This was one of the coolest moments for me. When one of my 2020 birth client's (and friend) asked if I would take this picture with her, my heart overflowed. I have been a photog for 12 years, I have worked with more families than I can remember and there is a reason I stopped advertising lifestyle sessions on my website. I promised myself that 2019 would be the year of minimizing & self-care and I just wasn't able to do that when I was attempting to balance 101 things. I decided to focus on the three most important things in my life, my birth mamas, my children and my husband.
Because my job would be easier this way: I wish I could tell you I am a birth photographer because I love photography and because birth is exciting.
My truth is, my birth clients are a very personal experience for me as much as having me part of their birth team is extremely personal for them.
Because my job would be easier this way: I wish I could say I show up for a birth, photograph it, edit it, send it. But for me, it starts by getting to know a family during pregnancy and holding space for them through an entire year.
Being a birth photographer isn't easy, being on-call 365 days of a year isn't easy. Many times it isn't fun. It comes with sacrifice, which in the long run affects me, my family, all my relationships and the structure of my days and how I live my life.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be just a photographer, many professional artists have boundaries between work and personal life, it is crucial to have that, and they are incredible at the work they do. But for me, I can't have the same kind of work/life boundaries. For my business and for my clients I decided to be on-call the entire year for only three families each month, 12 months a year, and that's because I know them and I love them and I am honored to be part of their entire journey.
Being in my client's birth space, their energy is engraved on my heart. I want to be part of their pregnancy journey, I want to hold space for them during birth, and I don't want to stop getting to know them after they've transformed into a mother.
The way I do birth photography, a little too boundary-less, the end result is what you see in my photos and videos. It wouldn't look the same if I did it any other way.
Nearly every friend who is in my life today, I have attended their birth. Many of my friendships started out in birth.
That may be too much for some families who want a just a birth photographer. South Florida has many amazing birth workers who all have journeyed down their own unique paths and bring a unique and precious story.
