FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Documentary family photography (sometimes called family photojournalism) is a style of photography that aims to capture genuine moments and emotions within a family's everyday life. It's a storytelling approach that focuses on capturing candid and natural images that reflect the family's unique personality, culture, and lifestyle. Your photographer (me) will not pose or direct you, but instead will work to catch those little fleeting moments in an artful way. This approach results in images that are authentic, honest, and capture details that can bring back memories.

Overall, documentary family photography is a way of documenting and celebrating the beauty of everyday life and the connections that exist between family members.

I've lived in Pleasant Grove, UT for the last 15 years with my husband and family. I'm happy to travel anywhere in Utah Valley or the greater Salt Lake area to work together to make some family pictures you will treasure. 

First things first - I have three kids of my own and I know a thing or two about a messy house. You will not get any judgement from me on how clean/messy/updated/outdated your house is. Our own homes make great places to take family photos because it is often where your family is the most comfortable. It also can hold a lot of memories, so taking photos in your home can help children look back and remember their bedroom, their favorite spot to sit and read, the best spot on the couch for napping and more. Embracing the chaos that is a house with children can make for a set of family photos that help preserve some memories from this time in your family's life.

That said, documentary family photography can be done in various settings outside the home, such as outdoors, during family events, or while traveling. The goal is to create a visual record of the family's experiences that can be treasured for years to come. If there is an activity or event that you would like documented outside your home, I'm happy to work with you to do that.

Traditional family portraits are often posed and arranged by the photographer, with everyone looking at the camera and smiling. Documentary family photography, on the other hand, focuses on capturing candid, unposed moments that reflect the family's daily life and relationships. One thing I love is that when you look at a documentary photograph, it's all about the people and moments in the photograph, instead of being about the photographer and what they did to pose, prompt or edit the shot. 

This is the best part, in my mind. Wear what you like. Be comfortable. Just don't match, unless you have a family uniform of some sort. Five years from now you'd much rather have pictures of your five year old wearing his very favorite dinosaur tee than you would of him in the sweater you bought just because it matched his sister's dress. 

It's normal for children to have their own ideas about what they want to do during a session, and that's a good thing! Having strong wills means that documentary photos of your children will be brimming with personality.