User:Brooke LSB/Lifestyle photography

Lifestyle photography is a genre of photography that mainly aims to capture portraits of people in situations, real-life events or milestones in an artistic manner and the art of the everyday. The primary goal is to tell stories about people's lives or to inspire people in different times. Thus, it covers multidisciplinary types of photography together.

Even though lifestyle photography is about telling a story and documenting the subject's natural environment, lighting and posing still plays a huge factor. Lifestyle photography is "posed" in an informal way such that the photographer gives some prompts and then documents the natural responses and candid moments that follow. Most lifestyle photographers prefer to position their subjects strategically in natural lighting for a “real-life” effect, but some often external lighting as well in a manner that looks as if it was pre-existing in the environment.

The History of Lifestyle Photography
Some of the earliest lifestyle photography comes from Kodak ads from 1915. Lifestyle photography started with capturing celebrity's on the street or in ads. Now lifestyle photography is easier than ever with expanding technology. In 1970 lifestyle photography was focused around political issues and capturing what the lives of people looked like at the time. In 1980 street photography became popular and photographers gained an interest in the raw moments of the public in places like New York. The 1990's became centered around commercial photography and capturing supermodels in casual and natural environments. Current lifestyle photography trends include family and wedding photography with photographers finding new ways to tell a story through candid moments.

How Lifestyle Photography is Organized
Photographers go into the shoot with a plan. Although the intention is for the photos to come out looking natural, there is still strategic planning that goes into each shot. They must consider what space represents the moment best, what the lighting should be, and how to arrange the subjects. All of these factors have to be partially controlled without making the moment look forced. To successfully pull this off, the photographer must anticipate moments of action or interest without forcing them to happen. This is done by setting up situations that encourage the outcome they are seeking. Lifestyle photography should tell a story, so each shot must be intentional and utilize every detail from the environment to the angle to do so. Any viewer should be able to clearly tell what event or milestone the photo is capturing.

Types of Lifestyle Photography
One type of lifestyle photography is family photography which captures a family at the current moment in their lives. This type of photography can include candid and posed shots. The photographer may encourage the subjects to engage in a game or situation that allows them to interact with one another so they can capture those moments of play and happiness. Another type of lifestyle photography is children photography which focuses on a child and attempts to capture the stage of life they are in and sometimes with meaningful objects such as toys. This type of photography ranges from newborns to young children. These subjects come with many obstacles and the photographer must be patient and use creative skills to pose the child. Commercial photography is also sometimes considered a type of lifestyle photography which captures an object or person in the element that is being advertised. This helps advertisers sell their product along with the feeling and mood that the environment gives them. Wedding photography can also be lifestyle photography because it aims to capture the married couple in their natural element while also telling their story through some posing. Wedding photography should not be overly posed but instead capture raw emotion. The photographer should watch for opportunities of interaction that displays the dynamic between the couple and the importance of the milestone. Street photography is a unique type of lifestyle photography because it captures the subject in their environment, but is not posed. This type of photography still tells a story and enables us to evaluate a single moment in time and look at the subjects as not just strangers, but people with their own lives.