Day in the Life Session | Calgary Documentary Family Photographer

Years ago, when I first started out, my goal was to move towards a more documentary approach to family portraiture that was called ‘Day in the Life’ Sessions. Over the years, those sessions morphed into a combination of portraits and documentary that I began to call ‘Adventure Sessions’. Every now and then, I still get asked to do a true Day in the Life session. I did one recently and wanted to share a sampling of the images with you. This is a half day in the life session where we focused on the morning in a very special house that they were about to say goodbye to…

A few years ago, I spent a lot of time purposely seeking out critique in an attempt to become a better photographer, but I really discovered that so many photographers wanted to fit you in a box with their critique…one of their own making. For me, it felt stifling from a creative perspective…I felt like I was losing confidence in my own vision…not my abilities, but my vision…which in the end is the only thing I have that can differentiate me from others. The last two years, I have really stepped back from the industry and it has been AMAZING. I feel like I’m coming back into myself. I’m listening to my inner voice and creating the images that speak to me. Whether they speak to other people is not something I can control…but, when I look at this collection of images, I see my humor, my tenderness, my voice again and it makes me so happy. I want to see more of this.

Enjoy…

Calgary At Home Adventure Session

One of the great things about Calgary is that so many homes back right onto beautiful natural parkland. One of the not so great things about Calgary is that the weather is incredibly unpredictable. Even thought this session happened when it was arguably NOT fall yet, we got a huge dose of fall weather. Wet, soggy, and incredibly foggy. I gotta be honest, I was a little afraid that things could go sideways pretty fast. I mean, with a not quite one year old, you never know how they will handle being uncomfortable. But, this beauty was a trooper. We ended with a warm sink bath that was completely unplanned but very necessary.

This family purchased what I call my Adventure Sessions. Which means that we try to capture a combination of portraits and documentary images. I think sometimes people get intimidated by the word ‘Adventure’ and think that they need to do something truly adventurous in order to satisfy the call…but, here’s the thing…Adventure is everywhere if you are looking for it! Bubbles, watermelon, sink baths…Grandma and Grandpa…all of this is quite adventurous when you aren’t even one year old.

So, here is a smattering of the images we created together while on our Adventure…

Thanks for stopping by my blog…if you have any questions about my Adventure Sessions, please ask!! Winter is the perfect time for one!

~ Dana

An At Home Adventure Session

Sometimes you just want to have photographs to remember what a normal Saturday morning was in your home. With the kids playing 'hockey' in the living room while mom and dad watch the news. Or, getting carried away with water balloons from Costco. Or just cuddling with your mom or dad on the front steps. These things are all worth remembering.

Getting a Puppy

I've decided I should blog something. ha...this year has been so busy with both work and my family life that something had to give and my blog posts ended up being that thing.

This family won my contest that I had back in June and they chose to have their session to celebrate the arrival of their newest family member(a gorgeous puppy). We played in the backyard and then went for a walk. The puppy tired out quite quickly and had to be carried like a baby. So sweet. This is my favourite kind of session...a little bit of home and a little bit of the neighbourhood. Enjoy!