For today’s blog post I’d like to take a moment to reflect and recount on my path to becoming a photographer, and the ways I’ve changed over the years. In about 2006 in a moment of uncertainty about my career in art history, I took a photography course as a way to explore different disciplines and develop a hobby I had always been curious about. I wanted to learn the basics of camera operation (my first “real” camera was a film camera!) and portrait lighting. My teacher at the time, Inbal Sivan, is this awesome, funny Israeli woman who I credit with being my inspiration. She also ended up being my wedding photographer!
After several courses at PhotoManhattan, I kept shooting – landscapes, my friend’s rugby games, whatever struck my fancy.
It was really after my first son was born that my photography really picked up speed. I would guess that a lot of family photographers started this way – taking pictures of their children with a home DSLR. I’m certainly not unique in that respect. I loved the little details of my baby boy’s face, toes and fingernails. I also was very aware of how fast he’d change, though not prepared for it emotionally. My husband becoming a father was a special joy, especially with my first baby. Photographing him playing with his new baby, interacting with him, was important to me.
Gradually, I began taking photos of my friends’ with their children. They were always so happy with them and it occurred to me that I really loved it. I also was not happy with my industry at the time, digital advertising. The hours were very long. With a young workforce, there were not a ton of other parents at my job. I found it hard to find empathy from my bosses for the challenges working parents have: sick children, flex schedules for childcare arrangements, breaks needed for pumping. I would leave at 7 and not get home until 7. These hours gave me at total of 30-90 minutes a day with my son on weekdays. It was time to move on. I wasn’t passionate enough about my job to make it worthwhile to miss my son’s childhood.
I took the portraits I had taken of my sons, their friends and anyone else who’d hire me, made a website in 2016 and began taking clients. At first I stuck to families, getting a handle on the challenges of reacting to fast toddlers, making dads laugh and moms happy.
After a year, and studying under longtime newborn photographers Ana Brandt and Kelly Brown, I began photographing newborns in January 2017. My first newborn, baby L., was probably a terrible first baby to start with because she was the perfect angel. Didn’t mind me posing her, slept nearly the whole time, and had me thinking this newborn portrait game was eeeeaaaaasy.
Subsequent babies taught me that I had more to learn. So, I mentored with the amazing Jess Vastola of Buffalo Baby Photography. It is my goal to be constantly learning, so I continue to take courses on safety, lighting, and posing from the giants of the industry to this day.
Babies have a wild tendency to grow and change tremendously in their first year, so I added cake smashes to my portfolio. These are so fun, and I think I’d like to one day add video to my offering. Beyond the fun pictures, it is simply a fun experience to capture a one year old joyfully trying cake. Even if they don’t end up liking it, it involves cute expressions. The one year mark is a big milestone, as parents have gotten through on of the hardest years of parenting. It’s a time worth celebrating.
Folks ask me what my favorite type of session is, and I really couldn’t tell you. Could it be maternity, with the anticipation of a new baby, the beautiful pregnant form, and the pride of a dad to be? Is is family sessions, and capturing a moment in time for a family in a way that they will treasure forever? Or the squishy, cuddly sweetness of a new life? I can’t say. They are all my favorite.
This is my little family, and the reason I’ve done anything!
