What is EK’s Style?
Hi there! It’s been a minute since I last blogged. Time has just gotten away from me this spring! Today I want to tell you more about my photography style. No, I know you’re not interested in what I’m wearing to your session. Rather, my style refers to the approach I take to photographing a session and what you can expect in your final images. You may be considering which area photographer is the best fit for your family and, while there are many points to think about, selecting a photographer whose style matches your own is essential. I want my clients to look at their images and feel I captured the best of their family. Knowing a bit more about what I do to achieve that “best” is key!
After many years of working to find my style sweet spot, I’ve simply named my approach “pose, then prompt.” The process is super simple. FIRST, I pose you, THEN I give you a prompt to interact about. Depending on the preferences you’ve listed in your before session questionnaire, we may pause briefly to get a quick shot of everyone smiling at the camera. But, for the most part, I follow this simple two-step process that we repeat over and over again in new locations and with a variety of groupings throughout your session.
Megan & Dylon’s Engagement Session
Here you can see I’ve posed Megan and Dylon first and then given them something to interact about. I won’t give away all of my favorite prompts but the ones we used here were, “in your most seductive voice, whisper in Megan’s ear what your favorite deli meat is” and “tell Dylon which chore you’d love for him to do this week at home in a slow, sultry way.” Yup, these are super silly but they create the best and most genuine reactions between couples!
When it comes to posing and prompting kids, the prompts I give differ depending on the age of the child. With little ones I often bring mom or dad down to the child’s level and then ask the child to whisper something she loves about mommy in her ear. No matter what the child says this prompt always makes mom smile one of her brightest and most authentic smiles!
On the other hand, older children are usually already being good sports for their parents during a session so I choose prompts that allow them to be silly. One of my favorites is encouraging them to look between different people in the group in slow motion while laughing in an over the top and fake way. While this often starts out sort of goofy, seeing their siblings and parents let loose a bit evokes natural reactions and smiles.
I believe my “pose, then prompt” approach to a session yields the perfect combination of both traditionally posed images as well as genuine and authentic moments frozen in time. I believe in it so much it is the photography style I search for when having my own family photos taken. While I love the photos of my family looking and smiling at the camera, the photo I have enlarged and framed above my desk is of everyone making a silly face. My daughters chose sassy poses, my youngest son stuck his tongue out, my oldest son made a silly smile, and my husband and I were laughing as we looked at each other with genuine smiles on our faces. Both traditionally posed and natural, candid interactions are valuable and I believe both should be highlighted during your session. If you’re ready to experience “pose, then prompt” for yourself, reach out for more information about scheduling a session today!
