Episode 72: Lifestyle Photography with Chrystal Cienfuegos

PhotoSpark

There have been a lot of trends in the photography world. Some are around for a short time and disappear (thank you selective color), and some stick around for good. We absolutely love the shift from stiff, posed portraits toward lifestyle photography, both in weddings & in family portraits! Chrystal Cienfuegos is an extremely talented birth & family photographer & she is amazing at capturing documentary style, candid photos. We invited her on PhotoSpark this week to chat with us about what lifestyle photography entails & how she achieves such great images! Key Takeaways:

1. Why lifestyle photography? There are a million reasons why this style of photography is amazing both as a photographer and as a client! First of all, it's SUPER personal. You're really getting to know your client on a very intimate basis. You're likely in their home for at least a few hours & you're capturing very special family moments. This is a great way to bond with your clients & keep them for life! Also, for clients it's a LOT easier! They are able to just be in the moment with their family & not stress about everyone's outfits, hair, shoes, etc like they normally would for family photos. The result is priceless images of their family as they are today, which is such an awesome memory to have!
2. How can you market lifestyle photography? Just like any other type of photography, Chrystal suggests portfolio-building. Her first lifestyle shoot was with her best friend, and Chrystal spent the night at their house & started shooting first thing in the morning! She was able to get a ton of authentic, photojournalistic images from that shoot which she used to market to potential clients. She blogged about her portfolio shoots, talked about how much fun they were, and showed off the images. After that, the clients started rolling in!
3. What about the Christmas cards?? Something that's a concern when thinking of moving toward a more photojournalistic approach are Christmas cards! While some families are okay with this style of photos on their cards, others want posed, staring at the camera photos. Chrystal markets specially priced mini sessions at the end of the year for her lifestyle clients, which makes it easy to get both needs met. We also discussed doing lifestyle photography of the family preparing for their photoshoot, and then doing an actual, more traditional shoot afterward. There are tons of ways to incorporate both lifestyle photography and traditional photography into your business!

Chrystal is seriously such a rad guest, you guys have to listen to the rest of the episode for more tips & conversations about day in the life sessions & lifestyle photography! Thanks for listening! Relevant Links:

• Website: www.chrystalcienfuegos.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/chrystalcienfuegos
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/chrystalcienfuegosphotography
• Sham of the Perfect: www.shamoftheperfect.com

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