Why Lifestyle | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Trendley Photography

Why Lifestyle | Saint Charles Photographer |

Chelsie Trendley Photography

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I wanted to write a post on lifestyle photography. I choose to specialize in this because to me this is the best way to get authentic family photos that tell a story. Your family is ever changing, your kids continue to grow and change throughout the years. This is a easy and fun way to show off the whole family and get the best authentic smiles. This is also so much easier on kids and parents. No more yelling for them to stand still and smile, no more saying “say cheese”, I use cues and playing to get genuine smiles. I often time have the parents playing with the kids and then will branch off and have the kids play and the parents to fun cues. I always get a huge variety of “breakdowns” this way and easily create a beautiful photograph story of your family. All the while still getting a couple great options for that “everyone looking and smiling pose”. I get these with family walk, and the family hug cue.

Here is a great example of some cues and playing ideas I use to get great photos of a family.

If you have a session scheduled it doesn’t matter if we are wandering around main street Saint Charles or a beautiful park in Cottleville we will get lots of gorgeous photos of your family! If you haven’t scheduled a session, lets chat!

Dear Mom | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Trendley Photography

Dear Mom | Saint Charles Photographer |

Chelsie Trendley Photography

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Dear Mom,
My heartfelt reminder to relax. I’ve been there, I have three children ranging from 2 years old to 7. We get our photos done once a year, and its always a bit stressful. Someone is always cranky and someone is usually crying. But what makes it worse is if I lose my cool, I tend to go with a gentle approach and try to distract them or I ignore them and just start playing with the other kids. Usually they catch on and start having fun.
Let me tell you about my last family photo session, it was our last session in Hawaii, my 2 year old hated her outfit and kept crying, eventually that turned into a hard glare and she looked like she was possessed by a demon, after that my 4 year old would not participate, she was in “statue” mode and just stood there. I know this one, I grabbed her and started playing, eventually her smile couldn’t be hidden and she started having fun, right about then my 7 year old caught the “bug” and would not get in the water, she was LIVID that she was not in a swimsuit and just cried. Meanwhile it’s getting dark and we have maybe 2 photos where everyone looks like they are having fun, so I’m literally completely in the water with my 2 year old on one hip and the 4 year old on the other, my husband grabs the Amelia (the 7 year old) and drags her in the water, she was crying but also smiling. At this point it was pure protest and she was being stubborn to make her point.
I know if I had yelled or been demanding my children would have not had a good time and half the photos I would have looked like a crazy angry person. So I used what I knew would help each child and it helped, was it perfect, no; but neither are we, all in all we loved the photos and they accurately showed life with 3 kids 7 and younger.
So Mom, don’t apologize, just use what you know will help your kid(s) be in a good mood. Trust me, it will look a lot better then photos of you yelling at them or stuffing skittles in their mouth. If it’s not working, take a minute and walk away, I have a few tricks I use to help kids get in good moods for sessions.

xoxo
Chelsie

Photo of two of my kiddos for a lifestyle brand shoot of Rogue Wanderer Co

Oahu Family Photographer | Splash Session | Amazing Family

I generally leave a photo session and have a feeling of excitement. I love working with families. This session I did stands out, I try not to "play favorites" but this one, this one is my favorite.

At the time our newest child was about 3 months old. So I brought the whole family to base and dropped my husband and our three daughters off at the park. I then headed to my session. I listen to the radio and did my usual pre photo shoot car dancing. I pulled up and immediately my clients pulled up next to me. I don't know why but this felt like a great sign. Since we were both about 10 minutes early. Right away I felt a connection, the Mom Shelby had the same hair style and hair color as me! I complemented her AMAZING style. We walked down to the beach and I really let myself be me at the session. I joked with them, we chatted, the kids played, splashed, and then although I have suggested before at sessions, I highly encouraged them to get in the water. The results were amazing. I also got in the water, I was soaked up to my belly button! Best of all I knew I made friends for life.

After the session I was on cloud 9, it was amazing, I kept looking at the back of my camera and felt so much pure excitement. Upon getting home, I started my usual post session uploading and all the behind the scenes work.

When they came over to see everything, again, it was just an amazing environment. Their kids played with my kids while we looked through their photos, I may have teared up because I'm always emotional when people love the photos. She may have too, I don't remember, and I didn't want to look and her see my all teary eyed.

Then I found out the family was MOVING away from this beautiful island Oahu. So I ordered everything with rush shipping because I love hand delivery/pick up!

Anyways, I absolutely loved that session. That session is now my samples for basically everything in my studio. Here are a few of my favorites.

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