Slice Of Life Session | Cola Beach | Sedgefield

I know I’m always saying, “I love when dot-dot-dot happens” or “My favourite dot-dot-dot is this or that”, but jokes aside, Slice of Life family sessions are really one of my favourite sessions to photograph and such fun because honestly anything goes and it’s a golden opportunity to capture spontaneous moments.

The reason Slice Of Life sessions work so well is because (after about 45 minutes) my camera and I become semi-invisible, everyone relaxes and the family begin to interact naturally, not playing to the camera.

WHAT IS A SLICE OF LIFE SESSION? Exactly that. A delicious slice of life carved from the enormous multilayered cake that is your family’s journey on earth together.

These special sessions are different from your typical 60 minute family portrait shoots on the beach or frolicking in a green field together, in a number of ways. To begin with, the duration of the session is much longer because in order to capture authentic moments we have to give them the time and space to occur.

To encourage that to happen, we’ll spend 4 – 6 hours at your home together and any special areas surrounding it. It could be a favourite holiday house where you enjoy your summer holidays or Gramps and Granny’s home that the children love to visit.

The bottom line is, being in an environment where your family is comfortable, is key to the success of a session like this.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING A SESSION? The sessions are relaxed and casual with a generous pinch of photo-journalistic and portrait photography tossed in. Along with your normal routine I plan a couple of pre-approved family activities such as making pancakes or finger painting together.

It’s my job to initially set the wheels in motion but then step back, interfere as little as possible, observe and take photographs while the activities are happening.

There are some photographers who are documentary purists and refuse to alter anything in a scene or influence it in any way and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that but it’s not my style.

While my aim is to capture your family as they truly are, as a Lifestyle Photographer I gravitate towards capturing the bright, beautiful and sometimes chaotic moments of real life with a teeny sprinkling of sparkle and glitter.

Yes, I allow authentic interactions to unfold but if there’s an ugly garbage can or neon coloured plastic bag in my scene I’ll remove it before I begin photographing.

LET THE CHILDREN BE CHILDREN – I encourage parents to allow children the space to relax and be themselves, within reason of course. Uh-oh! Does that mean there’ll be some tears, fighting and tantrums?

Of course, that’s completely normal but there’ll also be cuddles, laughs and lots and lots of LOVE. I never force children to smile if they don’t want to and strive to make images that allow each child’s personality to shine, to showcase what makes them unique.

WHAT ARE BEST DAYS AND TIMES FOR A SLICE OF LIFE SESSION? Saturdays or holidays work well and generally speaking, morning and early afternoon light is best for indoor natural light photography (no flash).

WHAT TYPE OF FAMILIES BENEFIT MOST FROM THESE SESSIONS? As the sessions are longer in duration and include a few activities, they’re generally best suited to families with multiple children aged 2 years or older.

Slice of Life sessions are a wonderfully authentic way, to capture your family enjoying their time together and creating memories. Stop and think about it for a second, from the time your baby takes its first breath until it begins university, college or a working career you have 18 to 20 summers to document these unique core family moments.

“fugit inreparabile tempus” – it escapes, irretrievable time

Virgil

Life goes by so freaking fast doesn’t it?