YOUR FAMILY AT HOME: REPORTAGE FAMILY PHOTOS
Why not have your family photographs taken where you feel most like yourselves: playing at home, cooking brunch, at a favorite cafe, or walking around your neighborhood. In familiar surroundings, I’ll discreetly accompany you with my camera, capturing candid, unstaged photos on the fly. It’s the only way to bottle these fleeting moments — family portraits in a natural reportage style. Pictures that you — and especially your kids — will love looking at again and again.
A DAY IN THE LIFE: DOCUMENTARY FAMILY PHOTOS
My “day in the life” sessions are about telling the story of a typical day for your family — that’s what documentary family photography means to me. Family photos are also records of a certain era. They should capture the feeling of this very moment in time. Goofing around at a favorite park, a Sunday walk in autumn, a lazy Saturday morning on the couch — small, everyday gestures of affection and love — as a photojournalist, I can capture these memories for you and your children. A few tears from the kids, or a runny nose or sweaty hair, are just part of the story. No pressure, no posing, no “Say cheese and smile.” Authentic and real. In my family reportages, my role is to observe and document, staying quietly in the background and yet always close to the action.
GAIN A WHOLE NEW INSIGHT INTO YOUR DAY-TO-DAY LIFE
My family reportage photography is best described in the wonderful words of one of my customers, who stated that it gives “the special highlights of day-to-day life” the importance they deserve. It helps you to gain a new appreciation of your family life and view your everyday life from a whole new perspective, namely through the eyes of a photo artist, a reporter with a journalistic approach who is always on the lookout for special moments, compositions and plays of light. My photographs enable you to immerse yourselves in your day-to-day life at a glance, providing vibrant memories both now and in many years to come. The photos of your family reportage will always remind you of this period of your life, the feelings that you experienced on this one special day – and not the instructions given by your photographer. This is my understanding of documentary family photography and my service for you.
LET ME BE A PART OF YOUR FAMILY
Be it in Berlin, Brandenburg or anywhere else in Germany, I can visit you with my camera in the comfort of your home and accompany you as you go about your day-to-day life. I can stay for a whole day, half a day or just a couple of hours. We don’t need a special schedule, a spectacular day out, the perfect weather or your Sunday best. After one or two hours at the latest, both you and your children will have gotten used to the camera and my presence, so much so that it will just feel like I’m part of the family. Documentary family photography pays homage to day-to-day life, to the normal activities and occurrences that make it such a challenging but oh so wonderful time for all the family.
How much does it cost?
You can find out more about my prices and answers to some other frequently answered questions here on my FAQ page. I look forward to hearing from you!
Faq's
ANY QUESTIONS?
An authentic family reportage is based on a solid foundation of trust. I very much appreciate the fact that you welcome me into your private and personal environment and share your day-to-day life with me. Before you book my services, we therefore always have a detailed chat on the telephone or in person over a good cup of coffee so that we can get to know each other and discuss all your questions. I hope that the information below can even answer some of these questions in advance:
Do you only work in Berlin or do you travel to customers too? When shooting a reportage over the course of a day, I’m happy to come to your location anywhere in Germany. This only involves additional costs for travel expenses alongside accommodation.
What activities would you recommend for the reportage? When it comes to family reportage photography, you don’t need to come up with any special programme. We often start off with a family breakfast before heading outdoors, playing together and cooking together, so pretty much your normal day-to-day life. As you can imagine, the photos taken are much more meaningful when you’re doing something together rather than each person doing their own thing.
What should we wear? The most important thing is that you feel comfortable. If you eat breakfast in your pyjamas every Sunday, that’s exactly what we’ll do! You don’t need to put on your Sunday best and you certainly don’t all need to match. Although I’m not exactly a fan of T-shirts with big slogans, if your oldest only wants to wear their favourite team’s shirt, that’s fine by me.
Will our children be able to survive such a long shoot? That’s the great thing about documentary family photography: your children don’t have to “survive” anything! Nobody has to be on their best behaviour or put on any kind of show just because the photographer is there. Simply be yourselves – and that applies to your children too! Strops and tantrums and Mum and Dad’s attempts to console their children and calm things down are simply part and parcel of everyday family life.
And what if the kids get tired? Then they can simply take a nap! When it comes to family reportage photography, you’re not only allowed to eat and drink, but also to chill out, be tired and even sleep. And come to think of it, going shopping, doing the hoovering and cleaning your teeth are just fine too! After all, the best memories can be made when you do exactly what you would normally do as a family any other day of the week.
What happens if one of us falls ill? Please let me know as quickly as possible so that we can rearrange our session.
We’re throwing a children’s birthday party – can you take photos of that too? Yes! As a wedding photographer, I have grown to love capturing major celebrations. Taking photographs of christenings, family parties or significant birthday gatherings creates wonderful memories for future generations. Put simply, I’m a huge fan of children’s birthday parties!
Can you also take some nice portrait photographs for the grandparents? Although documentary photography is most definitely my number-one focus, portraits also form part of my day-to-day work. In fact, my reportage sessions often also produce a number of wonderful (documentary) portraits. If you would like a classic family photo, however, I’m also happy to arrange you on the sofa in the perfect light for the perfect group portrait.
Can you get rid of my spots? Although I carefully and professionally edit all of your photos, I do not offer detailed beauty retouching. In the case of individual close-ups, I am happy to remove temporary blemishes but making any other changes would go against my photographic approach.
Will you put our photos up online? I’m always delighted to get the chance to show people my work. After all, this is the only way to attract other people’s attention to these wonderful moments. That said, I will only publish your photos if you give me your consent. If you would rather remain offline, I completely understand and will, of course, respect your wishes.
When will we receive our photos? I normally give you your photos two to four weeks after my visit.
How much does it cost? The prices for my reportage photography start at 450 euros incl. VAT for a good two hours. The longer I spend with you, the more authentically we can tell the story of your day-to-day life. Where possible, I prefer to spend half a day or a whole day with you. Simply ask me for a quote to find out more.
Do we get to keep the digital files? Yes. My prices include all edited files as a download or on a USB stick. And because I strongly believe that valuable memories shouldn’t be limited to mobile phones and hard drives, I also provide you with selected copies printed on high-quality paper alongside your digital files. If I spend half a day or longer with you, I will create a high-quality photobook telling your own personal story of a day in the life of your family for you.
How many photos will we receive? This very much depends on what happens during the shoot. Based on experience, a two-hour-long shoot will result in at least 50 photos, while an entire day produces approximately 200 to 300.
Do you have any more questions? You can read more about my approach to documentary family photography here. Simply send me a message or give me a call so that we can discuss everything else. I look forward to hearing from you!
