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How do you define Lifestyle?
I've heard from a few folks that I should try out some Lifestyle shots--I have this big, excellent smile that I've barely gotten to use so far--and while writing a message to a photographer about it, I realize that, although I know a Lifestyle shot when I see one, I'm not really sure how to *explain* the concept of a Lifestyle shot. So, how would you define "Lifestyle," to someone who doesn't know exactly what it means? Aug 08 06 06:25 pm Link You shouldn't try to shoot lifestyle images with a photographer who doesn't know what lifestyle means. Aug 08 06 06:36 pm Link Brian Diaz wrote: Mr diaz, I must respectfully disagree. He/She may not know what the term but may actually have been doing that style of Photography all along. Aug 08 06 06:43 pm Link George Butler wrote: Brian Diaz wrote: Mr diaz, I must respectfully disagree. He/She may not know what the term but may actually have been doing that style of Photography all along. Nope...going with Brian on that one...if the photographer can't define lifestyle he doesn't know how to shoot it. Aug 08 06 06:44 pm Link Here are some exerpts from a discussion I had with a great lifestyle shooter a several months ago: Lifestyle is specific to a market. There is a NY look, a LA look and a South Beach Look. You can just go shoot on the street of NY to shoot lifestyle, or at a sidewalk cafe. When I go to NY, I'd like to get some shots of a model on the streets at night with car lights streaking by in the background like my Tokyo Station shot. Marksora has a casting call to shoot someone in a fountain. That could be lifestyle too if you show someone just having fun and it seems like maybe they really got in the fountain to celebrate something special. Stock, is more generic and timeless, but they overlap. The fountain shot could be stock as long as it is fairly generic. Of course, you can ask 20 photographers and get 20 different answers. My own view keeps evolving every day. Lifestyle is a scene from a TV show or movie. Stock is a scene from a novel or short story. I think they have to express an emotion as well as tell a story. For advertising, they must play on the emotions of the viewers... Lifestyle is now (advertisers want to tap into the market now) Stock is always (at least if you want it to sell for a while) Aug 08 06 06:45 pm Link Brian Diaz wrote: Brian, with respect to your post, the defintions are a bit more cloudy. For example, going by this defintion, then Peter Lindbergh and Patrick Demarchelier would be basically shooting lifestyle, for the most part. Much of their work takes place on thet streets. So if Lindbergh shoots a model on the streets of NY for an editorial to be published in Vogue Italy, then is that really considered lifestyle? In an editorial they may do a "NY look" for example. When does it cross the line into high-fashion? Aug 08 06 06:50 pm Link "People doin' shit" Aug 08 06 06:52 pm Link LiliOPhoto wrote: I agree. I don't think I posted any absolutes. You can shoot lifestyle at a sidewak cafe. You can also shoot editorial, stock, art, glammer, etc. I never said that anything shot at a sidewalk cafe is automatically lifestyle. When does it cross the line into high-fashion? At the same crossroads where art becomes porn. Aug 08 06 07:03 pm Link I don't understamd some of the opinions here: if you can't define something in words do this mean that you can do it? I can't come of with definitions for most of the things I do, even outside of photography. Aug 08 06 07:41 pm Link Fuzzybear Photography wrote: No, but specifically with lifestyle photography if you can't even begin to offer a definition of it then that means you have no idea what it is. If you have no idea what a type of photography is, then you have no way to form a basis for a shoot Aug 08 06 08:16 pm Link Fuzzybear Photography wrote: Which is the point I was making. Just because someone can't put a definitive description doesn't mean they can't do it. Aug 08 06 08:17 pm Link Ghengis Khan had an active, outdoor lifestyle. (George Carlin rocks) Aug 08 06 08:26 pm Link It is the hip marketing term these days. It's the settings of your aspirations for quality of life - those particular products you purchase because you believe they fit a part of your character, those product you buy because you deserve them, those clothes you wear that 'define you' Aug 08 06 08:31 pm Link isn't that a condom brand? Aug 08 06 10:20 pm Link British exam papers for the tropics (during the days of the British Empire) used to define the animals and birds around the tropics in terms the local children didn't use - thus getting them low marks on the basis that they didnt know *s..t* about these animals (Creatures the British Examination Board members had prob never seen, let alone interacted with daily, but learned about and tested with in Latin) Quid pro Quo? ''Ya Get Me''???? Aug 11 06 03:11 am Link Pretty much all I shoot for money is lifestyle for stock and advertising clients. When models ask me what "Lifestyle" means I simply tell them it is shots of them doing normal things and being themselves in front of the camera. This means no obvious posing, and natural expressions. Smiles are paramount! I try to only shoot people doing things that they are comfortable with so that it looks as real as possible to the viewer. In other words, if you can't sail, we wont be out shooting sailing shots with you. I'm not sure that lifestyle photography has to evoke a sense of envy in the viewer. Not all lifestyles are something all of us strive for. However, the more believable a lifestyle shot is, the more likely it is going to sell to an audience interested in the particular lifestyle potrayed. Hope this helped answer your question. Aug 11 06 10:39 am Link |
