We recently connected with Tarah Jansen and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tarah, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?
When I first started capturing family photos, I had a passion to encourage women to embrace their new mom self. As my experiences grew so did my vision for my business. My babies turned into toddlers, then into energetic boys. Now on top of interacting with families during our family lifestyle and documentary sessions parents are encouraged to embrace the chaos. Whatever challenges I have been thrown through during my journey of motherhood have directly shaped my workflow into an experience that caters to other moms too. The newest journey in my quest to create meaningful moments for families is my expansion into documentary storytelling. Now I want mothers to embrace more than just their self-image. I want them to embrace the messy moments, the love, and the whole package of motherhood. We are more than what we look on the outside, and storytelling through photographs shows so much more than just a pretty picture. It shows interactions, life stages, emotive moments, personalities, interests, and LOVE.
We are so quick to clean our homes, plan out outfits, and portray how we think family photos should look. In doing this we remove our true story, we portray what others want and not what is our raw and authentic self. I love witnessing each family’s unique story that they tell. I willingly welcome all the chaos. The real stuff helps tell the story and you want to see your real true family in 10 years, not the one you felt like you had to be. You want to see the real emotions, the quirky faces your kids make, their intrigue, and your love. I started my photography journey because I wanted to capture my kids, I didn’t realize just how powerful having these images could be. I love looking back on their baby faces, silly moments, playtime chaos, and their true sibling interactions. I love that I can help other families to share in this experience too. It brings me joy to help families to see their real love, and to have their own unique stories told through pictures. Stories are powerful, and visual storytelling is my way of preserving history.
Tarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
The story that shaped my journey into family lifestyle photography started 20 years ago. I began teaching kids with special needs swimming lessons in my small Wisconsin hometown and immediately knew I had a passion for helping kids. I worked for 12 years with kids on the autism spectrum both in their homes and in the classroom. Fitting kids into a structured environment is hard and unnatural. I worked alongside some amazing mentors who showed me how to take the structure of a classroom and balance it with child-led learning. They taught me things a textbook couldn’t, and these important experiences helped me to be a better family photographer. Children of all abilities learn best when: moving/manipulating their environment, they are interested in what they are doing, and they are free to explore and learn at their own pace.
Fast forward 5 years, two moves, and three kids later. My sister came to me with a fun Christmas gift idea for us to do together. See, she lives in Chicago and I live in Kansas City. We were excited to find ways to chat and connect from far away. Her co-worker had a photography basics course teaching manual photography for parents who wanted to start documenting their kids’ lives. This was where I realized my passion for family documentary and lifestyle photography. Learning and manipulating my camera settings to create challenging images like a slowed shutter, shooting wide open with the correct depth of field, and double exposure brought me so much joy.
Before this, I hadn’t had any professional photos taken since my wedding day, in 2010! I always valued photography and I am pretty sure my wedding photos were half our wedding budget. I didn’t get photos done because I didn’t love them, I just was in survival mode with three kids and the thought of doing anything for myself seemed selfish and overwhelming. And let’s face it nice outfits, forcing smiles, and posing didn’t seem like a priority. When most people think about family photos the words chaotic, stressful, hard work, and a struggle usually come to mind. We live in a social media-driven world where perfectionism is considered a norm. I wanted to change that and turn family photos into a meaningful experience.
Instead of forcing poses on families and children or planning uncomfortable and unnatural outfits, we get together and play! This is possible because before each session we brainstorm some activities that hold meaning for each family. Some activities families have shared with me are playing in the leaf piles, going on a nature hunt, catching insects, collecting wildflowers, drawing together, playing ball, playing hide and seek, tickling/throwing/chasing games, enjoying a campfire with s’mores, and reading a book together snuggled up on a blanket. This turns the focus on the experience as a positive and fun time together, but it also brings out natural smiles, laughter, and emotions. These emotions will forever be tied to the images created.
After learning the basics of my camera, I had a hunger to learn more. I researched and learned through a variety of online and in-person sources and continue to learn more each year. I continue to learn more about varying artistic components, depth of field, natural and artificial lighting techniques, composite photography, fine art photography, oil painting, landscape photography, hand editing in photoshop, and documentary storytelling. These experiences help to turn the photos into art, but I still feel that setting up real authentic moments is where the magic truly lies. I know this because I have a variety of posed images of my kids, but the images I look back on day after day are the ones in the moment. The ones that weren’t planned and instead just happened. The moments that show our story.
My life experiences, background in early childhood learning, and passion for photography quickly came together and made what is now Wildwood Photography, LLC. I want to combine my love of inclusion and child development to help all families get photos. I strive to provide a fun adventure and not just a photo session. Every session included activities targeted around each unique kid’s interests. We go their pace, follow their lead, and sneak in some great shots while having fun. I am first and foremost a mom, that is my main and most cherished role. So you see, there are always going to be challenges that revolve around keeping a balance between my work and my family, but these challenges also inspired the goal of my business. And that goal is to help tell as many stories as I can!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
One very special part about capturing families’ stories through pictures is that every visual story is different. Every session I do is special for different reasons. Every client I encounter is unique, so their stories are new and exciting to capture and share. It is like unwrapping and discovering a new present each and every workday. This is the most rewarding aspect for me. Every day of my work is bringing new exciting images. Every family brings its own set of emotions and interactions. If I provided the same session to each family I would get very similar photos. Instead, every work day captivates my creative need to capture art. Each session is like a mix of a mystery and a creative endeavor. Like a new work of art waiting to be discovered.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Before I started my photography journey, I was tired, overwhelmed, and in survival mode. I didn’t know documentary photography even existed, or the power it holds. Imagine being able to go about a normal day in pj’s, sweats, yoga pants, or superhero capes. Picture yourself having an album to cherish for years down the road to laugh about the peanut butter faces, diaper changes, cooing baby faces, tiny feet, living room floor wrestling matches, baby rocking, and tired parent glances. These moments are missing from two of my kid’s early days because I was on survival mode.
The mission driving my creative journey is to streamline my clients entire journey to be easy and stress free. I try to educate, empower, and support other parents who may be feeling the same way that I once did. I want to help every family I can to be able to share and document their own family story in every phase. I do this by creating my workflow around flexibility. Each client has opportunities before to chat via zoom and if they need more details,I send documents before each session for visual learners too. Obviously my sessions are set up to be flexible and work around each families’ so personalities and interests. Than after each session I provide an online gallery to view for 6 months. This gives clients the flexibility to order at any time of day, and when it fits best into their lifestyle and budget. I also provide a complimentary ordering call. During this zoom call I help clients slim down their favorite images to fit their budget, plan out product choices by providing a real representation of their photos laid out on their actual wall, or help walk clients through ordering a la cart. I strive to make the journey easy for each client, so every client process looks different!
Contact Info:
- Website: Photosbywildwood.com
- Instagram: @Photosbywildwood
- Facebook: Facebook.com/photosbywildwood
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wildwood-photography-olathe
Image Credits
Wildwood Photography, LLC