Bumps
Babes
Kiddos
Families
Confidence & Passion
Posted on January 31, 2010
Those of you who have read my bio or know me in person, know that before starting my business I had been a photography hobbiest for over 15 years. While in high school I was given the book The Lady is a Tramp: Portraits of Catherine Baily, by David Baily. My favourite photographs in this book were the ones of Catherine, round with baby and the photos that David had taken while she was giving birth. The were raw and real and full of emotion. At the tender age of 16 years old my interest in birth photography has been piqued.
The biggest obstacle that stood in the way of me starting to shoot professionally was my lack of confidence. Starting my business was a huge hurdle for me. After years of encouragement, I finally gained the strength to jump that hurdle. Birth photography was still in the back of my mind as something I would love to experience, but I didn’t know how to offer it or if there was even a market for it.
And then, I ran across a photography blog by a woman who was inspiring on so many levels. As a professional, as a mother, as survivor, a writer, a humanitarian. Her name was Lyndsay Stradtner and as soon as I read about her amazing journey, I was hooked.
In late 2008 Lyndsay started posting Birth shoots. I had just started my business a few months earlier and was still working on my confidence levels. I was, once again, so inspired by what Lyndsay had to share. However, I was also greatly intimidated! Everytime she would post a new shoot I would have a mix of emotions. Inspiration mixed with jealously and sprinkles of “I could never do this.”
Eventually, I started thinking, “Maybe I could do this.” “If she can do it, why can’t I?”
Imagine my delight when Lyndsay announced last May that she would be starting a mentoring program!
Around the time that my confidence started rising and while I was waiting for word on the mentoring program, a maternity client joked with me, saying, “Why don’t you come back and photograph the birth.” I jokingly said, “Sure!” And it was a done deal. Last July, on my own sons 3rd birthday, I had the honor of photographing the birth of Isabella Marie. To say that this was a life changing experience is an understatement. I was so thankful to Lyndsay for her inspiration, that I sent her an email to tell her so!
It has been a long wait as Lyndsay has perfected the program, before opening up membership. I have shot 4 births in that time and have found that birth photography is my true passion. While I do love portraits and family photography, photographing new life is on a whole other level for me. I will still be offering maternity, baby and family sessions, but birth sessions is where I want to focus my efforts. It is the direction I want to push my business in, it is how I want to market myself. I never ever thought that I would find myself in a career that I love this much. I decided a few months ago that while I took maternity time off from shooting that I would work on my business model, branding, concepts, marketing. These are things that I have put off for the last year because I didn’t really know where I wanted my business to go. Now I do. So while I am looking at quite a bit of time off for birthing and raising baby, I am also looking at very exciting things on the horizon when I return from my hiatus!
Yesterday, I awoke, checked my email and was thrilled to find that Lyndsay Stradtner had opened up membership for her first round of birth photography mentoring! With only 20 spaces available, I filled out my application, pressed the send button and then spent the rest of my day obsessively checking my email hoping that I had applied early enough. AND I DID! It has since been decided that the program will be take more applicants. So maybe I didn’t need to worry quite as much. 
I am beyond excited! I am not a master networker. It can be hard for me to share or to get involved in forums, especially concerning photography and business, but I feel like this is a program that I am really going to get a lot out of. I love that it is specified and geared toward a field that I am so very passionate about. I can’t wait to get started!
Thank you so much to Lyndsay for this awesome opportunity!
