I Can't Direct Anything As Interesting As Real Life

This past week I was at a photography conference aimed for women documenting the world in a photojournalistic way. There were many amazing speakers, but I was probably most excited to meet Kirsten Lewis. She is pretty much responsible for putting documentary family photography on the map, and I thought she was the one I would resonate with the most – and yes, her talk was amazing!

The second day there was a presentation about light by Erika Jensen-Mann. To be honest, I wasn’t very excited about the topic amongst ones centered around facing your fears, finding inspiration, and feeding your creativity. Not only did the presentation make me think about light in new inspiring ways, but Erika said something that showed me we think very alike – she said that she can’t direct anything as interesting as real life.

(As you may have noticed my tagline has been "Real is more interesting than perfect” since last spring, so I was so excited to hear those words!)

I am terrible at any kind of directed group or kid shot. Because I don’t enjoy doing them I do not do those images justice. There is a place for posed family shots, but it is not in front of my camera if you want amazing ones.

My job as a documentary family and newborn photographer is not always to make flattering, bright, and happy pictures of smiling faces. My job is to make images that make you feel something, to freeze a moment in time, and to make keepsakes that you and your family will keep going back to. My job is to show just how funny, exhausting, heartwarming, and interesting everyday parenthood really is.

A mom reaching her hand for her youngest, while keeping an eye on her oldest two playing in the ocean. A toddler watching her big sister, learning to model her behavior before she's old enough to master it herself. A newborn beaming when grandma snuggles up.

No direction needed.