As a Southern Pines Famiy and Newborn Photographer, I am one of the lucky folks who gets to enter into a family's home during those precious first weeks with their new babe and capure fleeting moments. Many times, dad is still home for paternity leave and a grandma or two is still handy to help mom recover or chase an older sibling around. Having extra hands is so helpful in those early days and even more helpful on newborn photo days!
In mid-April I was shocked to learn I had placed in the Birth and Beyond Photography Awards in the Newborn Category. It was my first forray into entering my photography for compeition, so placing in an international compeiton was a thrill. Just like letting a photographer into your home during newborn days is a vulnerable feeling, I felt similar about sharing my work for competition. Each one of my families is a treatsure to me, so sorting between images to find one to submit was nearly an impossible task. Want to see the other winners? Check them all out here!
The sweet baby boy's photo was actually one I wasn't even sure I was going to include in the family's gallery! I had turned to a photography mentor group to ask for some feedback on whether to include the image in their client gallery and was shocked when the image went viral in my photography group! So many folks reached out saying I should submit it for compeition and offered up different compeitions that felt it would fit best. Not only did I submit the photo to the compeition and into my clients' final gallery, I was so happy to see it was the image they ended up choosing for baby boy's announcement. As a photographer it is often so hard to step back and see photos for more than highlights, shadows, and tone curves when evaluating our work and I learned my lesson that some of the most meaningful images of a session can sometimes be the hardest ones for me to identify in the moment.
Pregnant and considering newborn photography? I'd love to chat about your dream! You can view a sampling of my newborn work here!
