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What difference does the audience make?

Updated: Dec 28, 2020

I recently posted some images from a Documentary Lifestyle Photoshoot of a young mum and her 17 month old daughter. I loved the photos and I was sure others would too, but I wanted to see which would be most popular before I shared them and so I posted them to a few different Facebook pages.

Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

I posted to 3 different places - my own personal page, a Lifestyle Family Photographer's page and a Documentary Photographer's page and the results were super interesting.

Black & white image of mum being fed a strawberry by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

For example - this image below showing a close up of mum and daughter walking along scored heaps of likes on my personal page but very few on either of the photographer's pages.

Colour close up image of mum & toddler walking iconic Kiwi scene with Red bands Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

And photos where bubs fell off the deck and mama ran, picked her up and cuddled her had lots of likes on the Documentary Photographer's page but scored very low on both the Lifestyle Family Photographer's page and my own page.

uh oh the baby fell off the deckBlack & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten
mum hugs baby after she fell a photograph Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten
mum feeds baby after she fell Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

Some images were loved by both Documentary Photographers and my own friends, but not on the Lifestyle Family Photographer's page - like these ones of the little girl in her gumboots and rompers.

little girl in doorway wearing Red Band gumboots Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten
little girl outside in New Zealand wearing RedBand gumboots Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

And some that I personally thought were super funny - like this one where mama did that mama thing where you go to take a t-shirt off and forget to undo the buttons first (we've all done it right?) -

Little girl with her head stuck in her t-shirt Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

well, other Documentary Photographers loved it too, but not so much anyone else.

mum and girl play in the long grass a photograph Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

It was the same with this one where mama was pretending to be cross with her girl when they were playing a cheeky game -

black & white image of mum and daughter by table Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

Documentary photographers liked it, but not so much everyone else.

colour image of girl outside wearing rompers and red bands Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

And I guess this is what I'm now curious about. Would this carry over to other photoshoots too or is it just for this one? Are there great differences in what we like across the board, or is it just for this group of images?

little girl hides her head in a shelf Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

Having said all that, there were one or two images that absolutely everyone loved like this super cute one of the little girl grinning at the camera.

black & white image of girl grinning at camera Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten

And my favourite? Well, on this we all seemed to agree! This gorgeous moment of love and connection was definitely a winner in everyone's eyes. What do you think?

mama & baby have a wonderful connection & hug Black & white image of mum looking lovingly at daughter by documentary family photographer Josie Gritten



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