Freeze Time at Family Events – Forget the Perfect Shot

April 21, 2015

When I first became a photographer, it felt like the stigma of the title meant I was the new family portrait photographer during family dinners, parties, and more. These days, the family gets that I’m not going to play portrait photographer. I want to relax and enjoy the day just as much as they do. It took some time to set this expectation, but now that I have, I’m unafraid to bring my camera to family events.

Family Event Photography can mean two things: you’re taking portraits or you’re documenting the day.

Being someone attracted to the moments and photos when no one is looking, documenting the day is what I LOVE to do. I was thrilled to come across work on Danielle Meredith’s website where she was also unafraid to bring her camera to a family function.

She agreed to tell us her thoughts & share her beautiful images of a day with her family.

From Danielle:

I’m really lucky to have a very close family.

We grew up with cameras all around us so my family is definitely used to us snapping away, which leaves everyone pretty relaxed. Aside from that you’ll see me picking up my camera and putting it back down numerous times through the night.

It’s important for me to document our times together (borderline expected these days haha), but it’s also important to be in the moment at the same time.

The key to documenting the moments is to be part of them: quickly pick up the camera, snap a photo or two, and then return to the moment. I love to freeze the time I have with my family, especially with my niece and nephew being so young right now.

That’s all I think about when we get together and I never worry about getting the perfect shot.