more life

kristine - Oh my I totally agree. Isn't this the way we all want to remember our lives. A gorgeous happy mess. Fully lived.

Maegan Dougherty - I love this. I want it, too. Beautiful picture. Makes me happy to see other co-sleeping families!

Amber Mc. - Oh my gosh...me too! I want my life captured as it really is. Tara, what so inspires me about you is your willingness to be seen as you are. I'm sure it sounds a bit "stalkerish" (ha!) but gosh, I'd love to just sit and have coffee sometime. I need more honest people in my life.

Captured by Jess - How extraordinarily simple yet stunning. Beautiful work.

Rach - Brilliant! Love. xx

Katrina - So great!! This editorial/lifestyle type of photography reminds me of old Time magazine pictures! Really cool, timeless feel with the black & white:-) fun.

sharlyn - beautiful. i am just barely getting in to photography and i think the idea behind this is magic.

Elizabeth Beattie - Tara, You speak from my heart... I think we might be kindred spirits you and I. We just haven't met yet. xoxoxo Beth

Jon - Simply Beautiful.

Urska - You are on my dream list. As soon as I can fly you to mid-west, you can take pictures of us at home all you want. In fact I would love to have someone follow us all day and take pictures. Do you give yourself away as a Christmas present? :)

Christina C - Beautiful! I wish I could afford to have you capture my life like this. You are so talented.

JodyM - This!!! I so want this for my family and to do this for others. I wish we lived in CA so we could do family photos with you.

Inger - This makes my heart beat faster. To have the real, beautiful moments captured like this. Absolutely amazing. I hope I will be so lucky to be on the other side of the camera, along with my family, in a real moment, one day. If only I lived in your part of the world. Love your work, and sending you lots of love from Norway.

Michelle Adams - I see it Tara - the house as it really is daily, the family as they really are - that's what they will remember, not them up against a wall all prettied up! LOVE it!

amyfm - this is what I try to create for my own family...i love the look of life. beautiful tara.

sarah - I love the intimacy of this. And the co-sleeping. Our room was set up like that for a long time.

Michele (Pinkle Toes) - I'm right there with you, Tara! I've been trying to move in this direction and I don't know why it's so difficult for people to allow this kind of photography to happen. I set up my own session with Bonnie Berry in Jan in the hopes of doing this very thing because I want my family to be captured AS IS...the way I want to remember our life.

laura h - i love it. i'd love it anyway cause i love your work and your passion but i also love it because i've been doing this for a little bit now and it's my favorite. my most favorite shots are like this one, just real. "normal". "every day". and OH SO MAGICAL.

Shell (Wildflower Studio) - You just posted a photo straight out of my mind! I literally have this vision for me and my family to have that photo! My boys are getting so big and I want to capture us as a family doing the simple things, the real things we do, the things I will miss as they get bigger. The bed scene is something I think of daily! As lifestyle photographer to does a lot of outdoor nature shots, I want to save that shoot for me. I hope one day I can hire you, or hope to trade with you. You are amazing and speak my language. Keep being you.

Chanique - YES PLEASE! I love it! These are the kinds of photos that people would take of their own lives and look back on and remember the moment. The kinds of photos that make you say "Oh yeah, remember when..."

mariola - what I would give to find clients that want this .. not so many .. but I will find them! this is so beautiful! I wish I could fly you to the East coast so you can capture my family as is. LOVE.

Cortney - This is wonderful! One thing that inspired me to become a photographer, or something of that sort, were the candid shots on walls and dressers in movies. They have always(from very a very young age) caught my attention and kept it for some time, often making me miss important parts of the movie while I thought about the characters real life...who took that shot, why were they there at that particular intimate moment and would people actually want images like that of their lives? You captured my thoughts perfectly with this shot. Lovely :)

erika verginelli - And it's amazing to see how clients looove when their sessions take place in their homes rather than a park or the beach...they tell me how wonderful it will be to remember every tiny bit of their homes, their toys, their bed...and no matter how much I love doing photo sessions outdoors, I always end up loving the indoors more than anything ;-) Will love to see what you're gonna come up with!

Jen S. - You are speaking my language! I love being able to capture my family as we are...in our own personal space, just being us. There is no need for dressing up and looking posed. Who we are is good enough and those are the memories that I always want to treasure...the good, the bad and the goofy! I love your work and can't wait to see what you come up with on this front. If I could afford it or if I lived in near you I would have you come and capture my little family like this!

erika - Thank you for giving people this. Because THIS is amazing. And in the end, they'll want to look at this photo more often than the white background ones.

Haley - Beautiful! Care for a trip to Canada to capture my little family like this. I'm sure you will find people who want this...lots of them!

cris stone - Well, if you ever plan a work trip to San Antonio, Texas - I'll let you sleep in our bed, follow me into the bathroom, etc. I don't care as long as it is real.

Sarah White - I love that this is what you see, what your vision is. So many photographers spend such a lot of time making something that isn't there, you want to show what IS there. Inspiring stuff!

silvita - Real life photo's! Please comte to The Netherlands, take pictures of us!

Stephanie - beautiful!

Beck - Yay Tata! :) I totally agree. That said, I too love all of your work (including colourful walls and back alleys) but there is something so special about catching life as it really happens. About catching the quirkiness of each person and remembering in the years to come what happened everyday- not just that day we smiled for a camera in a pretty spot. Thank you. Now, to start my family and send you across to Australia! :)

margie scherschligt - oh my gosh. yes. You mean before even decluttering the kitchen counters? Help set me free, Miss T.

Abby Todd - I love this. This kind of style is why I even have a camera. love love.

april - So incredibly gorgeous Tara.

sarah - me too, me too. that is the type of photography i want to put out there - somewhere along the way i've gotten off of the path of my heart and what drives me. best wishes. if you are in mn i'll TOTALLY have you come to my home to see us for US. :) love!

Melissa - sigh....this is simply amazing....love it!!

Rachael - Can you travel to Oregon? I would be MORE then happy to capture my family this way. Not many photographers can do that.

Visty - I love this shot, especially because of the co-sleeping. So many people are afraid to tell others how they (we!) sleep with their toddler and preschoolers at night. This is so sweet, so intimate, and the happiness is raw...much more than you would have captured with this family against a wall, as you say. It's beautiful.

Marins - Fuck yes.

hailey - oh sooo i ache for photos of my family just like this... please come to Australia and do this!!! pleaseeeee!

Sara Goetz - Yes!!! I agree with everyone! Are you coming up to the Bay Area anytime soon :)? I would love this of my family!

Tenille - This is pretty sweet - it reminds me of old memories, a relaxed sort of love, lazy Sunday mornings, the inside jokes. It's such a calm and real image. Love this - hope more people let you in their homes b/c this is magik.

Amy - I love, love, love capturing real life. I wish I could do it more, and for more people. This is one of the things I'm working on. Love your photo, Tara, and love your writing. You hit on exactly the thing I've been thinking about lately. Thanks for showing me that I'm not the only one who has a desire to capture real life.

michelle - I adore this.

Susy - I have to agree, please come to Australia, this is just so beautiful.

heidi - this is beautiful. was the whole session this relaxed and real? love to see more :)

Liz - What a GREAT idea, why the posing, where's reality then? Capture LIFE instead.

Michelle F - and on the way to Australia can you please stop in New zealand? I Just keep coming back to look at this stunning image. I agree with everyone.... love co-sleeping and the whole capturing life as it really is, that is what i would want to have captured. looking forward to seeing more ...you're amazing.

Charmaine - i love this - these are the type of photos i have been taking forever - and i showed yours to my friends and daughter - don't know if i'm moving in the wrong circles - but none of them like it - they want to know what they're going to do with it - where would they hang it - don't want other people to see it - dang i try (but it doesn't stop me taking these type of photos) you can't please everyone...

stacy t - oh i SOOOOOO agree with you.

caro - YES! let's start a freestyling movement ???

Kathleen - amen sista.

Kelli Taylor - You have a wonderful way with words. Oh and you're not too bad with a camera either. ;)

Kent portrait & event photographer - Yes I have to agree with your post, as photographers with our human limitations we try to capture a moment preserved in time, to be gazed upon in the future.

lisa leonard - absolutely gorgeous pic. capturing a moment, a real moment, an every day moment and keeping it forever. what a treasure. your job is to see the ordinary moments that are really treasures and capture them. you have such an eye for seeing the beautiful in the ordinary---the lovely in the plain and simple. xo

deena - i think this is my favorite image of yours. it's beautiful.

yan palmer - yes, yes, yes! i just made the decision to ONLY accept sessions that are structured in this way. the blatant beauty in the everyday. now i am taking step back for a few months to regroup and restructure around this. you go tara. can't wait to see the waves of life i am sure are on their way

Jackelin Slack - With you 100%, Tara. I do this for our family all the time, and these are the shots that have the most meaning, the one's that stir the soul, except I'm not in them, of course. So...next time you're in Utah, I'd love to have you do this for us. A girl can dream, right?

jenny - amazing. LOVE it!

Isabel - If some day you are planning to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina I will be your first client here !!! This photo is amazing !!! Love your work !!!

Kristal - THIS is what I love. THIS is real and more beautiful than any posed shot. I would love to hang a huge canvas like this of life with my family...REAL LIFE. Sadly, what I find is that most people don't want their real life captured. They want poses and coifed hair and no messes. And I want candid and I want to be ignored as the photographer and I want people to see the beauty in morning hair, dirty hands & feet, chocolate smeared faces. My hands down favorite photos are the ones where no one is looking at me. Thank you for sharing this beautiful image. I really hope this family realizes what a treasure this captured moment is.

michelle thomas - Beautifully said.

aileen - hear. hear.

Rachel - awe, you are so very pure down to the core. i love it and can't wait to see more.

sarah - COULDN'T AGREE MORE.

Jola - Oh my gosh...wish you lived in Holland. Or we somewhere close to you..I would ask you to come RIGHT AWAY! To document our lives, our little family. I would leave all the mesh the mesh, I wont comb my daughters hear,leave the dirty shirt on my son,and would not grab for my makeup.DH...yep, he's just the way he is, ha ha , it would be hard, but I would do it! I would love it!

tara pollard pakosta - i could totally see you being a "day in the life photographer" where you come in for a whole day and take pix of a real life day! that would be awesome! I LOVE this shot!!!!!!!!!!!! xoxo tara

Jana - Oh my goodness... brings back memories of my daughter at that age, her little platform bed next to my side of the bed, family coziness, reality at that moment. You have captured something that will be treasured forever Tara!! I hope you can find more clients that want this! Now I want to go through our old slides and revisit those moments 21 years ago... xo

shawna - i LOVE that you photographed a family with a crib attached to their bed as ours is. :O) This is exactly what I hope to do some day so these photos sing to me. I look forward to seeing more of it from you because if anyone can pull real life out of strangers, it's YOU.

Jessica - Love.

Ra Ra - I loved the cosleeping part, but even more I liked that the child had minimal clothes on. Not from the perv stand point but from the fact that children are so strikingly beautiful, especially when they aren't all dolled up, posing and made to act like goofballs. I often photograph my kids in the nude or undies and I have had push back from inlaws and others that think it is "wierd"....(some day I will silence those inner voices). Thanks for keeping it real...

laureen - this is perfection...

SAHMwIssues - Okay... is this really life with that many pillows? And do they really sleep on those cool polka dot ones?! Totally joking. Love, love, love this shot! I would totally let you into my life to photograph "real"... but I would totally have no money to bring you to Washington let alone to send you back. LOL. I'm sure you're family would miss you. So I'll just have to lust for your photography from afar. :( a.

Angela Drake - Perfect!

Shannon D - Happy to let you see my life, as it is! On a plane to Australia any time soon. If only. Love the shot Tara! Your work is always so inspiring.

LisaK - I can't even express how much I love this post. What you said and this image. SO amazingly true.

eva - I can't be more agree. This are the kind of pictures I'm always looking for. And this are the kind of pictures everybody wants in their life album... and this one is just perfect. This days of really bad nights with our baby, this picture made me think about a new solution with the cradle right there... can you tell me if the cradle is just there or if there's some piece or something joining it to the bed so that it does not move? Thanks! And thanks for your lovely photo-work.

Nikki @ EpicDanger - This is exactly what I want our next photos to look like. Every Sunday morning my kids climb into bed and watch the Movie Tarzan while we enjoy the snuggles and the little bit of extra sleep, and then we all go make pancakes together. Every Sunday morning I think that "These are the best moments of our lives" and I so badly want to capture it!

kristin - oh my goodness! amen. seriously, can i start by sending you fifty dollars a month until i can pay for ONE OF THOSE!!! stunning. simply put. this photo brought tears to my eyes even though it isn't my family. i can't even imagine how they felt when they saw what you were able to capture.

jes - brilliant. <3

meg duerksen - that is what i want!! i was just thinking last week....i want someone to be with us for days and photograph the REAL life. or i want to do that for other people. i hear ya. this is life. it's beautiful.

Alice - I would totally love something like these shots. I was actually thinking about this blog post last night was we played on our bed after bath time. :)

tracie ruffner - Can I just tell you how much I love your work. I love the real life. Tell me, what do you tell your clients when photographing them? Just pretend I am not here or what? How do you get them to act so natural?

rachel - so when are you coming over? our house is a mess and we are all ready!

Bonnie Berry - Hear, hear. More, more, MORE!!!

Shari Schwarz - Wow! I'm sooooo inspired!

Kami - I loved this post. This is exactly why I still read you after 3 years, because you are so real. Thanks Tara.

Jana Graham Photography - We love our colorful wall pics that we have from you, but we would treasure pics like this even more. Are you headed up to Montana anytime soon? C'mon up the kids would love Yellowstone!!

Viki - Oh Tara...i love everything you do: Color/no color, I think its all real life. I hope to have a session with you sometime in my future before my girls are gone (now at college 20/21)!! I guess I better hurry, but i need you to come to Lake Havasu:)) U will be in touch.

Viki - oops...that is supposed to say I will be in touch!! Love your work:)

Stefany - Oh how I wish you were in MN. This is exactly what I am always craving - I joke about how I wish someone would just follow my family around on a random Saturday - but it's just because I so desperately want those photos that capture us just as we are. All of us. Together.

Elaine - I love this, I love what you are saying. You are reading my mind. I need to follow my heart and keep wanting to do this as well. Thank you for writing and showing this.

Daniel Mole - This is a brilliant image, love the casual feeling that you got, any family would love a portrait like that. Great job getting that personal with them. I strive to take images like that.

molly - amen!

Sonja {sodafoto} - Fantastic words! I often feel the same way too, but it's hard when living in a small country like Sweden where most people only hire a photographer for their wedding portraits... ;-) But I'm striving to give my wedding photography more life.

Jen - You are amazing, Tara. Just amazing!

Sarah - So simple, yet so incredibly beautiful.

Audrey - Amen to that :)

Lyndsay Stradtner - Births. This is why I photograph births. Raw, real, no walls, they let you in and embrace you with their experience. I walk away feeling connected and amazed at life and the miracle of it. Photographing and documenting and creating something so real changes you. Kudos to you for seeking it out!

julie - oh wow, This is heaven. Not sure how I missed this before but I am in love.

Molly W. - I've read this post a couple times and keep meaning to comment. What you have said here describes my heart, I want that too. I want to be let in more and to capture what's real. Perfecly worded, Tara. xo

Tiffany - this is the most beautiful picture i have ever seen. really. life happening. great post and new goal!

Kathy - And THIS is what I want from any photographer than I book for a session, but no one seems to get it, so I've stopped trying and I clean the house since the last one was, well, slightly horrified by our "everydayness".

Maggie - This is such an awesome post and a beautiful photo. I've been wanting to capture these raw, emotional, completely real moments for families. I'm not sure how to get them to see that their everyday is completely beautiful. Love this!! Thanks for such inspiration.

Kiera Haddock - Tara, this is probably my most favorite family portrait EVER. So real, raw, true. Everything about it inspires me. It speaks volumes to you as a photographer that your clients allow you this kind of personal access. I know you've worked hard for that level of trust and wow does it show. Congrats to you. I aspire to level of personal intimacy with my clients.

Lisa Leonard Online » everyday moments - [...] i was so inspired by this post from tara whitney. [...]

you got it all wrong windows | rialeephotographyBLOG - [...] to share. Photographer Tara Whitney had a poignant blog post about this awhile back titled More Life. (Have I ever told you about how much I love and admire Ms. Whitney? If I could choose anyone in [...]

a year of saturdays. » Brittany Andersen Photography - [...] p.s. inspiration for this project came from one of tara whitney’s photographs. you can see it here. [...]