Lauren Sanderson is a highly regarded photographer based in Huntsville, Alabama, known for her ability to capture natural interactions and authentic expressions in families and children. Her journey into photography began long before she became a professional. Even in high school, Lauren was constantly taking photographs, developing double glossy prints at a one-hour photo lab, and sharing her creations with friends. This early passion for photography, combined with her natural talent, laid the foundation for what would eventually become a professional career. Photography was not merely a hobby for Lauren; it became a way to express her artistic vision and document the world around her. As she started her own family, her love for photography transformed from a casual interest into a passionate pursuit. The transition from hobbyist to professional photographer was gradual but inevitable, fueled by her dedication to capturing meaningful moments in the lives of families. Her work today reflects this journey, combining technical skill with a deep understanding of emotion and storytelling.
Balancing Family Life and Photography
Being a mother of three young daughters under the age of five presents unique challenges, yet Lauren has managed to balance her responsibilities as a parent with her career as a photographer. Her personal experiences as a mother greatly influence her approach to family photography, enabling her to understand the dynamics and interactions within households. This insight allows her to connect with her subjects in a meaningful way, creating images that are authentic and emotionally resonant. Lauren’s husband, her high school sweetheart, has been a supportive partner throughout her career, providing stability and encouragement as she pursues her professional goals. The ability to balance family life with a demanding creative career requires careful planning, prioritization, and time management. Lauren’s approach to managing these responsibilities serves as an inspiration to other photographers who are navigating similar challenges. By integrating her personal and professional life, she has developed a workflow that accommodates the needs of her family while maintaining the high standards of her photography business.
Approach to Family Photography
Lauren’s strength as a family photographer lies in her ability to make clients feel comfortable and relaxed during a session. She emphasizes the importance of preparation and communication prior to the shoot, gathering information about her clients’ interests, routines, and personalities. This preparation allows her to engage clients in conversation during the session, creating a rapport that puts everyone at ease. By asking open-ended questions and encouraging playful interactions, Lauren generates natural expressions and genuine laughter. Techniques such as prompting children to make silly faces or sounds and involving them in fun activities help capture authentic moments rather than forced smiles. Lauren believes that the key to successful family photography is creating an environment where subjects feel safe to be themselves. She uses her understanding of family dynamics and child behavior to guide her sessions, allowing spontaneous moments to emerge naturally. Her approach emphasizes storytelling, capturing the unique relationships within each family and producing images that reflect their personalities and shared experiences.
Transition to Film Photography
In addition to her work with digital photography, Lauren has a passion for film photography. Film allows her to explore a different dimension of artistic expression, providing a tactile and deliberate process that complements her digital workflow. While she has primarily used film for personal projects, Lauren has plans to incorporate it into her client work. This transition represents both a creative and professional challenge, as it requires adapting her techniques and processes to a medium with different constraints and opportunities. Lauren’s decision to introduce film photography into her client sessions reflects her desire for growth, creativity, and innovation. By experimenting with film, she hopes to offer her clients a unique experience and distinct visual style that differentiates her work from others in the field. The deliberate nature of film photography also encourages careful consideration of composition, lighting, and moment, enhancing the artistic quality of her images. This integration of film into her professional practice demonstrates Lauren’s commitment to evolving as a photographer while maintaining the authenticity and emotional depth that defines her work.
Equipment and Gear Choices
Lauren’s photography setup is tailored to her style and the variety of sessions she conducts. Her primary digital camera body is the Nikon D600, complemented by a Nikon F100 for her film work. She utilizes a combination of lenses to achieve her desired look, including the Nikkor 85mm 1.8G and Sigma Art 35mm 1.4, which serve as her main lenses for client and lifestyle photography. The older Tamron 17-35mm lens provides flexibility for wide-angle shots, while a small Panasonic Lumix camera allows for underwater photography. Lauren also carries a compact Fuji XQ1 camera in her purse for capturing unexpected moments that warrant more attention than a smartphone can provide. Among these options, her 85mm lens is her go-to choice for both client and film sessions, valued for its ability to produce beautiful portraits with natural depth and bokeh. The 35mm lens is her preferred choice for indoor and lifestyle shoots, allowing her to work in tight spaces while maintaining compositional integrity. Lauren’s thoughtful selection of equipment ensures that she can adapt to various shooting conditions and client needs while maintaining her distinctive style.
Techniques for Relaxed Family Sessions
Creating relaxed and natural family sessions is a central focus of Lauren’s photography practice. She invests significant time in understanding her clients and their unique dynamics prior to each session. This preparation allows her to ask meaningful questions and engage clients in conversations that elicit authentic reactions. During the session, Lauren prioritizes maintaining a lively and interactive environment, avoiding awkward silences that could make subjects uncomfortable. She encourages spontaneous moments by prompting playful activities, using humor, and focusing on shared family interactions. By fostering a sense of familiarity and trust, Lauren ensures that both children and adults are comfortable in front of the camera. Her approach emphasizes observation and adaptability, responding to the moment while guiding the session toward images that capture genuine emotion. Lauren’s skill in creating a relaxed atmosphere is a result of experience, empathy, and a keen understanding of human behavior, enabling her to produce photographs that feel candid and heartfelt.
Post-Processing Philosophy
Lauren’s editing style is characterized by clean, minimally retouched images that preserve the natural quality of her photographs. She uses Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) for batch processing, which allows for efficient delivery of client images while maintaining a consistent aesthetic. For images requiring more extensive editing, Photoshop is used selectively. Lauren prioritizes speed and efficiency in her workflow, aiming to upload, edit, and deliver client images within one week of the session. This approach not only ensures client satisfaction but also helps maintain a manageable workload. Her commitment to clean, simple editing enhances the emotional impact of her photographs, keeping the focus on the subjects and their interactions. By streamlining post-processing and minimizing unnecessary retouching, Lauren reinforces her artistic vision while maintaining practical efficiency in her business.
Organizing a Photography Business
Managing a photography business while balancing family life requires organization and strategic planning. Lauren relies on studio management software to keep track of leads, invoices, expenses, contracts, and client communications. This system allows her to automate routine tasks, freeing time for creative work and client interaction. Consistent follow-through and timely delivery are essential components of her workflow, ensuring that client expectations are met and her business remains professional and reliable. Lauren emphasizes the importance of avoiding backlog and maintaining a disciplined approach to every aspect of the business, from session preparation to post-processing. This structured methodology enables her to provide a high level of service while sustaining the creative energy required for her photography. The combination of technology, planning, and disciplined execution allows Lauren to balance multiple responsibilities effectively, achieving both personal and professional goals.
Preparing Families for Photography Sessions
One of the hallmarks of Lauren Sanderson’s work is the natural and effortless expressions she captures from her clients. This is not accidental but rather the result of thoughtful preparation and careful planning. Before a session, Lauren invests time in getting to know her clients, learning about their family dynamics, interests, routines, and what brings them joy. She asks questions designed to uncover stories, hobbies, and shared moments that can be incorporated into the photography session. This prior knowledge allows her to interact with clients in a meaningful way, making them feel comfortable and understood. When families are at ease, their interactions feel genuine, which is crucial for achieving authentic images. Lauren treats every session as a collaborative experience, ensuring that both parents and children are involved and engaged. By fostering a sense of familiarity and trust before the camera even comes out, she creates an environment where natural smiles, laughter, and emotional connections can emerge effortlessly.
Creating Comfort and Connection
Lauren emphasizes that making families comfortable is not a matter of luck but of skill and intention. During sessions, she focuses on creating a relaxed atmosphere where everyone feels welcome. She approaches each session with the mindset that her clients should feel like old friends, even if they are meeting her for the first time. Conversation is central to her approach, as she avoids long stretches of silence, which can make people self-conscious. Instead, she uses open-ended questions, humorous prompts, and playful interactions to elicit reactions that feel spontaneous and heartfelt. For example, she might ask children to make their silliest faces while parents watch and react, creating a shared moment of laughter. Similarly, she often asks parents questions that bring up happy or humorous memories, which naturally encourages warmth and connection in the photographs. Lauren’s ability to guide interactions while allowing genuine moments to unfold is a critical factor in the success of her sessions.
Incorporating Film Photography
In addition to her digital work, Lauren has a passion for film photography, which she has historically used for personal projects. Film photography requires a different mindset than digital photography, emphasizing deliberation, patience, and careful attention to detail. Lauren has expressed a desire to bring film into her client work, combining her existing style with the unique qualities of analog photography. Film’s distinct aesthetic, including its texture, tonal depth, and dynamic range, provides opportunities for creativity and experimentation. Incorporating film into client sessions also allows Lauren to offer a differentiated experience, adding value for clients seeking something beyond conventional digital images. This transition represents both a professional challenge and an artistic evolution, as she adapts her workflow and session planning to accommodate the slower, more intentional nature of film photography. By embracing this medium, Lauren is pushing the boundaries of her practice, demonstrating a commitment to growth and artistic exploration while maintaining the core principles that define her photography.
Choosing and Using Lenses
Lauren’s lens selection reflects her approach to storytelling and her understanding of how different tools affect the final image. Her primary digital camera body is the Nikon D600, complemented by her film camera, the Nikon F100. For her digital work, her main lenses include the Nikkor 85mm 1.8G and the Sigma Art 35mm 1.4, while an older Tamron 17-35mm provides versatility for wide-angle shots. Her 85mm lens serves as her go-to choice for both client and film photography due to its ability to create shallow depth of field, beautiful subject separation, and a natural perspective for portraits. The 35mm lens is ideal for indoor and lifestyle work, capturing environmental context without distortion while maintaining intimacy. Additionally, Lauren uses a small Panasonic Lumix camera for underwater photography and carries a compact Fuji XQ1 for spontaneous, portable shooting. Her intentional approach to equipment ensures that she can adapt to diverse shooting conditions while maintaining her signature light and clean aesthetic. Lens choice is not merely technical for Lauren; it is integral to how she interprets and frames the world through her photography.
Techniques for Engaging Children
Photographing children requires patience, adaptability, and a deep understanding of child behavior. Lauren’s sessions often begin with allowing children to explore their environment, which helps them feel comfortable and reduces anxiety. By giving them space to move, play, and engage with their surroundings, she captures authentic expressions and candid moments. After the initial warm-up, Lauren focuses on getting the key images the family wants, often starting with sibling portraits before integrating parents into the shots. This approach respects the natural energy and attention spans of children while ensuring that important posed images are captured. She incorporates playful prompts, imaginative games, and humor to maintain engagement, making the session enjoyable for both children and parents. By observing the children’s responses and adjusting her approach accordingly, Lauren creates a dynamic and flexible session flow that prioritizes authenticity over rigid posing. Her ability to balance structure with spontaneity is a defining feature of her family photography style.
The Role of Light and Location
For Lauren, location and lighting are foundational elements of a successful photography session. Before arriving at a session, she scouts locations to identify features such as leading lines, natural framing, textures, and areas that will complement her subjects. Once on-site, her primary focus is on the quality and direction of light. The interplay between location and light determines the mood, depth, and dimensionality of the photographs. Lauren’s approach to light is both technical and artistic; she considers the time of day, weather conditions, and natural reflections to optimize the capture of emotion and movement. She believes that thoughtful selection of locations, combined with strategic use of available light, allows for visually compelling images that highlight the family’s interactions without overwhelming the viewer with environmental distractions. This careful planning elevates her work from simple snapshots to narrative-driven portraits that tell a story beyond the frame.
Editing and Post-Processing
Lauren’s post-processing philosophy emphasizes minimalism and authenticity. She prefers clean, understated edits that enhance the natural beauty of the subject rather than drastically altering it. Her primary tools include Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw, which allow her to batch process images efficiently while maintaining consistency across sessions. Photoshop is used selectively for images requiring more extensive retouching. This streamlined workflow supports her goal of delivering client galleries within one week of the session, ensuring prompt service without compromising quality. By minimizing complex editing steps, Lauren preserves the integrity of the moment captured in-camera. Her focus on speed and efficiency in post-processing also allows her to manage her workload effectively while maintaining a high standard of artistry. This combination of technical skill, aesthetic judgment, and operational efficiency defines her professional approach to photography.
Organizing a Photography Business
Successfully running a photography business involves more than just taking photographs; it requires organization, strategic planning, and discipline. Lauren relies on studio management software to keep track of leads, contracts, invoices, expenses, client communications, and session scheduling. Automation tools reduce administrative burdens, allowing her to focus on creative work and client engagement. She emphasizes the importance of staying on top of tasks and avoiding backlog, ensuring that every client interaction is timely and professional. Consistent organization also allows her to deliver images quickly, maintaining client satisfaction and enhancing her reputation. Beyond software, Lauren’s discipline in workflow management includes systematic planning for sessions, editing, and delivery schedules. Her approach demonstrates that effective business practices are essential to sustaining a creative career, particularly when balancing personal responsibilities such as parenting.
Teaching and Sharing Knowledge
In addition to her client work, Lauren is involved in teaching and sharing her knowledge with other photographers. She contributes to educational programs, creating resources that guide others in improving their technical skills, session planning, and creative decision-making. Her breakout session focuses on location scouting, lighting, and workflow strategies, providing a comprehensive guide to achieving diverse and engaging images. This commitment to education reflects her passion for the broader photography community and her belief in fostering growth and learning among peers. By breaking down complex concepts into actionable steps, Lauren empowers other photographers to refine their craft and develop their own distinctive style. Her role as an educator also reinforces her professional expertise, positioning her as a respected voice in the field.
Choosing Locations for Sessions
Lauren’s approach to selecting locations is methodical and intentional. She believes that the environment plays a critical role in shaping the visual narrative of a session. When scouting locations, she evaluates features such as natural framing, textures, background elements, and accessibility. She also considers how light interacts with the environment at different times of day, looking for opportunities to create depth, dimension, and mood in her images. Once a location is chosen, she uses it to guide the flow of the session, integrating poses, movement, and interactions in a way that feels natural and engaging. The goal is to marry the location with the family’s personality, producing images that are visually compelling while reflecting the authenticity of the subjects. Lauren’s meticulous attention to detail in location scouting contributes significantly to the quality and uniqueness of her photography.
Maintaining Personal Favorites in Photography
While client work dominates Lauren’s professional output, she maintains a personal connection to her photography through images that hold sentimental or artistic value. Often, her favorite images are not the ones she publicly shares, as they may not align with her brand style or client offerings. For example, an unplanned moment on a trampoline during Halloween captured a child’s pure joy and playful energy, creating a photograph that Lauren treasures for its emotional resonance. These personal favorites inform her approach to client work, reminding her of the importance of spontaneity, humor, and genuine emotion. By maintaining this personal creative practice, Lauren nurtures her artistic vision and continues to grow as a photographer, ensuring that her work remains fresh, inspired, and meaningful.
Capturing Sibling Relationships
One of the signature aspects of Lauren Sanderson’s photography is her focus on sibling relationships. She understands that these bonds are often filled with authenticity, humor, and emotion, which makes them ideal subjects for storytelling through photography. During a session, Lauren often begins by allowing siblings to interact independently before bringing parents into the frame. This approach encourages the children to relax and be themselves, creating opportunities for candid moments that capture their personalities. By observing their interactions, she can identify moments of connection, affection, or playfulness, translating them into images that resonate with both the subjects and their families. Sibling photography requires a delicate balance between structure and spontaneity, as Lauren guides the children toward desired poses without stifling their natural energy. Her understanding of child behavior and family dynamics enables her to manage these sessions smoothly while capturing authentic interactions. The result is a collection of images that reflect the unique personalities and relationships of each sibling group.
Starting Sessions with the Right Flow
Lauren’s session workflow is intentionally structured to maximize authenticity while ensuring client expectations are met. She typically begins sessions with activities that allow children to explore their surroundings, helping them acclimate to the environment and feel comfortable in front of the camera. Once the children are at ease, she focuses on capturing key images that the family prioritizes, such as posed sibling or family portraits. This order allows her to achieve the most important shots early while the children are still engaged and cooperative. By starting with siblings, Lauren can capture relaxed, natural expressions without the pressure or influence of parents. She then gradually incorporates the entire family, creating a seamless transition into full-family portraits. This workflow is rooted in observation, patience, and adaptability, ensuring that sessions flow naturally and remain enjoyable for both children and adults. The structured yet flexible approach contributes to the authenticity and emotional depth of her work.
The Importance of Light in Photography
For Lauren, light is one of the most critical elements in creating compelling images. She emphasizes that both natural and controlled lighting can shape the mood, depth, and dimensionality of a photograph. When arriving at a location, her first concern is assessing the light, considering factors such as direction, intensity, and quality. By combining the light with the characteristics of the location, Lauren creates images that are visually engaging and emotionally resonant. She pays attention to how shadows fall, how highlights define shapes, and how the overall lighting complements the subjects. This meticulous approach allows her to highlight details, create separation between subjects and backgrounds, and enhance the storytelling potential of each image. Light, in Lauren’s view, is not simply a technical component but an artistic tool that informs composition, expression, and mood.
Creating Visual Variety in Sessions
Lauren’s breakout sessions and field guides emphasize the importance of variety in photography. She teaches that capturing a diverse range of images—from candid moments to posed portraits, from wide-angle environmental shots to intimate close-ups—creates a richer and more meaningful client gallery. Variety allows families to see themselves in multiple contexts, reflecting different aspects of their relationships and personalities. To achieve this, Lauren incorporates a combination of thoughtful planning, observation, and responsiveness during sessions. She adapts poses, interactions, and framing based on the environment, lighting, and emotional cues from her subjects. By intentionally introducing variety, she ensures that every gallery is visually engaging and emotionally satisfying, allowing families to relive moments from multiple perspectives. This emphasis on diversity in photography reflects Lauren’s holistic approach to storytelling, where each image contributes to a larger narrative.
Film Photography for Clients
In her ongoing evolution as a photographer, Lauren is integrating film photography into her client work. This shift represents a deliberate artistic choice, as film provides a unique texture, tonal depth, and organic quality that differs from digital images. Film encourages slower, more deliberate shooting, which allows Lauren to carefully consider composition, lighting, and interaction before capturing a moment. The use of film also offers clients a distinct experience, providing a tactile and artistic alternative to conventional digital photography. Lauren’s transition to incorporating film requires thoughtful planning and adaptation of her workflow, as film introduces new challenges such as limited exposures and processing time. However, the aesthetic rewards and creative possibilities of film make it a valuable addition to her repertoire. This integration demonstrates Lauren’s commitment to innovation while maintaining her signature approach to authentic and emotionally resonant photography.
Gear and Equipment Considerations
Lauren’s choice of gear reflects her technical expertise and understanding of how equipment influences image quality. Her primary digital body, the Nikon D600, allows for versatility and high-resolution output, while her Nikon F100 film camera introduces an analog dimension to her work. Her main lenses—the Nikkor 85mm 1.8G and Sigma Art 35mm 1.4—provide the focal lengths needed for portraits, lifestyle shots, and environmental storytelling. The older Tamron 17-35mm lens offers flexibility for wide-angle compositions, while smaller cameras such as the Panasonic Lumix and Fuji XQ1 allow for specialized applications like underwater or candid photography. Lauren’s equipment selection is deliberate, ensuring she can adapt to a variety of situations while maintaining her light and clean aesthetic. She balances technical considerations with artistic goals, understanding how lens choice, aperture, and focal length impact the visual narrative and emotional resonance of her images.
Post-Processing Philosophy
Lauren’s post-processing approach is defined by minimalism, speed, and consistency. She prioritizes maintaining the natural qualities of her subjects while enhancing clarity, color, and contrast. For the majority of her images, she uses Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw to batch process sessions, ensuring uniformity across the gallery. Photoshop is employed selectively for more intensive retouching when needed. This streamlined workflow allows her to deliver images quickly, typically within one week, which is a key component of her client satisfaction strategy. By limiting extensive retouching, Lauren preserves the authenticity and emotion of each photograph, aligning post-processing with her clean, understated style. Efficiency in post-processing is not merely a convenience but an essential aspect of her professional practice, enabling her to manage a high volume of sessions while maintaining quality and consistency.
Efficiency and Workflow in Business
Running a successful photography business requires careful management of time, resources, and client communications. Lauren emphasizes the importance of workflow efficiency, relying on studio management software to organize leads, invoices, contracts, expenses, and client questionnaires. Automation reduces administrative burdens and ensures a smooth process from inquiry to gallery delivery. Additionally, Lauren maintains disciplined practices to avoid backlog, completing tasks promptly to prevent accumulation of unfinished work. Her workflow incorporates session planning, image editing, and delivery schedules, balancing operational demands with creative responsibilities. This structured approach allows Lauren to maintain a high standard of professionalism while pursuing artistic growth. The combination of effective tools, planning, and discipline is a cornerstone of her business success, enabling her to deliver exceptional client experiences consistently.
Teaching and Educating Others
Lauren’s commitment to sharing her expertise extends beyond her own work. She actively participates in educational initiatives, providing guidance and instruction to other photographers through workshops, breakouts, and field guides. Her teaching emphasizes practical strategies for location scouting, lighting, session planning, and workflow optimization. By breaking down complex concepts into actionable steps, she equips other photographers with the tools and knowledge needed to refine their craft. This role as an educator also reinforces her professional authority, positioning her as a respected mentor within the photography community. Lauren’s dedication to teaching reflects her belief in continuous learning, collaboration, and the value of sharing insights to elevate the practice of photography as a whole.
Breakout Session Insights
Lauren’s breakout sessions focus on helping photographers understand the interplay between location, light, and session planning. She emphasizes that the location is not merely a backdrop but an integral component of the image, contributing to composition, mood, and storytelling. She provides detailed guidance on evaluating potential locations, noting attributes such as natural framing, textures, and elements that enhance visual interest. In addition, Lauren teaches techniques for creating a location log, documenting observations that inform session planning and decision-making. By combining thoughtful scouting with attention to lighting, she demonstrates how photographers can maximize the potential of each environment. Her instructional materials include visual examples, templates, and video demonstrations, providing a comprehensive resource for photographers seeking to elevate their technical and creative skills.
Location and Environmental Awareness
Environmental awareness is central to Lauren’s photography philosophy. She carefully observes how elements within a location interact with her subjects, including natural light, textures, and spatial relationships. This awareness informs her decisions regarding composition, posing, and framing, ensuring that every image is visually cohesive and emotionally compelling. Lauren encourages photographers to approach locations with intentionality, considering how features such as leading lines, open spaces, and reflective surfaces can enhance the narrative of a session. By thoughtfully integrating the environment into her photography, she achieves images that feel organic and harmonious, where the location complements rather than competes with the subjects. This attention to detail distinguishes her work and reinforces her ability to create meaningful, memorable photographs.
Capturing Unexpected Moments
Lauren’s work is characterized by an ability to anticipate and capture unexpected moments that reveal genuine emotion. Whether it is a child’s spontaneous laugh, a playful interaction between siblings, or a fleeting gesture of affection, these unplanned occurrences often produce some of the most cherished images. Lauren’s approach to sessions emphasizes observation, patience, and responsiveness, allowing her to seize these moments without disrupting the flow of the session. By creating an environment that encourages natural behavior and engagement, she maximizes the potential for capturing authentic expressions. These candid moments are central to her artistic vision, contributing to the emotional impact and narrative depth of her work.
Capturing Emotion in Photography
Lauren Sanderson’s photography is defined by her ability to capture emotion in a natural and unforced way. For her, the essence of a successful image lies in the connection between subjects and the authenticity of the moment. She focuses on observing subtle interactions, gestures, and expressions that reveal personality and relationships. These moments may be brief or fleeting, but they carry the emotional weight that makes an image memorable. Lauren encourages her clients to relax, play, and engage with each other rather than pose stiffly, allowing authentic reactions to emerge. By prioritizing emotion over rigid composition, she creates images that resonate with viewers on a personal level. This approach requires patience, attentiveness, and a deep understanding of human behavior, qualities that Lauren has honed through years of experience photographing families and children.
Importance of Preparation Before a Session
Preparation is central to Lauren’s approach to photography. She believes that a well-prepared session is the foundation for capturing compelling images. Before a shoot, she gathers information about the family’s preferences, routines, and personalities, which informs how she plans the session. This preparation allows her to anticipate moments of connection, plan locations, and structure activities that facilitate natural interactions. Lauren also takes the time to scout locations ahead of time, assessing elements such as light, composition, and visual interest. By combining thoughtful preparation with adaptability during the session, she ensures that she is ready for any situation while still allowing space for spontaneity. Preparation enables her to work efficiently, minimize stress for her clients, and capture images that feel authentic and intentional.
Creating a Comfortable Environment
Lauren places a strong emphasis on creating a comfortable and enjoyable environment for her clients. She understands that many families may feel nervous or self-conscious in front of a camera, so she works to put them at ease from the very beginning. Her approach includes engaging clients in conversation, using humor, and incorporating playful activities that encourage genuine interaction. She avoids awkward silences and instead fosters a dynamic and interactive atmosphere. By creating trust and rapport, Lauren enables clients to express themselves naturally, resulting in photographs that are relaxed, joyful, and authentic. The comfort of the subjects is integral to the success of a session, as it directly impacts the quality and emotional resonance of the images. Lauren’s ability to create this environment reflects her experience, empathy, and understanding of family dynamics.
Integrating Film into Client Sessions
Lauren’s decision to integrate film photography into her client sessions represents a significant artistic evolution. Film offers a unique aesthetic that differs from digital photography, characterized by texture, tonal depth, and subtle color shifts. The deliberate pace of shooting with film encourages careful composition and consideration of lighting and subject placement. Lauren sees film as a way to offer clients a distinctive and memorable experience, providing images with a timeless and artistic quality. Transitioning to film for client work also presents practical challenges, such as limited exposures, processing time, and the need for precise planning. However, Lauren embraces these challenges as opportunities for creative growth. By combining her established digital workflow with film photography, she expands her artistic toolkit and introduces a new dimension to her sessions.
Equipment and Lens Selection
Lauren’s gear selection is tailored to her style and the specific needs of each session. Her primary digital camera is the Nikon D600, complemented by the Nikon F100 for film photography. Her main lenses, the Nikkor 85mm 1.8G and Sigma Art 35mm 1.4, allow her to capture both portraits and lifestyle shots with clarity and depth. The Tamron 17-35mm lens provides flexibility for wide-angle compositions, while the Panasonic Lumix and Fuji XQ1 cameras allow her to capture specialized shots, such as underwater or spontaneous candid moments. Lauren’s 85mm lens is her go-to for both client and film photography due to its ability to isolate subjects, create beautiful bokeh, and maintain natural perspective. Her 35mm lens is ideal for indoor or lifestyle sessions, providing context while keeping subjects prominent. This intentional approach to gear ensures that Lauren can adapt to various environments and creative requirements while maintaining her signature clean and light aesthetic.
Techniques for Working with Children
Working with young children requires a combination of patience, observation, and adaptability. Lauren begins sessions by giving children space to explore the environment, helping them feel comfortable and reducing anxiety. This initial period allows her to observe their natural behavior and identify moments of genuine interaction. She incorporates playful prompts, imaginative games, and humor to engage children and encourage spontaneous expressions. By understanding child behavior, Lauren can anticipate reactions, adapt poses, and guide interactions in a way that feels natural rather than forced. Her approach emphasizes the importance of flexibility, allowing sessions to flow organically while still achieving the necessary posed images. The ability to manage children effectively is central to Lauren’s success in capturing authentic family moments.
Understanding Light and Its Impact
Light is a crucial element in Lauren’s photography, influencing mood, depth, and composition. She evaluates the quality, direction, and intensity of light at each location to determine how it can enhance the subjects and the overall image. Natural light is often her preference, as it provides a soft and flattering effect while preserving the authenticity of the scene. Lauren considers how light interacts with textures, surfaces, and the subjects themselves, adjusting her position and camera settings to achieve the desired effect. By understanding and utilizing light effectively, she creates photographs that feel dimensional, balanced, and emotionally engaging. This attention to lighting is a defining feature of her style, contributing to the clean and luminous aesthetic that characterizes her work.
Capturing Variety in Sessions
Variety is essential in creating a comprehensive and engaging client gallery. Lauren incorporates a mix of candid, posed, wide-angle, and close-up shots to tell a complete story of the session. She adapts her approach based on the location, lighting, and the personalities of her subjects, ensuring that each image adds a new perspective or dimension. Variety also allows clients to see different aspects of their relationships, personalities, and environment, providing a richer and more meaningful experience. Lauren’s focus on visual diversity reflects her belief that a well-rounded gallery should include both intimate and expansive moments, playful interactions, and structured portraits. This approach enhances the overall narrative of her photography and ensures that each session is dynamic and memorable.
Post-Processing and Editing Workflow
Lauren’s post-processing philosophy is centered on minimalism, consistency, and efficiency. She primarily uses Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw for batch processing, allowing her to edit entire sessions quickly while maintaining a cohesive look. Photoshop is reserved for images that require more detailed retouching, which is infrequent due to her preference for natural and understated edits. By streamlining her workflow, Lauren ensures fast delivery of client galleries, typically within one week of the session. Her editing style enhances the natural qualities of the images, emphasizing clarity, color balance, and tonal harmony without altering the authenticity of the subjects. This efficient workflow supports both her artistic vision and her operational requirements, allowing her to maintain high standards while managing a busy photography business.
Business Organization and Workflow
Running a successful photography business involves careful organization and strategic planning. Lauren relies on studio management software to handle administrative tasks such as lead tracking, invoices, contracts, expenses, and client communications. This automation allows her to focus on creative work and client interactions while maintaining a professional and organized business structure. Lauren emphasizes the importance of staying on top of tasks and avoiding backlog, ensuring that every session, edit, and client interaction is completed in a timely manner. Her structured workflow includes detailed session planning, post-processing schedules, and delivery timelines, enabling her to balance operational efficiency with creative execution. This disciplined approach allows her to provide consistent, high-quality service to clients while pursuing ongoing artistic growth.
Sharing Knowledge and Mentoring
In addition to her client work, Lauren is committed to sharing her expertise with other photographers. She participates in educational programs, workshops, and breakouts, providing guidance on technical skills, session planning, and creative decision-making. Her teaching emphasizes practical strategies for location scouting, lighting, and workflow management, helping other photographers refine their craft and develop their own style. By breaking down complex concepts into actionable steps, Lauren empowers others to achieve better results in their own photography. Her role as a mentor reinforces her professional credibility and contributes to the broader photography community, reflecting her belief in collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement.
Location Scouting and Planning
Lauren views locations as integral components of her photography sessions. She carefully scouts potential sites, evaluating factors such as natural framing, textures, lighting, and accessibility. By observing how light interacts with the environment and considering how it complements her subjects, Lauren selects locations that enhance the narrative of the session. She also develops location logs, documenting observations and notes to guide her during the shoot. This preparation allows her to maximize the potential of each environment, ensuring that her images are visually compelling and emotionally engaging. Lauren’s meticulous approach to location planning demonstrates her commitment to thoughtful, intentional photography that goes beyond simply finding a pretty backdrop.
Capturing Candid and Spontaneous Moments
A defining characteristic of Lauren’s work is her ability to capture candid, unplanned moments that reveal genuine emotion. These moments may include a child’s laughter, playful interactions between siblings, or spontaneous gestures of affection. Lauren emphasizes observation, patience, and responsiveness during sessions, allowing these moments to unfold naturally without interference. By creating a comfortable and engaging environment, she increases the likelihood of capturing authentic expressions and interactions. These candid images often become favorites for both the photographer and the client, as they convey the genuine personality and emotion of the subjects. Lauren’s skill in anticipating and documenting these fleeting moments sets her work apart and contributes to its lasting impact.
Capturing Family Dynamics
Lauren Sanderson’s photography stands out for her ability to capture the intricate dynamics of family relationships. Each family is unique, and she approaches sessions with the mindset that understanding these relationships is key to creating meaningful images. By observing interactions, she identifies patterns of affection, playfulness, and connection, translating them into photographs that reflect the essence of each family. She balances posed images with candid moments, ensuring that the gallery captures both structured and natural interactions. Lauren’s focus on family dynamics allows her to create images that resonate emotionally, giving clients a visual representation of their relationships that is authentic and enduring. Understanding these dynamics requires patience, observation, and an ability to anticipate emotional moments, all skills Lauren has developed over years of experience in family photography.
Building Trust with Clients
Trust is fundamental to Lauren’s approach to photography. Families often feel vulnerable in front of the camera, and creating a sense of safety and understanding is essential to capturing authentic moments. Lauren invests time in establishing rapport with clients before and during sessions, engaging in conversations that explore family routines, preferences, and shared experiences. By listening attentively and responding with empathy, she creates an environment where clients feel understood and comfortable. This trust encourages genuine expression, allowing parents and children to interact naturally. Lauren’s ability to build trust extends beyond the session itself, influencing client satisfaction, repeat business, and word-of-mouth referrals. Her approach demonstrates that technical skill alone is insufficient; emotional intelligence and interpersonal sensitivity are equally critical to success in family photography.
Planning Sessions for Authenticity
Preparation and planning are central to ensuring authenticity in Lauren’s photography. She begins by learning about her clients’ personalities, routines, and preferences, which informs session structure, location choice, and posing strategies. Location scouting is a crucial element, as the environment shapes the composition, mood, and narrative of the images. Lauren evaluates potential locations for natural framing, textures, and lighting, considering how each element interacts with her subjects. Once on location, she adjusts her approach based on the light, environment, and client behavior, balancing pre-planned ideas with adaptability to spontaneous moments. This preparation allows her to maximize opportunities for authentic expression while maintaining efficiency and creativity during the session. By integrating planning with flexibility, Lauren ensures that every image captures genuine emotion and interaction.
Encouraging Natural Interactions
One of Lauren’s signature techniques is encouraging natural interactions between family members. She uses playful prompts, imaginative games, and humor to elicit genuine reactions from children and adults alike. For instance, she may ask parents to make silly faces or children to act out their favorite playful gestures, creating moments of laughter that translate into compelling images. By guiding interactions subtly without imposing rigid poses, Lauren allows personality and emotion to shine through. She believes that the most meaningful images come from observation rather than direction, capturing moments that feel authentic and spontaneous. This approach requires patience, empathy, and the ability to anticipate responses, ensuring that clients feel comfortable and engaged throughout the session.
Utilizing Film for Artistic Expression
Integrating film into client sessions represents a significant evolution in Lauren’s creative practice. Film offers a distinct visual quality, with texture, tonal depth, and subtle color shifts that differ from digital photography. The deliberate pace of shooting with film encourages careful composition, attention to light, and intentional decision-making. For clients, this provides a unique and memorable experience, producing images that are both artistic and timeless. Transitioning to film also introduces technical challenges, such as limited exposures and processing time, which require meticulous planning and workflow adaptation. Despite these challenges, Lauren embraces film as a tool for artistic growth, combining her technical expertise with creative vision to deliver images that are both authentic and aesthetically compelling.
Equipment Choices and Flexibility
Lauren’s choice of equipment is deliberate, supporting her creative goals and session requirements. Her primary digital camera, the Nikon D600, allows for high-resolution output and versatility, while the Nikon F100 provides analog options for film photography. Her main lenses, the Nikkor 85mm 1.8G and Sigma Art 35mm 1.4, allow her to capture portraits and lifestyle shots with clarity and depth, while the Tamron 17-35mm lens provides flexibility for wide-angle compositions. Portable cameras like the Panasonic Lumix and Fuji XQ1 enable spontaneous or specialized shots, including underwater photography. Lauren’s careful selection of gear ensures she can adapt to diverse situations while maintaining her signature clean and light aesthetic. Her understanding of how each lens and camera influences composition, depth of field, and visual storytelling is integral to her approach, allowing her to achieve a consistent and professional style.
Managing Young Children in Sessions
Working with young children requires skill, observation, and adaptability. Lauren begins sessions by allowing children to explore their surroundings, creating a sense of comfort and reducing anxiety. During this time, she observes natural behavior and identifies moments of authentic expression. To maintain engagement, she incorporates playful prompts, imaginative games, and humor, encouraging children to interact naturally. Lauren balances structured posing with candid observation, capturing the most meaningful and genuine moments without forcing unnatural expressions. She adapts her techniques based on individual personalities, energy levels, and responses, ensuring that children remain relaxed and cooperative throughout the session. Her expertise in managing young children contributes significantly to the success and authenticity of her work.
Lighting and Composition
Lighting is central to Lauren’s photography, influencing mood, depth, and overall image quality. She evaluates natural light conditions at each location, considering direction, intensity, and quality to enhance her subjects. By observing how light interacts with textures, surfaces, and the subjects themselves, Lauren adjusts positioning and camera settings to achieve the desired effect. Proper use of light allows her to create dimensional, balanced, and emotionally engaging images. Composition is equally important, as Lauren uses location features, leading lines, and natural framing to guide the viewer’s eye and emphasize the story within the photograph. The combination of lighting and composition is a defining element of her style, creating clean, luminous, and impactful images.
Achieving Variety in Client Galleries
Variety in photography sessions enhances storytelling and provides a complete representation of the family experience. Lauren incorporates candid moments, posed portraits, wide-angle environmental shots, and close-up intimate images to create a dynamic gallery. Each image serves a purpose, reflecting different aspects of relationships, interactions, and the environment. This variety allows clients to relive the session from multiple perspectives, appreciating both the structured and spontaneous moments. Lauren carefully observes behavior, adapts framing, and adjusts poses and interactions to maximize visual diversity. By emphasizing variety, she ensures that each gallery is engaging, meaningful, and comprehensive, providing families with a lasting collection of images that capture the essence of their relationships and personalities.
Efficient Post-Processing
Lauren’s post-processing workflow emphasizes minimalism, consistency, and efficiency. She primarily uses Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw to batch process sessions, ensuring a cohesive and professional look across all images. Photoshop is reserved for more intensive retouching when necessary, but her preference for natural edits minimizes the need for extensive manipulation. This streamlined workflow allows for quick delivery of client galleries, typically within one week of the session. By maintaining a consistent style, Lauren preserves the integrity and authenticity of her images while enhancing clarity, color, and tonal balance. Efficient post-processing supports both creative goals and business operations, enabling her to manage a busy schedule while delivering high-quality results.
Organizing a Photography Business
Running a successful photography business requires organization, planning, and discipline. Lauren relies on studio management software to automate administrative tasks such as scheduling, invoicing, contract management, and client communication. Automation reduces stress, ensures professional service, and allows her to focus on creative work. She also emphasizes staying on top of tasks to avoid backlog, maintaining a clean workflow from session planning to image delivery. Detailed planning, structured workflows, and timely execution are critical components of her business success, allowing her to balance creative expression with operational efficiency. This organization ensures that clients receive a seamless experience, enhancing satisfaction and establishing a strong professional reputation.
Mentorship and Education
Lauren’s commitment to sharing her expertise extends to mentoring other photographers. Through workshops, breakouts, and educational materials, she teaches practical techniques for session planning, lighting, location scouting, and workflow management. Her educational content emphasizes actionable strategies that photographers can implement to refine their craft and develop a distinctive style. Lauren’s role as a mentor reflects her belief in continuous learning, collaboration, and community-building within the photography field. By providing guidance, feedback, and inspiration, she empowers other photographers to elevate their work and achieve greater creative and professional success.
Location Selection and Planning
Choosing the right location is essential to Lauren’s approach to photography. She carefully evaluates potential sites for visual interest, natural framing, textures, and light conditions. Location scouting is both a creative and technical process, allowing her to envision how subjects will interact with the environment. She documents observations in a location log, noting details that inform session planning and decision-making. By understanding the attributes of each location, Lauren can maximize compositional opportunities, highlight emotional interactions, and create a cohesive visual narrative. Thoughtful location planning ensures that the setting enhances rather than distracts from the subjects, contributing to images that feel intentional, authentic, and visually compelling.
Capturing Authentic Moments
Lauren excels at capturing moments of genuine emotion, spontaneity, and connection. These moments often occur unexpectedly, such as a child’s laugh, a playful sibling interaction, or a fleeting gesture of affection. Lauren’s ability to anticipate these moments, combined with her patience and observation skills, allows her to document them without disruption. Creating a comfortable and engaging environment increases the likelihood of these authentic expressions, resulting in images that are emotionally resonant and memorable. By prioritizing observation over direction, Lauren ensures that the moments she captures are natural, meaningful, and reflective of the family’s true character.
Reflecting on a Photography Journey
Lauren Sanderson’s journey as a photographer is a testament to the combination of passion, dedication, and continual growth. Starting as a hobbyist who loved capturing moments on film and digital cameras, she gradually transformed her passion into a professional pursuit. Her experience as a mother and family member informs her understanding of her clients’ needs, allowing her to approach sessions with empathy, insight, and creativity. Lauren’s growth reflects an evolving understanding of both the technical and emotional aspects of photography, including mastering gear, composition, lighting, post-processing, and client communication. Through reflection, she has been able to refine her workflow, develop a distinctive visual style, and maintain a balance between creativity and efficiency in her photography business.
Advice for Photographers Starting Out
Lauren often shares insights for photographers who are beginning their journey. One of her key pieces of advice is to avoid impulsive spending on equipment, props, or editing tools. Instead, she recommends careful planning, considering the purpose and value of each purchase. She also emphasizes the importance of learning the fundamentals of photography, including light, composition, and exposure, before heavily investing in gear. Patience, practice, and consistent effort are essential for building both technical skills and confidence. Additionally, Lauren encourages new photographers to focus on developing a personal style and to embrace mistakes as opportunities for growth. By prioritizing education, preparation, and intentional decision-making, photographers can build a strong foundation for long-term success.
Balancing Creativity and Business
One of the challenges Lauren navigates as a professional photographer is balancing artistic expression with business responsibilities. Running a photography business involves managing scheduling, client communications, finances, contracts, and post-processing, all while maintaining creative focus. Lauren addresses this balance by implementing structured workflows, using management software, and maintaining disciplined practices for organization and time management. This allows her to dedicate sufficient energy to both the creative and operational aspects of her work. By treating her business as a professional enterprise and her art as an evolving expression, she achieves a harmonious integration of productivity and creativity. This balance ensures high-quality client experiences while fostering continuous artistic development.
The Role of Family in Photography
Family plays a central role in Lauren’s work, both as inspiration and as context for her photography. Being a mother of three young children provides her with insight into child behavior, family dynamics, and the challenges of balancing work with parenthood. These personal experiences enhance her empathy and understanding during client sessions, allowing her to anticipate needs, connect with subjects, and capture meaningful moments. Her family also serves as a testing ground for experimentation with composition, lighting, and playful prompts, further informing her professional practice. By integrating personal experience with professional expertise, Lauren creates images that reflect genuine emotion and authenticity, resonating deeply with families who view her work.
The Influence of Film Photography
Lauren’s decision to incorporate film into her client sessions marks a significant artistic evolution. Film offers unique tonal qualities, texture, and depth that distinguish it from digital photography. It encourages a deliberate pace, requiring thoughtful consideration of composition, light, and subject placement before capturing the image. Film also provides clients with a distinctive and memorable experience, producing images with an artistic and timeless quality. Despite the logistical challenges of film, including limited exposures and processing requirements, Lauren embraces its creative potential. Integrating film expands her artistic toolkit, offering clients a blend of classic and contemporary aesthetics while enriching her own creative process.
Technical Mastery and Gear Choices
Lauren’s technical expertise is evident in her intentional selection of gear and mastery of camera settings. Her primary digital camera, the Nikon D600, combined with the Nikon F100 for film, provides versatility for various shooting conditions. Her primary lenses, the Nikkor 85mm 1.8G and Sigma Art 35mm 1.4, support both intimate portraits and environmental storytelling. The Tamron 17-35mm lens adds flexibility for wide-angle compositions, while smaller cameras like the Panasonic Lumix and Fuji XQ1 allow her to capture specialized moments, including underwater photography. Lauren’s understanding of lens characteristics, aperture selection, focal length, and camera positioning allows her to achieve a consistent style, maintain clarity, and create depth across both digital and film formats. Her technical skill ensures that artistic vision is translated effectively into final images.
Efficient Workflow and Client Management
Efficiency is a cornerstone of Lauren’s professional practice. She utilizes studio management software to streamline tasks such as lead tracking, invoicing, contracts, questionnaires, and gallery delivery. Automation reduces administrative stress and allows her to focus on creative aspects of photography. Lauren also maintains a disciplined approach to post-processing, using Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw for batch editing and Photoshop selectively for detailed retouching. Delivering galleries promptly, often within a week, enhances client satisfaction and reinforces her professional reputation. By implementing structured workflows and prioritizing timely execution, Lauren balances a high-volume workload without compromising quality, ensuring both creative and operational excellence.
Building Client Relationships
Lauren’s success is built on strong relationships with clients. She emphasizes the importance of communication, preparation, and rapport building before and during sessions. By understanding client preferences, personalities, and expectations, she creates a comfortable and trusting environment, which is essential for authentic photography. Her approach includes engaging clients with playful prompts, interactive activities, and personalized attention, encouraging natural expressions and connections. These efforts foster long-term client satisfaction, repeat business, and referrals. Lauren’s emphasis on relationship building reflects her understanding that photography is not just about capturing images, but about creating experiences and memories that clients cherish for years to come.
Capturing Candid Moments
A defining feature of Lauren’s photography is her ability to capture candid, spontaneous moments. Whether it is a child’s laughter, a sibling interaction, or a fleeting gesture of affection, these unplanned occurrences carry the emotional depth that makes photographs memorable. Lauren’s patience, observation skills, and understanding of human behavior allow her to anticipate and seize these moments naturally. By creating a relaxed and engaging environment, she encourages subjects to behave authentically, resulting in images that feel genuine and heartfelt. Capturing candid moments requires a delicate balance of preparation and spontaneity, a skill Lauren has developed over years of experience with families and children.
Post-Processing Philosophy
Lauren’s editing style aligns with her philosophy of minimalism, authenticity, and consistency. She avoids over-editing, instead enhancing images with subtle adjustments to color, clarity, and contrast. Batch processing in Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw streamlines the workflow, ensuring uniformity across sessions, while Photoshop is used selectively for complex retouching. This approach maintains the natural essence of the subjects and complements her clean and light aesthetic. Efficient post-processing allows her to deliver high-quality images quickly, which enhances client satisfaction and enables her to manage a busy schedule. The integration of editing efficiency with stylistic consistency is a key component of her professional success.
Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing
Lauren extends her expertise through mentorship and educational initiatives. She conducts workshops, breakouts, and creates instructional materials to teach other photographers about session planning, location scouting, lighting, workflow management, and creative decision-making. Her teaching emphasizes practical, actionable strategies that photographers can implement to refine their skills and develop a personal style. By sharing knowledge, Lauren contributes to the growth of the photography community and establishes herself as a respected mentor. Her commitment to education reflects her belief in collaboration, continuous learning, and the importance of lifting others as she advances her own practice.
Planning for Creativity and Growth
Lauren’s approach to creativity involves intentional planning, continuous experimentation, and openness to new ideas. She evaluates each session with the goal of capturing unique, compelling images that reflect her clients’ personalities. By scouting locations, considering lighting, and observing subject behavior, she maximizes creative potential while maintaining efficiency. Integrating film, experimenting with lenses, and exploring different techniques allow her to evolve artistically while preserving her signature style. Lauren’s commitment to growth ensures that her photography remains fresh, relevant, and engaging, offering both personal satisfaction and enhanced client experiences.
Looking Ahead
Lauren Sanderson continues to evolve as both an artist and a professional. Her integration of film, focus on authentic family storytelling, mastery of technical skills, and efficient business management exemplify a balanced approach to professional photography. She prioritizes capturing genuine emotion, building strong client relationships, and sharing knowledge with the broader photography community. Her dedication to authenticity, creativity, and continual learning positions her as an influential figure in family and lifestyle photography. Looking ahead, Lauren’s journey reflects a commitment to artistic growth, professional excellence, and meaningful impact through photography.
Conclusion
Lauren Sanderson’s work is a masterclass in balancing technical proficiency, artistic vision, and client-centered service. Her ability to capture authentic moments, manage complex family dynamics, and create emotionally resonant images demonstrates the depth of her expertise. From film integration to structured workflows, location scouting, and mentoring, Lauren exemplifies a holistic approach to professional photography. Her emphasis on preparation, observation, and efficiency ensures that each session produces a gallery that is both diverse and meaningful. Through her dedication to her craft, Lauren continues to inspire photographers and clients alike, leaving a lasting impact on the art of family and lifestyle photography.
