A couple things may happen at this point. Either the prices are going to be there or you have to “contact” for the price list. Either way, you get your answer and you ARE BLOWN AWAY. Why on earth would birth photography be so expensive and in some cases rival that of wedding photography? This is the question I am here to answer, but before that, let me explain the why we do this work.

I am going to tell you we all have a passion for birth. We love it and if we could give it away, we would, because we believe it is that important. Alas, it is hard work and we need to feed our families and we need to charge accordingly.

On Call time

Imagine for a moment, someone asks you to photograph their wedding. They give you an approximate date, but tell you in could happen at anytime a couple weeks around that date so you have to be ready. Heck, the wedding can be in the middle of the night, so be ready! Don’t be sleeping the night away or out at a party skunked. It doesn’t matter if we are throwing a birthday party for our kids or it’s Christmas morning, when we get the call that the wedding is now, we must go. We are owned for the 2-3 weeks prior to an estimated date.

Challenging Lighting

Buckle up Buttercup, it’s going to be a dark ride! Ok, so we have grabbed our gear and snacks. We have placed our kids at a babysitter (who by the way are expensive since they are on call too) and rushed to the home/ birth center/ hospital only to see the lights so dim that one can barely make out the zipper on the camera bag.

Going back to the wedding scenario, not only do we not know when the wedding will be, but we will be asked to shoot in the dark, by dimmed light, those twinkle lights and then that dreaded ultra bright spot light doctors use during the delivery.

We, the photographers, need to know how our camera works. We don’t shoot in “AUTO” mode, we need to get creative with shutter, aperture and ISO. Most use full manual mode to create the beautiful images you see. If a flash is used, knowing how to use it is imperative. Most flashes are also in manual mode to burst the right amount of light for a given situation. This flash is bounced and never pointed directly at anyone especially a laboring mother or newborn. Flash is bounced from the ceiling, a side wall or even a wall behind us. We go through great pains for the laboring mother and those attending not to be aware of the flash.

Where do you think that knowledge comes from? For some, how to use a camera comes from schooling. For others, it’s self taught. Equally important is the camera equipment. The camera absolutely needs to be able to handle low light situations and the flash should have manual mode as well. The batteries within the flash should be lithium so each burst of light has the same power and consistency.

The walls might be painted a relaxing earthy green, a calming blue or a combination of colors. What’s the big deal you ask? Well, whether flash is used or not, the dreaded color cast on the birth pictures is a real concern.

Labor Can Be Quick or Take a Long Time

Ok, so we have arrived at the mystery wedding (your birth!), but we have no idea how long we will be there. Labor can be quick or take several hours. Birth photographers stay no matter how long. We aim to arrive when you are in active labor (around 6 cm) and stay around 90 minutes postpartum or after the baby exam. The length of time in between is anyone guess. We may miss birthdays and holidays with our family. We could miss vacation time, recitals, plays, actual weddings, you name it.

As a birth photographer, we may have booked a couple of births within a month. It is not unheard of to finish one birth to begin another right afterwards. Sleep? What is that?

Editing Time

Are you tired of the wedding scenario yet? I hope not, because here we go! Birth is an event as big as any wedding. There are many many hours of editing to do. We are not done because the birth is over. However; unlike a wedding, parents want those images like yesterday. We edit, edit edit. Circling back to the wall color, this can take many hours if we have to edit out color cast from faces. Granted this is more documentary than a wedding is, but the same effort is given to each image.

So There You Have It

As much as we love this genre and believe in it on a visceral level, it is a lot of work. It’s not something we can give away even though we absolutely love it. It is time consuming and technical. I haven’t even mentioned camera costs, flash costs and software for editing. We also have business licenses and insurance to keep current. There are workshops to help us continuously improve our craft, organization dues and website maintenance costs. We are business owners. We love our business, but we need to treat as a business.

So yes, it can be expensive. I fully understand that. But now, I hope you have an idea why.

The post Why is Birth Photography so Expensive? appeared first on BIRTH AND BEAUTY.

At the end of the crazy year known as 2020, a gentleman from the magazine ShoutOut LA contacted me. He asked if I would like to be interviewed for their start up magazine. I gave them a resounding Heck yea! It seems I always have so much to say! However; they shot me some real zingers that I really had to think about. I had to be brave and really tell my story of how I came to Los Angeles and continued my work as a birth and maternity photographer.

I invite you to read my interview with ShoutOut LA Magazine here

The post ShoutOut LA Interview appeared first on BIRTH AND BEAUTY.

So 2020 has been a bit of a whammy, hasn’t it? I have really neglected my beloved blog. Being the last day of 2020, it is fitting I make this year in review type of post. The last entry was in July and so much has happened since then! I have had several maternity sessions during COVID.

With hospitals not allowing birth photographers in and birth centers doing a reduction in support people allowed to attend, I have turned my focus to three things.

Doula Certification

The first is I am in the process of getting certified as a Doula. This is something I am really excited about! It not only allows me to grow as a birth worker, but will further my skills in holding space for the laboring person and partner. What does that mean though-holding space? It simply means being physically, mentally and emotionally present without judgement. “The person who is holding space helps set the tone for a kind, curious, and judgment-free interaction where the other person can be vulnerable, and like the term says “have space.” 

Maternity Sessions During COVID

The second thing I have focused on during 2020 is studio maternity photography. Maternity sessions during COVID are alive and well. Several online courses and webinars have led me to really excel in this genre. I have also been entering images into photography competitions which is something I have never done before. Winning a bronze in the RISE International Photography Competition motivated and pushed me to excel.

Website optimization

Finally, I have worked hard on this website. If you are visiting again, you will see it is much faster loading. There was a time for most of 2020 that the website was as slow as this year was long! My invaluable website builder, Tom, has put up with endless emails and phone calls from me and, well, I am incredibly indebted to him for what you are seeing now.

I look forward to a wonderful year ahead filled with growth, love and births!

The post Maternity Sessions During COVID and other News appeared first on BIRTH AND BEAUTY.

Let me start this blog post hoping you are all doing well. I hope you are safe from the virus, enjoying your life and practicing self care. Boy, isn’t that term practicing self care  thrown around a lot and ever so important during this crisis. My hope for you is that you are  doing things that make you feel good and granting yourself grace for the things that are not going so well.

At the beginning of this pandemic, I was on call for a home birth.  I would check in with mom  making sure she was doing well and to make sure she felt I was still essential to her birth. The call came about 9pm on March 24th asking if I had been to any hospitals. I had not.  I had been self isolating because of the order and because I wanted to make sure I was healthy for the home birth. She said that she and her partner were ready for me to join them. I kissed my son goodnight and off into the empty night streets I went.  I arrived a little before the midwife, Catherine of Homebirth Services. While the powers that be may not deem my profession essential, this mother and her partner did and had enough faith in me to come and photograph the birth healthy.

This was my first quarantine baby birth. As I drove, I thought about other births where parents were not going to have the birth they wanted. They were not going to have their birth photographer, their doula and some were not even going to have their partners with them.  I let my mind wander to how this was going to affect birth. How was it going to effect birth photography as a whole?  I wondered if we would see a surge in home births.  As a birth photographer, I love home births. In most cases, they really do tell a larger story.

Here are some images of the home birth. I have also added their highlight reel. I hope you enjoy.

The post Homebirth and the Coronavirus appeared first on BIRTH AND BEAUTY.

#IAPBP2020Competiton

@BIRTHPHOTOGS

The IAPBP Organization and the best birth photos of 2020

IAPBP (International Association of Professional Birth Photographers) was founded 10 years ago by Lyndsay Stradtner of Life in Motion Photography.

The organization does an annual image contest and I have always made sure to apply. The best birth photos in 2020 is a fabulous event. As you might imagine with all the incredibly outstanding artists in 52 different countries and 1140+ members, acing the contest with a winning image is every birth photographer’s greatest annual challenge.

Standing among these global on-call artists who work under the hardest lighting and environmental conditions is such an honor in itself. I have enjoyed submitting my images to the contest on an annual basis to see how much we have all grown as artists. I also love to see how the world has changed regarding Birth Photography.

My Story

10 years ago when the organization was founded, I was not yet a mother.

6 years ago, and already 4 years into the organization’s launch, I became a mother.  I had not even heard an ounce of what a Birth Photographer was.

I had an emergency C-section. The entire event was a chaotic blur from the moments leading up to delivery, the delivery itself and immediately after.  It was a full 24 hours before I could even set eyes on him or touch him. Later, at home, I reveled in motherhood, but mourned for all that I missed. I wanted those moments back and wished someone had been there to document them for me. This started my journey into birth work. I’m so incredibly blown away with what has happened in the world with the shift of people learning about the power and transformation of birth, and welcoming artists who are also birth workers at the core into the sacred birth space. Read more about my journey to motherhood here.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I did not enter this years competition, but watch for me next year! I am so proud of all the wonderful artist around the world that entered. If you would like to talk about your birth plan, send me a message or call me today.

If you’d like to view all the winners of this year’s contest, and all the 702 entries, click below:

(https://birthphotographers.com/2020-birth-photography-image-competition/)

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First off, let me say Happy 2019 everyone. I am so glad you found your way to my birth photography website; it is a pleasure to have you here. If you are pregnant and expecting to deliver in 2019, you are likely on your journey to put together your birth team, which hopefully includes a birth photographer.

There are so many great reasons to hire someone to document the birth of your baby. The first and best reason is that the day will go by so fast (even if you labor a long time!) and frankly you won’t be concentrating on trying to remember every little thing, your focus will be on you and your child. A birth photographer will be there to capture all those fleeting moments; ones you may not even realize happened. Birth photography gives you back a day you can relive as often as you would like, even when your sweet baby is going to college.

Birth photography can be healing too. Sometimes births can be traumatic. These births can come from the length of time one is labor, medical interventions, type of delivery or a plethora of other events. With birth photography, the mother can look back, when ready, to see what happened and can take comfort in the photography and all that day meant. It really can have a healing affect.

I don’t need to twist your arm about the value of birth photography. If you found your way here, you already see the value. This blog post is more about the top questions to ask your potential birth photographer.

My Top Questions to ask a Birth Photographer

• Will you be on call for me 24 hours a day around by due date? Babies come at every hour. More often  than not, babies come knocking at 2am, so it is vital that you have a contract between you and your photographer and that she is available 34 hours a day.

• Are they a legal business? Do they have their business license, are they insured and do you have a contract? This will tell you if you are dealing with a true professional. If something happens and they miss the birth (due to their negligence) and you have no contract and they aren’t a legal business, chances of you recouping anything are slim.

• How many births have they shot? This one is a toughie for me, but it is a question to ask. Why it is tough is that someone with a couple births under their belt can be an outstanding artist and those who have done many can be terrible. It is something good to know, but doesn’t always reflect what they are capable of. It does; however, tell you their experience in a medical setting whether it is a hospital birth, home birth or birthing center birth.

• What will you photograph? Some families are okay with all of it and some are very private and want nothing to do with photographing from “the doctors point of view”. I am very client centered which means if you ask me to stay by your head the entire time, that’s what I will do. If you want everything photographed, that is what I will do within the medical professional’s rules. The actual birth is but a very small portion of your birth story.

I am sure you will have a ton more questions to ask your birth photographer, but these I feel, are the biggies. Remember you must feel comfortable with everyone on your birth team so ask as many questions as it takes. Are you ready to start a conversation? Contact me and lets do it!

The post What To Ask a Potential Birth Photographer? appeared first on BIRTH AND BEAUTY.

This website and recreating  my birth photography brand here in Los Angeles has been a true labor of love.  I am a birth photographer from San Francisco.  This first Los Angeles blog post will, I hope, give you insight into who I am.

When I became a birth photographer

In my 20s, I lived a free-spirit artistic lifestyle, working, learning and traveling the world with my friends. I spent the next decade or so working and developing my craft, finding where I belonged in my chosen professional career.

In my 40s, I realized something crucial was missing: My biological clock was ticking. I wanted to be a parent.

After acupuncture, Chinese herbs, standing on my head and being poked and probed more times than I care to remember, I resorted to IVF.

Eight months later, I was rushed into the operating room for an emergency C-section. Everything was a chaotic blur and my mind was in a panic. I briefly heard my child cry as he was rushed out of the room.

Later, at home, I reveled in motherhood, but mourned for all that I missed. I wanted those moments back and wished someone had been there to document them for me.

I realized that many parents must feel as I did.  With so many important things happening so fast as their child is arriving,  they can’t see, experience or feel it all.

Why I became a birth photographer

Wanting to be the eyes of the mothers and fathers, my wish is for them to concentrate on the precious gift of their child’s arrival. Meanwhile I creatively and respectfully document their journey into parenthood and their child’s journey to the world.

This invaluable service needed to be my work since I never want a parent to feel that he or she missed anything during such a monumental event.

By providing those moments, I recapture a bit of the ones I lost.

My desire was to create something more drove me to endlessly practice, rehearsing lighting of all types and mastering shooting angles.

Below are some of my favorite images for a variety of reasons. I hope to get to know you, dear reader, and give you images that you will forever cherish.

The post Who is your birth photographer? appeared first on BIRTH AND BEAUTY.