One Tuesday last summer I walked into the Lincoln Perk with a coworker and friend to get my usual coffee and egg white pita before starting the day at the Women’s Health Foundation (which, for those of you who don’t know, is an organization very dear to me. I spent about two years there as an intern-turned-Program Associate during my time at graduate school). I actually had JUST decided I wanted to start doing newborn photography (can you believe I only had my first newborn session but a year ago?) and was telling everyone I knew to be on the look out for cute babies or pregnant mamas for me to get some practice with. I remember that my friend had been telling me for weeks that there was this “gorgeous pregnant woman who always came to the Lincoln Perk in the mornings with her adorable french bulldog puppy, Oliver – and she would be perfect to photograph.” So that Tuesday morning at the Perk I happened to look over and see a gorgeous pregnant woman walk through the door with long blonde hair and – what do you know – an adorable french bulldog puppy by her side! My friend nudged me on the arm and whispered, “That’s the lady I was telling you about!” So as I waited for my coffee, I decided “What the heck! I’m going to ask this lady if I can do pictures of her and her baby!” Besides, I had just got my new business cards in the mail and was dying to start handing them out to people . So I turned around in my seat and tapped her on the shoulder – “Excuse me. I know this is kind of weird but I just started doing newborn photography and I would LOVE to do pictures of your baby! I’m doing them for free in exchange for use in my portfolio, here’s my card.” (boy did handing out my cards feel as good as I thought it would!) Coincidentally enough she was about ready to pop – no, really, she was due in a week! She smiled and said she would love that, and with one hand she brushed back the hair from her face and with the other she took my card. I had no idea that morning that not only would she follow up with a call in a month to come photograph little Brody once he was born but she and I would become friends for life (and was glowing over this memory the other morning at breakfast with her and her sister).
Anyway, just wanted to share this memory with you of how her and I met since I just helped Brody celebrate his birthday last month with a photo session to mark the occasion. Also, I wanted to share this story because one of the core founding principles for my business is to develop long-lasting, meaningful relationships with my clients and to me that is incrediblyimportant because when I’m looking through my lens at my clients I’m trying to find the beauty in them (key word being inside of them as opposed to outside), trying to find that love and the emotional connections that inspire me. And, well, if there is no personal connection it becomes very difficult for me to do my job the way I want to do it. I listened to internationally acclaimed photographer, Jasmine Starr, speak yesterday about her marketing and business strategies and she articulated my point in a far better way – if you share your story, if you share YOURSELF with others as a photographer, then you will connect with people who don’t just want a photographer, they want YOU to be their photographer.
Anyway, without rambling too much more.. happy birthday little B-man! Thank you for allowing me to photograph you at all stages of your first year of life, thank you for having the most infectious smile and a laugh that sounds more like a happy growl, and thank you for being as silly as your parents 😮
