Documentary Family Photography
Family photography is nothing new. I’m sure most of us remember having photos taken as kids with parents lining us up and posing us in the most awkward ways possible. Or if your parents’ photographic ability is more in line with my own parents’ then your pictures have most of you in it but you can’t guarantee everyone or everyone’s head at least will be in the frame. These pictures are great and I love showing my own daughter pictures of me as a kid with my parents and grandparents and introducing her to people she will sadly never meet.
One of my favourite photos with me as a kid is with my Grandad. He was my best friend growing up right through to his death when I was 20. We would go for adventures in the forest and pretend we were being chased or play star wars where he was Han and I was Luke. My favourite picture of him is not a posed one, not one set up by anybody but one capturing the essence of the man. His hat, his laugh and his personality are captured forever in one frame. I didn’t know until a few years ago that this was documentary photography.
Since we started this adventure as LLG Photography, it has become very clear to us that pictures that capture who somebody is and their relationships with others is what we want to do. Looking back through pictures of our nearly three year old and seeing some of her old mannerisms captured forever as she has grown out of them now will always make us smile. Pictures of her with her great grandma will allow her to maintain a bond with a sorely missed relative as she grows older.
I’m sure everyone has watched a good documentary on television and become attached to people you don’t even know. Imagine if you could have a documentary of your life filmed for a week. Imagine the snapshot of life that would be created. Something you could watch back again and again. Something that in 20 years you could show your kids and embarrass them accordingly. Something that shows what your relationships were like. The love and the bond that you shared.
Unfortunately, Netflix probably aren’t going to knock on your door and ask to film you for a few weeks. Well you know what? A simple 2 hour photography session can do just the same. A slideshow of your pictures that can move you to tears, your favourite ones printed and on the wall for everyone to see. Your kids captured being who they are at that time. Documentary family photography doesn’t give you a ‘perfect’ picture of your family in matching outfits and a shiny white background. It gives you memories and an insight into who you were and who your kids were at that time.
A documentary family photography session with us takes on whatever shape you want it to. All we suggest is that you wear what you would normally wear and do the things you would normally do. If it a shoot at home then do things you would normally do with your kids at home. That might be reading books with them, baking cakes, playing jigsaws. Don’t do anything that will seem odd to them. Doing the things they love to do will mean they will be natural and just get on with it. Then we can do our job and get those pictures.
If you would rather be out and about then we can head to a park and go on the swings and slides or jump in muddy puddles. Grab an ice cream, see some animals or just have a family walk. Bring wellies, a change of clothes and lets go. Maybe a game of hide and seek or a tickle challenge might happen. Maybe a funny face competition. Maybe Chinese whispers. Over the course of up to two hours we know we can get the essence of your family and give you at least 60 pictures to choose from to keep.
Is documentary family photography for you?
So maybe you want the traditional single picture with that white background. Or maybe, just maybe, you think documentary family photography is for you. If this is you and you want to look at us capturing these personalities for you then come say hi. As we say on our website, we are family photography for the adventurous, the curious, the cheeky. If your little (or big!) ones sound like that then let’s book a shoot and hang out.
If you are looking for things to do with your kids over the summer then check out https://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/.
If you are interested in booking us for a shoot or finding out more about our family photography then head here to read more and download our brochure.