Jennifer Chaney Photography

When I say I shoot lifestyle photography many people ask what that means.  I wind up trying to compare it to photojournalism knowing it’s not quite right because as much as I try to let things unfold naturally, there is always direction from me as I try to recreate a scene.  I find out what my clients normally do and love, and simply take pictures of it.   As adults (parents!) we tend to stress so much and constantly are on the go that many times we don’t slow down enough to truly enjoy the things that make us smile or laugh.  So my goal is to help a family capture these times.  The happy and fun times.  The moments in their lives that make those long hours at work or on the road worth it.  Moments that make your ever growing “to do” list seem irrelevant.   A perfect example is when I ask my Crazies, “Who wants a vitamin?”  They scream “me me me!” and nearly run me over getting to the vitamin cabinet.  They are SO excited it literally fills me with joy.  These little moments are ones I never want to forget, so it’s these moments I try to capture.  As a wife, mother, and business owner, my time is limited and seems to be slipping away from me at an alarming rate.  I keep telling myself that it’s been a year since our pictures were taken last, and it’s time to do it again before we move beyond this stage that I love so much.  The last thing I want to do is regret not taking the time and spending the money to help me remember my life as it is today.  When my kids are all grown up and starting families of their own, I want them to know what their childhood was like.  I want them to be able to look at an album and have such a good sense of what life was like for them when they were 3 or 4.  And if today is any indication of the state my memory will be in when I’m 70, then I’m gonna need all the help I can get!

A couple of weeks ago I had a glorious session with Julie Ligon owner of the Danville Dailey Method.  When I walked up to their house and met her family, I knew it was going to be perfect.  They were relaxed and ready to just ‘be’.  I think that’s the key to my photography.  The more relaxed my clients are the more real the pictures.  This beautiful family was ready to play, read, run, and love.

When I was going though the pictures selecting my favorites, I was so moved that it solidified my desire for my own family session sooner rather than later.  I kept thinking, this is what I want for my family.  This is life.  This is love.

It’s amazing how beautifully perfect our everyday lives are.

Everyone give your families an extra squeeze and make it a point to take some pictures this weekend – even if it’s with your iphone!

~jennifer

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 11:12 pm and is filed under :: lifestyle ::, family lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.