Hello friends. It has sure has been awhile. The past 20 months of being open, then closed, then open again made time for me to start comparing myself too much to others and lose some of the passion I had for photography. I started to think my business would never recover and my goals that I had set for 2020 and never attained would also never be met.
Fortunately, I have the most amazing and supportive family and also the most giving clients who returned to me as soon as it was safe to do so. I started meeting new families again and I am happy and relieved to say that my photography business is finally up and running at the same capacity it was before COVID. 2022 is going to be a big year and I can’t wait to share more details with you all soon about the the exciting changes that will help me grow my photography business to a place I always dreamed of.
Back in early 2020 I had plans to grow the newborn and maternity photography side of my business to a higher level. I have always taken any opportunity to learn how to be a better newborn photographer and in March 2020, right before the world shut down, I was lucky to attend a workshop with Kelly Brown, a wonderful and talented photographer from Australia and known world wide. I left that workshop with so many goals and so much confidence, only for everything to close. Weeks stretched to months without any babies to photograph, and my Stand in Baby really helped, it just wasn’t enough.
Fast forward to 2021 and I started photographing babies again but definitely felt a little rusty. Every year I also take part in the Milky Way Newborn Retreat, an online retreat, and the 2021 retreat was just what I needed to get going again. I started offering studio maternity sessions for the first time, and was blown away with the response and amount of bookings. But I needed a bit more of a push to bring myself to the level I needed to be to offer the best newborn photography experience to my clients and grow as a professional photographer.
I have been a fan of Amy McDaniel | Dewdrops Photography for several years and after learning online from her for many of those years I always dreamed of training with her in person. Luckily those plans came into fruition early this year and in October 2021, just after my 30…something birthday, I got on a plane to rainy Seattle and drove to Olympia, WA to attend a 2:1 two day newborn photography workshop.
To say the experience was incredible would be an understatement. Watching Amy pose babies on day one I couldn’t believe the care and patience she took to pose each baby (we had 4 little ones that day). I got so much from just observing her up close, watching her pay attention to every detail and move baby between poses effortlessly and with so much confidence. Here are a few of the baby’s I was lucky to capture on the first day.
We were sure blessed to have such beautiful and sleepy babies to photograph. I couldn’t wait to get back to my hotel that night and edit some of the best newborn photos I think I’ve ever captured. That night though I also had to prepare for day 2 - the day I would pose the babies with one of my photography idols over my shoulder. What was instilled in me the first day though gave me confidence I never had before and I couldn’t wait.
And what a day 2 it was! We had two gorgeous babies, one sweet little one returning for the second day. I am so grateful to the parents of these little babes who gave me this amazing opportunity to learn. I posed baby in all the new poses I want to add to my session flow in 2022 and with Amy’s gentle guidance I attempted poses I had always admired but never had done before. I had the most patient little man first and was able to pose him exactly like I wanted to with such ease. Little Kelani was a bit more of a struggle, but just like in the real world no baby is alike and some just require a little more patience. Here are the images of the baby’s I posed and photographed on day two of the workshop.
Miss Amy I cannot thank you enough. You have provided me with the confidence to grow my newborn photography business to the level I always dreamed of. Training with you was a dream come true and was everything and more than I expected it to be. Special thanks to Sandi, a newborn photographer from California, who was a pleasure to train with.
When you book a newborn session with me you can rest assured that I will provide a professional and comfortable experience and pose and photograph your baby safely and with years of experience and education from some of the world’s best newborn photographers behind me. Book your 2022 session now and you won’t just lock in 2021 pricing, but you might be a part of a the big news I have coming early next year. Contact me or visit link below to learn more about my newborn packages.
