Maggie Shackelford is an incredible photographer birth and family photographer. We’ve been following each other for years and she recently shared her story of her second pregnancy on Motherly.
No, this is not my story, but it is a LARGE part of my fears in having my own children. Her words are so raw and true. As business owners, and women, it’s a huge sacrifice to have children. People like Maggie inspire me every day. I’ve been too afraid to take the leap because I’m so scared of what will happen to this business I’ve spent the last 10+ years creating. What if I’m so sick during my pregnancy that I can’t work? What if something happens to me or the baby? What about after the baby is born? How much will I have to give of myself? I know to a lot that sounds selfish, but it’s a constant thought in the back of my mind.
Maggie talks about how hard it really is and it’s okay to feel that way and talk about it. I just love her words, her art, and the fact that she’s so willing to share this with the world what women really face.
Melinda is a fellow wedding industry friend, as she is an extremely talented florist. She and her family were visiting from New Jersey and decided they wanted to find a Jupiter Beach Family Photographer while in town. We decided to do the session at the gorgeous Admirals Cove Country Club. Bennett was just about the cutest baby and I had a blast photographing this gorgeous family!
I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I shared this session. It is featured on Bajan Wed, so I felt it fitting to talk about it again. Everything that this client wrote about her session is why boudoir is so incredibly important.
This is a woman that I have photographed a couple of times. I have photographed her wedding and a few other sessions. When she wrote to me about it finally being the time to do a boudoir session (we had been playing with the idea for years), I had to know why NOW? What was it that finally gave her that push to get outside of herself and be vulnerable. What I wasn’t expecting was how much her answer would resonate with me. I truly believe she speaks for so many women (click to read her resonating words).
I just got off of a phone call with a fellow boudoir photographer who was inquiring about my one-on-one mentoring sessions. We talked for over an hour about why we do this, why it’s SO incredibly important for women to experience these sessions, and why we do in-person sales (as opposed to just throwing the digital files at our clients and making them figure it out). No matter what is said or learned, it always comes down to the fact that we do this for HER; the client. I won’t lie and tell you this job is easy, it’s not. We spend about 10% of our time actually photographing and the other is spent on our business. We market, network, budget, figure out the best products for our clients, order samples, continue our education, do consultations, do ordering sessions, drive hours to our clients locations, etc. We lose sleep, wondering how to continue to provide a one-of-a-kind luxury service that will set us apart from other photographers. It’s a constant rollercoaster of having incredible highs and really low lows. So why? Why am I still doing this, after 10 years in business and 20 years of photographing?
This article really hit home for me. “I have generalized anxiety disorder, which seeps into every aspect of my life, including my appearance.”, says the writer, Jamie Friedlander. There have been times I’ve been completely obsessed with my appearance and other times where I won’t wear makeup for weeks at a time. It just depends on how I’m feeling about myself overall. What I love about Jamie’s experience is that she did it. That’s it. That was so incredibly brave to face down her anxiety and do the damn session. Anxiety is such an enemy and just waking up and facing it day-to-day is a feat in itself.
I was crying the entire time I was reading Jamie’s words. These tears were two-part for me. I felt Jamie’s fear. I felt her crippling anxiety and obsession. On the other hand, I know what boudoir can do for women and it made me smile, through those tears, knowing that another deserving woman saw herself differently that day. She now has a reminder of how INCREDIBLE she is every time she looks at her photographs.
