Why I Chose to Photograph Births

How It All Started

When I was in high school, I signed up for two years of photography classes. Now, if you ever took photography classes in high school, you kinda know what this entailed. Walking around the school ground aimlessly trying to find items out in nature that resembled a letter in the alphabet, being drilled into your brain that the rule of thirds was the end-all be-all, and adding in the most obnoxious edits/graphics in Photoshop. Looking back on it, it's funny what they taught us but...it worked! My interest was sparked and I wanted to continue to pursue it. Now, as a young 15-year old high schooler with no job and parents that were not ready to fork over $1k+ on camera equipment, my dreams were pretty much shattered (at least that is what I thought back then) and I moved on to going about life like everyone else.

Fast forward to 2019, my husband and I were living with my sister-in-law and her family while we saved up cash to buy a house and she was pregnant with her second baby girl. After Miss Harper made her entrance into the world, my sister-in-law made a short video of the birth using iMovie and footage from her phone that other people took. I cried a lot after watching it (happy tears of course) and this was what really started my journey to becoming a self-employed photographer.

Not to bore you with the small details, I essentially fell in love with videography after watching that video and invested my money into a fancy camera, lens, and stabilizer and journeyed off into wedding work. Needless to say, weddings were not my thing and my interest quickly shifted to boudoir. I originally started off creating boudoir videos (which I highly recommend investing in if you are getting a boudoir shoot done because it's unlike anything else) but realized that the interest was pretty much non-existent. Like weddings, photos were something people would put first and videos would only be something they'd get if they could. Because of this and my desire to continue boudoir work, I decided to go back to my high school roots and pursue photography focusing on boudoir and I. LOVED. IT. Seeing a woman come into the studio so nervous to get naked photos done of herself but leaving with the most confidence I've ever seen in someone was the absolute best. Boudoir changed my life and I wanted to help change other women's lives too by showing them just how beautiful they are.

Now, you're probably asking, "Okay Gabby but what about births? Get to the headline."

I got pregnant with my son, Spencer, in December of 2020 after 9 long months of trying with my husband. They (ie. the world) really made it out to be so easy to get pregnant but, for us, it wasn't and month after month I was crushed every time I saw blood in the toilet. Not to go off on a tangent, but I am thankful for that experience because it truly humbled me into how words you say, thinking they are supportive, are actually not supportive at all. If you are reading this and have someone in your life going through infertility, just be there for them. Don't tell them what you mom's sister's friend did to get pregnant or don't tell them to just "not try," because I promise you, it's not helping. Just sit there. Listen. Be a friend.

Anyway, back to my story.

Throughout my whole pregnancy, I became immersed in how to make my pregnancy as easy as possible, how to birth unmedicated, how to go through labor and avoid inductions. Every day I would be watching YouTube videos on positive birth stories, how to breath during contractions, affirmations to help through labor, how to induce yourself naturally, etc etc etc (shout out to Bridget Teyler!) I became so passionate about having the birth you've always wanted that after I had Spencer I knew I needed to do SOMETHING that had to do with pregnancy and birth. Part of me tossed around the idea of going back to school to become an L&D Nurse but, to be honest, I hate school so that was thrown out of the picture just as quickly as it came into it. It wasn't until after I received my birth photos from our doula that I realized, "Wait a second...I am a photographer. I could photograph births!" So basically, from that point on, I figured out how to market myself as a birth photographer, how to photograph births, what equipment I needed, etc and announced that I was switching niches!

To make a long story short, becoming a mom was why I chose to photograph births and why I focus on photography for mamas. I always knew to appreciate moms but never really knew what the role was until I became one. We, as moms, go through so much and don't treat ourselves enough. We have this unwanted guilt that surrounds us like a dark cloud.

"Oh, I can't do that because of xyz."

"I shouldn't be taking these photos because I don't deserve them for xyz reason."

This all couldn't be more wrong.

Documenting everything from pregnancy to postpartum was so important to me that I wanted to make sure I could provide the same services to other mamas.

From bumps to birth to baby to boudoir - my focus is on YOU, mama, and what is important to YOU. Let's celebrate you, together.

Love, Gabby