When you are taking a lifestyle portrait session, you want to capture all the different emotions those family members can feel around each other. Emotion is everything in photos and if someone has hired you to shoot a photo session for them, whether it be in their home, at your studio or another location, they want you to capture great emotions so they get to take home some amazing photos.
Many time you will find that if you go to the clients home to take the photos, it is typically a much more relaxed session because they are in their own environment that they are comfortable in and familiar with.
When thinking of emotion in photos, you may automatically think about happiness. When you pose for a photo, you are typically told to smile for the camera. But keep in mind that there are many other emotions you can capture in the photos that will make for some amazing photos that your client is sure to love. And if you capture a variety of different emotions during the photo session, the client will have a variety of different types of shots to choose from - and you never know which one will be their favorite!
So, what are the different types of emotions you want to be on the lookout for during a photo session? We are going to list out these different emotions for you... these come straight from The Lifestyle Portrait Guide offered at Photographer Candy.
Smile
This is the main emotion that you think of when taking photos. People want to look back on their family photos and remember the happy and good times. Those times when everyone was smiling and happy. It is a very important thing to be sure and capture in a lifestyle portrait session.
Laughter
Taking that happiness to the next level is laughter. It is so fun to capture a family or couple laughing naturally together. We are not talking about staged laughing that looks fake... real laughter. Perhaps it is a child doing a funny face that the parents love or the couple tickling each other.... whatever they do naturally to make each other laugh is fun to capture.
Candid
Some of the best photos are when no one is posed and everyone is being totally natural. When the clients are not aware of the camera being on them you can get some of the best photos that are totally raw and real life.
Serious
See if you can capture the clients in a more serious way... if you can capture it the right way, this could make for a very powerful photo.
Excited
Excitement is a fun human emotion... who does not love to be excited about something?!? A great type of session where a couple would be expressing emotion is during a gender reveal session or an engagement session.
Tears
Tears are a unique thing to photograph. Whether you capture tears of joy or ones of sadness, both of those when taken right will pull at the heart strings.
Love
Always try and find the love shared between the clients in every single session you photograph. Whether it is a family where you can capture the love shared between the parents and children, a couple who is excited about their upcoming wedding or new parents staring lovingly at their new baby, love is such a special emotion that every client will want you to capture.
If you take lifestyle portraits regularly or you are looking to break into that industry, you need to get your hands on The Lifestyle Portrait Guide that is a collaboration between Jordan Parks Photography and BP4U Photography Resources. This 126-page guide answers all the questions you need to know about lifestyle photography while talking about scouting locations, emotion, equipment, mastering light, post processing tips and so much more!
Get this guide today for a sale price of $19.00 (regularly $199) on Photographer Candy!
Have You Signed Up For Our Newsletter?
If not, be sure to enter your info below to to stay up to date on our other giveaways and industry deals and news!
