My love of photojournalism

It is a strange but familiar feeling to think outside the box from my peers. There is always a constant temptation to follow the masses and do what everyone else does, even with photography. While I love and appreciate the work of my colleagues, I just don't think it is me.

My love of photography probably started as a child when I would look through my parents National Geographic magazines and come across the most stunning and raw expressions on peoples faces. You could almost FEEL what they were experiencing through the photographs. There was nothing phoney about their expression or their pose. While I recognize that I will probably never travel the world taking photographs of different cultures, many of the aspects of photojournalism can be applied to family photography.

There is a lot of pressure for photographers to fit the "mold" that the general public expect of them. But that makes me feel stifled and a little claustrophobic. That is totally the opposite reason I went into photography in the first place. I wanted to escape the rigidness of my day to day life (BSc. student) and embrace the creative part of my soul.

A client of mine, whom I took photos for a week or so ago really inspired me to stick to my own style. I bounced a few ideas off of her regarding the type of photography I wanted to do and she was thrilled by it. She wants me to hang out with her family and capture their typical Saturday morning with the kids in their pj's watching cartoons and the family gathered sharing a breakfast of waffles. I am so excited to document the everyday life of this family and capture some images that express exactly who they are. This experience was the beginning of a new form of photo session soon to be offered to my clients.

Here are a few photos from that session. Enjoy!