family in bedroom - family documentary photography

Meet Heather

Contributor Profiles

Heather is from Clinton, Mississippi (USA) and is the mother of 13 children.  She loves capturing fleeting everyday moments.  

Where can we find you online?

http://www.facebook.com/AllOursPhotography
http://www.instagram.com/bowserbrood

family in bedroom - family documentary photography

 

What’s your favorite lens for shooting this type of work? 

Favorite lens: Sigma 35 mm 1.4

kids in teepee - family documentary photography

What are you drawn to document?

I am drawn to the details of everyday life. Children and our lives change so fast and we don’t even notice as it happens.

sister with baby - family documentary photography

What is the most valuable tip you have learned in pursuit of shooting in a more documentary style?

Technique matters but sometimes emotion trumps technique.

kids at breakfast table - family documentary photography

Why is storytelling photography important to you?  Why do you feel compelled to shoot with this approach?

I have 13 children. My oldest is now an adult. I know how fast time flies. For several years after I learned to shoot in manual, I would not take pictures if things weren’t perfect. House not clean = no pictures. Light not great= no pictures. Ect… So some of my children have hardly any pictures when they were babies. One day my kids were looking through scrapbooks and the bins of photos of the past 22 years and they were so excited. They didn’t care if I used flash or if the white balance was off. They were just happy to remember our old house. See when they learned to swim or when we went to the zoo in San Diego. I vowed to put all the perfect aside and just document my family.

family playing in driveway - family documentary photography

Briefly tell us about your journey into family documentary photography.

I am wanting to transition to a documentary approach with my sessions and have several portfolio sessions scheduled over the next few months to start replacing the other work on my Facebook page and to have for the website I am building.