Bumps
Babes
Kiddos
Families
{sneak peek} Our Contest Winner
Posted on September 26, 2011
You may remember a few months ago I had a very fun cute kiddo contest. Today I finally got to photograph our winner!
Little Isabella and her family have become some of my favourite people to work with. Gorgeous, inside and out. Full of generosity and kindness. They make me laugh like none other. They live on a gorgeous farm, which has been the backdrop for not only all of their past photovshoots with me, but for a couple of other photo shoots as well. This time, we wanted to make a change. Get off the farm and into the city. We rode out to San Francisco together, at one point we thought we were going to be rained out! Once we arrived, it was overcast but dry, and ended up being a really beautiful day.
John, an engineer, took a special liking to the rocket sculpture. Proclaiming that he was going to build one in his own yard. He really wanted a shot of Isabella with the entire rocket in view. I think I succeeded! Enjoy your sneak peek guys!
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{News} The Holidays are Coming!
Posted on September 13, 2011
I am so excited for holiday sessions to begin! I think I might be even more excited by the amazing holiday cards and ordering system that the team at Design Aglow put together this year. The designs are not just gorgeous but are also fully customizable. Here is just a preview of their loveliness. If you have booked a holiday session with me, you will be receiving the full catalog of card choices from me in a few days.
Photo credits go to: Untamed Heart Photography, Simply Bloom Photography and Photography by Meg.
To book your holiday session with me, please visit the contact page. I only have a couple of sessions left, so book quickly!
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{The R Family} Oakland Maternity and Newborn Photographer
Posted on June 9, 2011
Every newborn that I have been scheduled to photograph this year has arrived at least 2 weeks early! Not only am I getting to spend time with brand new babies, they are extra tiny too! Extra tiny, and thankfully, fully and completely healthy little bundles.
I think little baby Julia may have decided to come early because she just couldn’t wait to meet her adorable big sister Helen. Here is Helen and her parents at out maternity shoot a few weeks ago.
Helen is really enjoying being a big sister. She insisted on wearing a knit cap, just like Baby Julia. She wasn’t thrilled about having her photos taken, but she was an awesome and was very kind to share her super cool retro car with me!
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{S2 is 6 months old} Belmont Baby Photographer
Posted on May 10, 2011
When I met up with A and her family on Saturday, she asked if I would be ok with capturing a meal time and bath for S2, documentary style. This really is my favourite way to shoot. So after a few posed family portraits and some chalk play, S2 and big Brother G had some lunch and then we headed upstairs for some bath fun. Let me tell you, this kid loves his bath. I could tell by the kicking!
I had a fantastic time documenting a couple hours in the life of S2. Enjoy your sneak peek!
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{Baby Scarlett} East Bay Baby Photographer
Posted on April 5, 2011
A few weeks ago Laurel, Jake and I were supposed meet for their maternity shoot. Due to really ugly rainy weather we decided to postpone until the following week. The next weekend was still overcast but dry and we were able to get our shoot in. It is a good thing we didn’t have to postpone again, because little Miss Scarlett decided to make her appearance a few weeks early!
I got to meet the little girl this weekend. Both of my babies were eight and a half pounds at birth. You wouldn’t think that a 2 pound difference would be a noticeable difference but with babies it sure is! She is just the tiniest little cutie, swimming in her jammies. I’m sure before we know it she will filling those jammies out and moving onto the next size.
Laurel and Jake, enjoy your little bundle and your sneak peek!
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3 Comments so far
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April 6, 2011 at 12:43 am -
These pictures are amazing. Laurel – you look sooo good! Being a Mommie is treating you well.
Scarlett and Daddy are a matched pair…too cute! -
{sneak peek} I’m still here + Laurel & Jake ~ East Bay Maternity Photographer
Posted on March 14, 2011
I’m still here!
After the rush of the holiday season and my personal post {Life Wont Wait}, I decided to slow down a bit in 2011. For me, slowing down meant: Not actively marketing the portraiture side of my business and taking on a limited number of clients each month. It also means putting some of the charity work that I want to do on the back burner.
I am really happy that I made this decision. No one likes to be stressed out. My baby has… not made things easy for me. I love the little munchkin, but she has given me very little sleep (even now at almost 11 months), nurses most of the night and is quite a mommy’s girl. I don’t yet feel comfortable having her babysat by someone who isn’t family. This, combined with a husband who will be gone for a total of 4 or 5 months this year makes for a limited amount of guaranteed time to work at home.
WinterRose is slowly approaching the 1 year mark. I anticipate that working around her will either get easier, or harder. For once, I am totally fine with either of those out comes. Late last year I really wanted to be growing my business, make some changes and be working more. Once I realized that my business isn’t going anywhere and that I can take my time with it, I have felt so at peace! One of the biggest complaints I hear from working moms is how hard it is to find balance. I feel like I have truly found it.
Though I have found peace, I know that I have been majorly slacking in the blogging department!
Here is just a quick preview of my maternity shoot with Laurel and Jake.
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{personal} Happy Valentine’s Day!
Posted on February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine’s Day from my two little loves!
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{Sneak Peek} Storm is 3 Months old! ~ Belmont Family Photographer
Posted on February 7, 2011
The last 3 months have flown by. With the holidays and new year in between us, it seems like S2 was just born! I met up with S2 and his family today to celebrate his 3 month mile stone.
Friends in the midwest, please try to not be jealous over the amazingly gorgeous weather we have been blessed with here in the Bay Area. Is it really February?! Could have fooled me!
A boy and his loveys
Little G was…Well, he was a handful today. I thought this shot really captured life with a 2 year old and an infant. If only S2 were crying, then it would be really real!
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{Personal} A Popular Idea
Posted on January 18, 2011
I wanted to take moment to thank everyone for all of the kind responses and commiseration that I received after my last blog post. It can be hard, as a business person, to put your heart out there for the world to see. It’s hard to be vulnerable. The last thing I want is for my clients or potential clients to read my words and think that I don’t love my work.
Elena from EW Couture shared the following post from The Maternal Lens.
The following passage was the part that struck me.
There’s this popular idea out there that if you are a good photographer, you prove it by having a business. You get good. You start a business. I have photographer friends come to me with the same guilt issues and feelings of inadequacy that I struggled with, wanting advice on what to do. They get caught up in the whirlwind of building a business while taking care of small children, and it all becomes too much and the joy gets sucked right out of it. Many of our peers work full time and do photography on the side, tend to small children while staying up until 3am editing and they are successful doing it. But you know what? When it’s *you* doing it, you don’t see how crazy hard it really is! The mom part alone is a full time job! IT IS HARD!!! Why do we do this to ourselves!? It’s crazy, I tell ya.
It is so SO true. I don’t think people realize it until they are in the thick of it. I took photos as a hobby for 15 years before starting my business. Lack of confidence was a big reason why I didn’t go into business sooner. Another reason was that I didn’t want the joy I found in photography to be sucked out it. I love taking pictures. I don’t so much love working with contract lawyers or inputting numbers into quickbooks.
Finding my niche and discovering my passion is what has made the business side of photography worth it to me. I get to witness babies being born, thee most wondrous and amazing act to occur in the world. Through Kell’s Angels, I get to help people in need and share amazing stories. My clients give as much to me, as I do to them. Pride, purpose, satisfaction, the ability to help contribute to my family while doing something I love. Now, no amount of paperwork, contracts or bank reconciliations could ever make me give it up.
I promise this will be the last personal post for a while. I took some time off for the holidays (saying NO!) and this past weekend because my husband was away at a convention. This weekend, it’s back to shooting with a super cute 18 month old and a mommy to be.
If you haven’t checked it out yet. BirthbyKellyM.com is now live!
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{personal} Life Won’t Wait.
Posted on December 22, 2010
Tonight was a bit of a rough night for me. For months now, I have been thinking about all of these changes I want to make to my business. New packages, new pricing, new products, new marketing material. New, new, new! And for months now I have been slowly chipping away at my to-do list. Slowly. Not getting too far. Between baby and holiday shoots, and baby…and baby, things are just going very slowly. My oldest is in preschool, but WinterRose at 7 months is still mainly cared for by myself. My husband is so wonderful with her, but he is a Work at Home Dad and works very hard as well. Tonight, Benny took Winter so that I could work. About an hour later he needed help with finding a clean diaper and I realized I should really make dinner. Winter screamed through my making dinner and then screamed in my mama’s arms while I ate dinner. She finally calmed down and went back to her daddy. Then, two things happened.
One, I took a long, hot shower. In the shower I asked myself what I was really upset about. Ever since I was a teen my dream was to be a stay at home mom. My dream was to be there for my children in their early childhood, to shape their minds and teach them and watch them grow. I never wanted a job or a career. Now I have a career that I love and feel passionate about. I might not have my new pricing and products ready by January 1st, but I can not complain. I am my own boss. I’m on no one’s deadline but my own. I have the things I have always dreamed. I have MORE than I could have dreamed of. Instead of being present while rocking my baby, I was thinking of all the work I wanted to do. It is true, while I have been busy this holiday season, my behind the scenes work has been at a bit of a standstill. I feel like I have kept my toe in the water and name in the air just enough to not be forgotten. I think to myself that I have had all of these months to get this work done, yet I have not accomplished it. What do I have to show for the last 8 months? Then I look at my daughter and realize, she is my accomplishment. She wants to be held all. the. time. This I give to her. She doesn’t sleep for long unless I am next to her. This I give to her. Pricing guides can wait, the first year or two of your child’s life can not.
The second thing that happened was that I returned to my computer after my shower to find an update about Keith. The man whose family I photographed, who is battling esophageal cancer. It was not a happy update. His latest scan showed that his last round of chemo did not work. But they aren’t giving up. Keith started a new round of chemo in the hopes that his cancer cells will shrink.
I sat at my computer and thought about how preposterous it was that I am upset about not being able to work enough. I thought about all of the things in my life that I am thankful for. My health, the health of my family. My wonderful, supportive, hard working husband. Two amazing children, who I get to stay home with. My mother and my sister. I left my room to go take over baby duty again. I found Ben wearing Winter in our Beco Butterfly, dancing around the living room while Winter laughed and laughed. I took that moment in and then burst into tears.
So while I slowly chip away at my to-do list, I will remain thankful for all that I have. All of the smiles and laughter and home cooked dinners and baby snuggles and dance parties that get in the way of work.
Work can wait…Life can’t, nor would I want it to.
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7 Comments so far
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December 28, 2010 at 11:58 pm -
Ah, it is so easy to confuse the line between our work and our REAL work. As mothers who want/need/like to keep a portion of ourself in a career or hobby or sport, it can sometimes seem like the family is getting in the way of our advancement.
Moments like these are just the reality check we need to keep life real. Everything else CAN wait, families can’t.
You are doing ok, keep up the good work!
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December 29, 2010 at 12:01 am -
Your on the right track
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Gorgeous as always
I loveeeeeeeeeeee the car and feet idea!!! so creative!