Featured Session – Chelsea Silbereis

Today we are featuring a family session by Chelsea Silbereis from Hamden, Connecticut. Here’s what Chelsea had to say about this session:

“I spent a fantastic day with Rachel and her family. In all seriousness, as I’m coming off of maternity leave and focusing exclusively on in-home, documentary family sessions, this session meant so much for me. First of all, Rachel and her family were so welcoming. We live in the same neighborhood and they shared so much knowledge with me, from their preschool and kindergarten experience to some restaurant recommendations. Second, I love my job. I have missed this so much. It is a long, tiring day, but I get home invigorated. Then when I’m getting bogged down by life, I work on a little editing and I’m invigorated again. It is beyond words to be able to spend time with a family and make pictures of all of their love and the little quirks and traditions that they share. It makes me overflow with joy and gives me hope.”

You can find Chelsea online on her site, facebook, and instagram. Read on below to find out more about Chelsea, this session, and her approach to photography.

Jessica: I love your creative compositions that are still moment-focused. Do you find a composition and wait for something to happen in the frame, or are you just watching for a moment to occur.

Chelsea: A little bit of both. I’m looking for a composition the whole time I’m with the family, and sort of mentally mapping out compositions that I like so that when the family is in a particular area I have an idea of how I’d like to shoot whatever is happening. Of course, if something great is happening outside of where I plan on shooting, I go for it. But I can certainly tell that the pictures in which I set up the composition then wait for a great moment tend to be stronger.

Leslie: Beautiful family story. Was this the session that made you realize you only wanted to shoot in-home family documentary? If so, how did you come to that realization? If not, when did you realize that was your passion?

Chelsea: I had always tended towards shooting more documentary style sessions. When photographing families I gravitated towards less posing, more activities. Eventually I discovered Kirsten Lewis’s work and participated in her group mentoring. This pushed me towards doing fully documentary, all day sessions.

But it wasn’t until I hired a business coach that I decided to go for it and get exclusive. Shawna helped me identify what part of my business really inspired me. She convinced me that having a specific vision will result in clients who are more devoted and will make it easier for me to promote my business as well as feel fulfilled by my work. You can find her here.

Aniya: This is an amazing session, Chelsea. There are times when I’m doing a day in the life when I feel some moments are off limits and I’m having an inner conflict. For example, if a child is behaving really badly and dad is at his wits end at scolding him; do I shoot through this? Is it disrespectful to shoot? Am I going to be yelled at to put my camera down? Did you ever have any of those moments with this session, where you weren’t sure you should be documenting?

Chelsea: It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. In one of my first Real Day sessions I arrived before the Dad woke up. In retrospect I can see that the Mom was really eager for me to shoot her and the kids waking up Dad as that was a special ritual for them, but I was afraid. I didn’t follow them into the bedroom. Afterwards I felt miserable. In the immediate aftermath I could tell she was disappointed and I had to work to regain her trust. I gave myself a clear goal of shooting everything regardless of my discomfort because that is what I’m there for, that is what I’ve sold my client.

In this particular session the Mom communicated to me before hand that she didn’t want any below the waist nudity photographed, at all. When she brought it up I took the time to clarify exactly what that meant. What we came away with was I should photograph through any nudity, but compose the pictures to only show the kids from the waist up.

During the session the older son had a couple of time outs. I could tell that he did not want to be photographed during his time outs, but the parents didn’t mind. I continued to photograph but tried to give him his space. Eventually he asked me not to photograph him on the “naughty step,” and I said “absolutely, I’ll give you some privacy.” He seemed to really appreciate that and we moved on with our day just fine. Which really worked out perfectly because I was able to deliver time out pictures, but also respect his request when he decided he wanted me to stop. I think it actually helped me connect with him because he was able to set a boundary and saw that I really respected his decision. Essentially I treated him like an adult, like it was his decision and that usually goes over really well with kids.

Meg: What are some of the first things you do when you go into a session like this? Do you shoot right away or do you chat with the family and let them get used to you some?

Chelsea: I have my camera out right away and I let them know that during our communication before the session. I start out talking and shooting less and as they get comfortable I’m shooting more and relating less, but I want to be ready the minute I arrive (even before, as I’m approaching the house) in case there’s a great opportunity for a picture.

Lacey: How did you know you were ready to end your maternity leave and get back to photographing clients? How was it going back after a long break? Was it different getting back in than what you expected? How so?

Chelsea: I’ve been shooting pretty sporadically since having my first baby in April 2014. During this pregnancy, my second, I really didn’t shoot or promote my business very much as I had a very difficult pregnancy. I felt so sick much of the time that I didn’t even want to make pictures of my own family and really struggled through the few client sessions that I did. So I was pretty excited to get back to shooting and to be really focused on only shooting what I’m most excited about.

Practically, the most difficult thing was pumping enough to get my baby through around 12 hours without me. I know he had a hard day being away but the joy on his face and how he settled into my arms when I came home was just wonderful to experience.

Lisa: What was your biggest takeaway from doing this session?

Chelsea: I think my biggest take away was confirmation that I’m on the right path. I enjoyed the day, I enjoyed the shooting, I enjoyed the editing much more than I usually do. I feel like I’m finally saying something with my work, something that is really important to me, and I can’t wait to see where that takes me.

Michelle: Which of the photos you submitted is your favorite and why?

Chelsea: It is hard to pick. I really love pictures that contain the whole family. From this set I love the picture of the parents trying to use their phones while the kids are climbing all over them. My body knows exactly what that feels like so when I look at the picture it feels really universal but also very specific. It tells the story of something probably all parents experience, but it is also something pretty unique to our period in history.

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Want information on how you can be a featured artist? Check out our submission page for all the details.

boy asleep on kitchen counter - documentary family photography

Community Post – January 2017

Facebook Community Posts

Thank you so much for all you January submissions! We loved getting a little peek into the lives of your families. This month’s top honor goes to Halona Photography. Make sure to stop by her page, and the pages of all our Top 5 artists to check out more of their wonderful work.

Halona Photography

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Jessica Mason Photography

Katie McMenamin Photography

Borne Back Photography

Sharlyn Dyck Photography

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To see your photo here next month post your favorite documentary family images directly to our Facebook timeline. A new feature we will have starting next month is a round up of our favorite images from our Instagram feed! Use the hashtag #shamoftheperfect for a chance to be featured on IG.

girl struggles with homework - documentary family photography

February 6, 2017

Collective Post

“The purpose of art is washing the dust off the daily life of our souls.”
– Picasso

January 30, 2017

Collective Post

For our last post in January we wanted to include all our contributors work in a single post to introduce you all to their families and shooting styles at once. Going forward our contributors will be split into two groups, each with a collaborative post published once a month. But once more, all together:

“I don’t want life to imitate art. I want life to be art.”
-Carrie Fisher

Why I Started a 365 Photography Project in 2010 (and Never Stopped)

Contributor Articles

“There simply are not many grand moments of life, and we surely don’t live life in those moments. No, we live life in the utterly mundane. We exist in the bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms, and hallways of life. This is where the character of our life is set. This is where we live the life of faith.”

-Paul David Tripp

December 12, 2010

When I first started taking pictures ten years ago, my husband told me about a man who started taking a picture a day and then continued that for the rest of his life. My husband’s suggestion that I do something similar was met with a raised eyebrow and me telling him that sounded weird and hard and frankly, a little boring.

March 11, 2011

Fast forward a few years after I’d learned quite a bit more about photography, I decided taking one picture a day for a year didn’t sound quite so weird. I had read testimonies of people who said how much their photography improved during a 365 project, but even though I wanted my photos to be better, I wasn’t sure if I was up for the big commitment. So I kept putting it off.

January 20, 2012

In early February of 2010, a friend close in age to me was diagnosed with cancer and not given much time to live. It was shocking and sobering. It made me realize how often I put off doing things until the “right” time and that I wasted way too much time waiting on something bigger or better to happen without enjoying the present. I started my first 365 the following Monday.

March 25, 2013

The project was fun, but it was so hard! I’m pretty sure I complained about it a lot. Taking a picture a day was easy, but taking a good picture was much harder. Even though my pictures didn’t seem to get better, I still kept at it. My camera went everywhere with me. All my friends knew about my project and didn’t seem bothered that I frequently took pictures around them. Having a camera at my face became my new normal. At the end of that year, I made a photo book with all 365 pictures, and there was something almost magical about seeing my entire year in a book. Seeing all the pictures together made any complaints about the project disappear. It’s amazing how something as simple as a picture can hold so many memories. With each turn of the page, there was a memory and I was transported back to that day. I could remember exactly how I felt when I took that picture.

September 5, 2014

When January 2011 rolled around, I was hooked and knew that I wanted to do another one. Then, I continued on in 2012. And then in 2013. I just couldn’t stop. It was addicting. I even did a 365 of just self portraits one year, but I promised myself I would never ever do another one of those again.

March 3, 2015

The first year or two, I was concerned about taking “good” pictures. However, now I’m much better at scanning a scene, taking a picture, and feeling confident that it’s a decent picture in one or two shots. I feel like my 365 project fits well within the documentary photography category because I’m documenting my family’s entire year. I don’t clean up messes, and I just photograph my life how it is. I seek to document the small moments and imperfections that make my family who we are. Truth be told, I don’t take many amazing photos nor is my life that exciting. Other people might not think much of my pictures, but each one holds a memory for me. Some memories are painful, and some make me smile when I see them.

July 13, 2015

Over the past seven years, I’ve photographed some of my highest highs and some of my lowest lows – the “grand moments of life” per the quote at the beginning of this article. But the majority of my pictures remind me of ordinariness of most times because that’s the life I live. Days with Lego creations in the living room floor, school work scattered on the table, an abandoned half folded pile of laundry on my bed, and with a reheated (yet once again cold) coffee cup in the microwave. My daily photos include pictures from grocery stores, public restrooms, parks, doctor offices, hospitals, and post offices. I take pictures of almost all of it – the good, the bad, and everywhere in between.

August 8, 2015

Taking daily pictures for this long has forced me to be more creative with my pictures and to seek out the beautiful, little things in my life. Obviously, I take many of the same photos over and over. Some days I try to shoot the same subject in a different manner. Other days I go for taking the same sort of photo to show the passage of time. I have a whole series of my son standing at the glass front door in our old house watching the world just beyond the door. As I flip through them, you can see him getting taller and taller as the seasons change in the background.

March 15, 2016

When this article is published, I will have taken at least one picture a day for 2,527 days in a row. I’ve completed nine 365s (I did a 365 of just my son and one of self portraits concurrently with a normal yearly one). I haven’t missed a day yet, but I won’t beat myself up if I do. I also have no idea when I’ll stop. I’ve considered taking a break so many times, especially during those long periods of uninspired photos, but something makes me continue.

July 18, 2016

Taking a photo each day is second nature to me now, and it’s not something I have to remind myself to do anymore. It would be strange not to take a picture every day.

August 1, 2016

In my mind the photo books I make at the end of the year are a time capsule for my family that, years from now, we can look through and remember how it really was. Many people might not understand why I take pictures of things like dirty dishes piled in my sink. To most, it probably looks like I just need to clean up. But to me, I see the dishes from the cake I baked for my son’s birthday. His favorite color was red that year, so we compromised on a red velvet cake instead of a white cake with red icing. Years from now these photos will help me to remember how he played with Legos every day, and became obsessed with Star Wars in 2016 so he wore a Darth Vader costume everyday for a month, or that special bond he had with his great grandmother.

September 2, 2016

My son enjoys looking through the books now because he likes seeing pictures of himself and hearing stories from when he was little. Maybe someday my grandkids or great grandkids will flip through my photo books and have a better idea of how their weird grandmother/great grandmother saw life.