The 9 Best Lifestyle Photographers in Raleigh

The city of Raleigh boasts a history beginning with the earliest days of America’s settlement, and it has since blossomed, welcoming a series of changes. It has even become a center of education, with some of the finest universities in the country. Therefore, it’s no doubt that the residents of Raleigh would rightly be proud of the lifestyles they’ve built for themselves. Today, we explore a genre of photographers whose job is exactly that — helping their clients capture wonderful moments in their lives and families, as well as depicting lifestyles for brands of all shapes and sizes. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the 9 best Raleigh lifestyle photographers working in the “City of Oaks,”

1. Kelly Hudgins

Kelly Hudgins runs Light Creative Art, a photography studio in Raleigh that specializes in newborns, family, and lifestyle photography. What we love in particular are the ‘awwwww’ moments that permeate her work — from adorable lipstick-smooched babyfaces to a father teaching his toddler how to walk.

As far as new parents are concerned, Hudgins’ work falls right into the #relatable and #adorable categories. If you want your chaotic happiness with a newborn represented well and with plenty of love, Hudgins is the Raleigh lifestyle photographer to rely on. 

2. Becca Rizzo

From her Instagram page, it is evident that Becca Rizzo doesn’t just treat this as a job. For her, photography is a calling. She plays witness with the lens to many couples who embark on their own forever afters, all the while faithfully sharing glimpses of her own life with us, with her family, and adorable puppers. 

What we admire is the wisdom she often shares on her accounts — proof of a life well-lived and the solid relationships she builds with her clients that go beyond one assignment. With Rizzo, you can be sure that you aren’t just any client, you’re immortalizing your family’s best moments with her help. 

3. Lalani Saleste

Perhaps the most appropriate way to describe Lalani Saleste’s work is hauntingly beautiful. Saleste celebrates the earth, motherhood, and our raw relationship with nature at its best in her photography. Filled with rustic colors and unfiltered clients, she photographs them at complete peace in the midst of nature. Sometimes, it is craggy landscapes, sometimes, in the middle of a lake, and sometimes, a forest.

Her respectful depiction of pregnancy, children, and these close bonds feels like a celebration of womanhood and motherhood. If what you’re looking for is a mystic approach to the bonds in your own family, Saleste is definitely the one we’d recommend. 

4. Karolina Pora

Karolina Pora is the definition of La Vie En Rose. Her warm sepia-colored pictures capture the best of a family’s moments with a spontaneity that defies formal posing. What we love is her use of light, particularly backlighting her subjects for an idealistic golden halo.

The level of natural comfort exhibited by her subjects is a sure sign of the ease with which you can work with her. Pora’s ability to capture unfiltered, happy interactive moments that can easily become heirlooms, is one of the reasons why we think she’s a terrific Raleigh Lifestyle photographer. 

5. Chris Formont

There’s not much Chris Formont says in his pictures, so much as he shows and reveals a feeling. His shots of cities, events, and people as they go about their daily lives or activities have a story and a moving beauty of their own. Be it rich color or mastering black and white, he succeeds in adding action to stillness and stillness to action. 

Formont’s photography is meant for a connoisseur with a discerning eye, so if you love his style, do not hesitate to give him a call. His vision and approach makes him one of the most unique Raleigh lifestyle photographers 

6. Christie Lewis

Christie Lewis is a lifestyle photographer who manages to capture rare moments of tenderness and intimacy in the lives of her clients. Whether it is a shot of a mom and her toddler in the kitchen, or a loved-up couple while their kids are busy committing all kinds of mischief elsewhere (parent life, we know!), her pictures have the ability to make you both marvel and laugh fondly. 

Lewis also has a spirit of exploration, particularly the session where she captured the birth of a newborn and the experience of the couple first-hand. If you have ideas on how you want your shoot to go, we’re sure Lewis is definitely up for a challenge!

7. Megan Dohm

Megan Dohm is a writer and a photographer who seamlessly turns her lifestyle photography into fine art. By creating a sense of mystery and question in a frame, she leads us to ask and know more. Her frames are filled with the every day and the subtle sense of magic they carry.

By treating her frames like a piece of fine art, her storytelling side becomes visible, and so does the intrigue. She’s definitely a Raleigh lifestyle photographer to choose if you want your images to say more than just what’s seen upfront!

8. Anna K Haddock

Anna K Haddock is a photographer who is also a creator in her own right. Her candid, true-to-life experiential photographs are a testimony of considerable skill and promise a story behind them. She loves the idea of gathering people around her coffee table, and this candid attitude is what makes her lifestyle pictures so appealing. With a minimal, clean but casual aesthetic, her visuals hold a zen-like appeal for her viewers.

There’s hardly any artifice in her work, just pictures of a life lived beautifully — and photographed with true aesthetic zeal. 

9. Katie Jennings

When it comes to lifestyle photography, Katie Jennings is truly an inspiration. Her candid, true-to-life shots of people going about their day, experiencing momentous moments, feelings, children up to their mischief, and so on are all things that can’t be posted in front of a camera.

We can only congratulate her unerring eye and sense of timing to get these shots. Add to them a great sense of color and composition, and we present to you one of Raleigh’s most gifted lifestyle photographers. 

Raleigh life, in style

There’s something beautiful in every person we meet. Their lifestyle is a true representation of who they are and how they choose to live their lives. Capturing this very essence in lifestyle photography thus becomes the most important job for a photographer. Whether it is the celebration of bonds or the momentous occasions in our lives, or simply gratitude for everyday beauty, the city of Raleigh has some truly gifted practitioners we’re happy to encounter. 

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