think much before capturing. Lifestyle photography cannot be carefully planned. You must learn to capture everything and not miss a single moment.
PURSUE AUTHENTICITY
Since you aim to shoot lifestyle photography, you should remember not to overdo settings. Not much-posed portraits, vivid props, carefulness in setting up lights. These things can go very well with studio photography but not with lifestyle photography. Shoot the photograph as a part of life. Your lifestyle images must be natural and close to reality. Tell your clients to be natural and relax as much as possible. Let everyone feel comfortable during a lifestyle photography session.
SHOOT IN COMMON PLACES
Unlike in most other types of photography, when it comes to choosing a place for your mode photoshoot, weight is not a concern. Instead, concentrate on where your subjects feel most at ease and which location best portrays what they are.
Do they spend their afternoons at the park or home participating in artistic activities? Are they the type of people who cannot wait till the weekend to explore the great outdoors, or do they prefer a leisurely Sunday morning in their living room?
Search for these answers to decide the location.
NOT THE POSES, BUT THE ACTIVITY SHOULD BE DIRECTED
Tell your subjects what to try to do rather than a way to mate if you want to keep your images candid yet give them some direction. Instead of directing them to follow some conventional family photo ideas, have them raise their hand to show you their favorite game.
This will ensure that their interactions are far more natural and casual and that they may even disregard the camera entirely. Allow every situation to develop naturally, but do not hesitate to initiate a recent activity if the current one is not working or you need to do something different.
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE SMALL THINGS
Each exposure you take does not have to be a medium-to-wide photo. Some will not even be considered portrait photography. To take a sequence of photos that truly show who your subjects are, you will need to zoom in on features such as a box of toys or a cat lying on the window in a clear upshot and focus on what makes the house theirs, such as a box of toys or a cat sleeping on the window.
Lifestyle photography is more than just a portrait session, and your customers will appreciate it if you take the time to look for things outside of the obvious shots. You can look at art photography portfolios or scan photography books like “The Photographer’s Eye” to help you get motivated for this.
How to Shoot Lifestyle Photography
As you explore the world of lifestyle photography, you will discover tips and tactics to help you achieve the best results. Here are some helpful style photography suggestions to aid you along your way.
1. Prepare the environment: you will need some close-up images but do not forget about the bigger picture. A family’s lives and plays can be a massive part of their style, so you will want to capture it all to give your audience a complete picture.
2. Get multiple Angles: You may get a reasonable frame by shooting your subjects straight, but you never know what surprise the other angle would bring.
3. Keep shooting until you feel satisfied: shot fired! Shoot until you get a series of perfect shots, and you are confident for the day.
4. Bring in some fun: Lifestyle photographs are a pleasure when the subjects are busy and engaged.