Expectations vs reality.. this is an interesting topic. A photographers life can seem really easy. We turn up at the correct time, take photos and leave.. but what some people forget is a wedding can be 12hrs + sometimes with no food, your tired and just want to put your feet up. Mini sessions are usually back to back from 8am to 9pm and outdoor sessions may not always be as glamours as they seem with rain, wind and walking, LOTS of walking.
Once the actual shoot has happened its time for my least favourite part of the process, editing. I don't know why but editing is my least favourite part. Although I can sit in front of the TV editing with my feet up its very time consuming and I can be doing it for hours and hours. I try my best to get the photos back to the client as soon as I can but a lot of the time I do have to stick with the 2-3 week timescale otherwise I would be editing until about 4am every night! I think some people don't realise that editing is a lengthy process and does take hours to edit one session and I won't be able to get them back asap. That is definitely an expectation that is very far from the reality. When life is normal (thanks covid!) I go down to my local town, Aberaeron, West Wales, and sit in my favourite cafe (The Hive!!) and edit with a good coffee and a slice of cake! This definitely helps make the editing process less painful.
An expectation that I feel a lot of people have is that they expect to get 'the perfect' photos where all adults, children and even pets are looking at the camera.. this is not always the case. Children get overwhelmed or even really excited. They just want to play and be silly. The reality is, let them. These are the photos I love to capture and create gorgeous memories. Lifestyle photography is all about capturing natural shots. I love capturing children's cheeky smiles whilst they're missing their 2 front teeth! These are the photos you'll look back on and be glad you got as they won't be like that forever and you'll be able to remember them at this exact time in their lives.
Thanks for reading,
Em x