One of my favorite photographers/authors/teachers is a guy named Chris Orwig (view his website here). He writes a lot about using life to guide one’s photography. In essence, he teaches that your life should be infused in your images, that it should give them soul.

Chis’s book, “Visual Poetry,” was the first place I’d ever read this quote from French photographer Marc Riboud:
“Photography is about savoring life at 1/100th of a second.”

Riboud’s words express my approach to photography much more clearly than I ever could.

I wrote last week about allowing moments to unfold naturally in front of the camera.  “Savoring life at 1/100th of a second” is essentially the idea behind that.

In a typical session, I strive for that experience to be about savoring life.  Instead of having a stressful, harried time while we struggle to get this shot and that angle and this expression, your family and I will simply spend time together.

Savoring life.

Talking.

Playing.

Being.

Allowing the moment to be what it is.

And all the while, I’ll just happen to be pressing a button.

By keeping things simple and just going with the flow, you’ll not only have a couple of hours of good ol’ quality time with the fam, but when you receive your images, you’ll have more than just memories of that time.  You’ll have authentic images that truly reflect your family.

I’ve always hated having my photo taken.  Here’s an example of why.

On my wedding day, amidst all the wonder and the chaos, my wife and I were finally ready to cut our cake and do that whole tradition.  At the time, we both really just wanted to sit down and have something to eat.  Instead, we honored the tradition of cutting the cake while we both held the knife.

As we’re cutting, we have to freeze so our wedding photographer can get the shot.

It was a completely unnatural moment, and the prints we received reflected that.  They were completely devoid of any emotional content or any way to relate to what was happening in the image.  Instead, my wife and I came across as mannequins.

This is how posed photography almost always feels to me.

I’m a much bigger fan of natural expressions and capturing moments as they’re happening.  I don’t like to force things.

By not posing my clients, but instead allowing them to be themselves in front of the camera, I have access to a much more natural—and much more powerful—range of emotions and expressions.  The shoot itself can sometimes be hectic, especially when there’s young children involved, but the rewards are so much greater than could be possible otherwise.

If you have had an experience similar to mine, or have an opinion about this idea in general, please share it below.  I’d love to hear others’ thoughts.