Project 12 Portraits | Through the Doorway

I love these kinds of portraits, where the viewer gets to “look in on” a person just doing their thing, where the fact that a photographer is there is not relevant to the subject of the images. Capturing a moment in time, unposed and unaffected. Because these are the memories I most want to savor as my little girl gets distinctly less little. But I admit I struggle, too, with this kind of photography. It requires a willingness to let go on the part of the photographer if the moment is to be truly real (and those who know me know that I am, ahem, a bit of a control freak…). So I try to find my happy medium when shooting lifestyle. I clean up the room to remove distracting clutter; I ask her to lie in a way that will show me enough of her face to be engaging in an image. I tuck her hair behind her shoulder. And then I tell her to forget about me and just do her thing. Lifestyle photography is so important to me, but I just can’t seem to settle into it, to get comfortable with it or good at it. I really need to make a conscious effort to practice at it more, to force it until it feels more natural. And I am promising myself that I will continue to work at it!

As always, please continue on in our little circle to see what beautiful work Amber came up with this month!!