Using Family Photojournalism Tips To Get Out of a Photography Rut: Part 1

This story of my favorite style of family photography is brought to you thanks to CreativeLive. All opinions (and bad BEFORE photos) are my own. This post also includes affiliate links, I make a small commission if you purchase through my links. Thanks for helping support Bre Pea!

I’ve been a big fan of the photojournalism style since I first discovered what the heck it was. I was planning our wedding and researching wedding photographers when I found that I was more attracted to those who claimed to be “wedding photojournalists“.

What is family photojournalism?

I like to think of it as: telling a story exactly as it unfolds through photography. This means no posing, no manipulating, no directing, just shooting. Some also refer to it as documentary style photography.

What draws me to the photojournalist style?

Honestly, I think photos done in this style have much more emotional impact. When done right, they make you feel something just by looking at the photo. Plus, despite being a dance teacher who has to think of poses constantly, I really suck at posing people.

I recently received the opportunity to take a photojournalism class through CreativeLive. CreativeLive is a place where you can find high quality and in-depth online classes for subjects like photography, art, crafts, practically any creative outlet you can think of. It’s seriously awesome!

I first fell in love with CreativeLive last year when a colleague let me know about their Photography Week classes. For this class, obviously, I selected one revolving around photojournalism.

I will be taking the Family Photography: Photojournalism in the Home class by Kirsten Lewis and I can’t WAIT to soak up every bit of knowledge that I can.

Although I already have a decent handle on the fundamentals of photography and how to take photos, there are a few aspects of my photography that I’m hoping to improve through this course like…

• Getting creative with composition beyond the typical off-center or weird cropping
• How to deal with lighting issues and yet capture the moment
• Tell stronger stories through photography of my own family

As an example of my BEFORE, I took these photos one day just because I thought Bean looked cute playing in her playroom.

I defaulted to my typical “rule of thirds” composition and had a hard time getting creative beyond that. I get so focused on showing my subject that I don’t know how to take photos of anything else to add to the story. I also made Bean stop what she was doing so I could take her photo. I want to learn how to take GREAT photos of my crazy Bean in her natural glory!

You can (and should!) take this course with me. There are 37 lessons packed FULL of information for just $97. You can also save 20% with the code ISHARE20 (exp 5/31/17) making it just $77.60!

Whether you’re shooting with a fancy, shmancy DSLR or your iPhone (which can take amazing photos nowadays), you can learn new skills for better storytelling through your photos. Let’s take the course and become family photojournalists together 🙂