My first family documentary reportage in Castelldefels! How it went?
How do I find families who might be interested in a family reportage photoshoot ? First thought – Can I ask on groups on Facebook?
So I did …
With many, many answers and questions about such a session, I got a message from Veronica. She told me about her family, about herself and she asked what family reportage is about.
I explained that this is just a non-popular, non-standard family reportage during which the photographer follows your day, and documents everything you do.
At first, I thought, it sounded strange for her, but in the end we were able to arrange a day when I could personally explain what it was.
So one afternoon, we agreed to meet in the playground, where Veronica usually go with the children. This is their routine after school.
Veronica introduced me to her children and I explained what family reportage photography is about. I had the impression that she liked it, although she probably couldn’t quite imagine what it would look like.
However, despite this, I gave her time to think and the whole family had to think about whether they want to participate in such a photographic adventure.
After a few days of reflection, Veronica and her family agreed to spend a day and a half with me.
How did it start? Documentary Family Photography during the weekend
So one cold Saturday I arrived at their home. The kids probably were quite happy because they kept screaming, running and showed me how their rooms, the living room and even the bathroom looked like.
If I had to say what the documentary photographer worries about the most, is that the photographed people would pay too much attention to the photographer.
And I was afraid of that. That kids will pay too much attention to me, they will start to play with the camera and pose with an artificial smile. But I was pleasantly surprised.
Nothing like this happened. Almost immediately the kids took care of their things and after a very short time I could start taking photos.
Usually, I try not to take pictures on the first evening so that the children could get used to me, but in this case it was completely different.
The family took care of their activities and I quickly became invisible. Friday evening is pizza, movie, fun and late sleeping. It gave me a lot of cool moments to photograph, especially when the dad decided to play with the children.
The moments when parents show affection to their children are probably one of my favorites and maybe that’s why I look forward to them.
Sunday. To be able to reflect the reality of each family as much as possible, the family photographer must be very focused and as long as possible participate in the routine of the family. That is why Sunday started at 7am because I knew that at that time the children would probably wake up.
And so it happened. Morning fun, breakfast, making plans for Sundays and some crying. For the family documentary photographer, all emotions are important, so I always try to faithfully reflect what is happening. Even if it’s crying.
Plan for the Sunday – a short trip to the mountains. Trips to the beach or to the mountains are always a good environment for photos because the family has a lot of opportunities to interact. It gives the opportunity to do really beautiful photos.
The day ended with a small bicycle trip to the park. However, not everyone was happy about this (see the photo of an abandoned bicycle 🙂 )
A few days after giving photos to the family, I got from them a short reply “Oh, we love the photos. They are amazing. We saw them and we want to see them 100 times more. To watch them over and over again. Thank you for this amazing gift! “
For such answers it is worth doing what I do 🙂
You also can see my other pictures from different families.
