I’ll tell you a little story about why you should hire me!
When I was growing up, my mom ran a home daycare. From as early as I can remember, there were always other babies and kids around our house! When I was little it was great because I always had some new friends to play with!
As I got older, I was entrusted by my mom to help entertain the kids before and after school, and in the summer months. At a very young age I learned how to change diapers, how to make a baby giggle, and how to relate well with older kids who were facing a new situation at a new babysitters – trying to get them more comfortable and have fun! I think this makes me exceptionally qualified with my career as a photographer! I’m not a traditional portrait studio, session times take as long as they need to, to get those genuine smiles! There is no 15 minute time slot, and sometimes 15 minutes is needed just to get your child comfortable with me!
Newborn babies? Well, thats an even longer story.
I remember being about 10 years old, and (with supervision) I was allowed to bottle feed a tiny little baby, who was only a couple of weeks old, and about five and a half pounds! I think it was that moment, that I fell in LOVE with babies. I studied every little detail…her dainty little eyelashes, her downy soft blonde hair, her tiny little fingers and her big beautiful blue eyes….and I took it all in and thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was always running around when I was little, taking pictures of all of the babies and kids with my little point and shoot camera! We would print them off and show the parents, after all – they spent a lot of time at our house, and I wanted to show them how much fun their child was having! Now that I look back on that memory, I think having those moments captured is probably still treasured by those families! Somewhere out there are old photo albums, with 4×6 snapshots of the kids at my house!
As I got older I was always drawn to babies, and in high school I started to really think about what I wanted to do, you know…”when I grew up”. Talking with the guidance counsellor, I thought I might wanted to be an OB/GYN and deliver babies….then I realized that meant medical school – and no way was I going to school for THAT long! lol
Then I thought…what about becoming a midwife? well…turns out that was a lot of school too. Kind of feeling stuck, my guidance counsellor suggested I become a nurse! Perfect, i thought! I could go to college and in just 3 years I could be working a hospital delivering and working with babies on the maternity ward! With my focus on that – I began preparing for entry into a registered nursing program.
I attended Conestoga College, and graduated as a Registered Nurse in December of 2003. Immediately after doing my pre-grad at Woodstock General Hospital on the obstetrics ward, I secured a part time position there! I was over the moon excited, not only to work in the field I had dreamed of, but also to work with babies, and the wonderful new families that I got to meet everyday!
And although I LOVED that part of it, there was also the side I hadn’t yet experienced. Unfortunately that other side wasn’t a good one. In a small community hospital, it was not only an obstetrics ward, but it was also paediatrics, medical/surgical and sometimes even the overflow from the rest of the hospital. Most often as a new nurse, I was assigned to those patient rooms, as well as a few new moms & babies. In short, the job wasn’t all I thought it was, and when you mixed in the shift work, and the very limited training I was receiving for the labour and delivery area – I quickly started to dislike my new career.
Long story short, after a couple of changes within that hospital working in different parts, and another long-term care hospital, my days of being a registered nurse ended when I went on maternity leave with my own first child.
With the birth of my new baby girl, came this need to capture every little detail of her in the camera frame! I wanted to remember every little dimple, and every expression she ever made. My daughter became my muse, and as time went on, my photography skills grew, just like she did!
I thought being a stay-at-home mom was what I was destined for! After all, with my experience with newborns (being an OB nurse), and my experience as a child with babies and kids – I had all the training, and then some!
Very fortunately, financially it was better for me to stay home until our children were in school full time, instead of paying for daycare.
When my second daughter came along, i was just as fascinated with her! By this time I was studying the great works of art by the famous Anne Geddes, and other great photographers around the world. I quickly became OBSESSED with photography, and my photography skills grew again, this time becoming more artistic portraits, instead of the snapshots I took as a child.
Before long, my days of being a stay-at-home mom were consumed with the dreams of becoming a professional baby and child photographer. And there you have it…with the encouraging words of my friends and family, and my very supportive husband…Little Smiles Photography was created.
So you’re trying to decide between hiring me, and hiring another photographer….
Does that other photographer photograph weddings? adult modelling? families? AND babies and kids? Wow – thats a lot of things to photograph…
I wonder how often they photograph newborns in the course of a year? A handful of times maybe?
Well – I do it everyday. I have YEARS…many, many, years (don’t ask how old i am!) of experience with babies and young kids.
Many of my clients are first time parents, and I find myself not only photographing their baby, but also doing a lot of teaching, just like I did as an OB nurse! My old career, and new career have melded quite nicely….and I could not be happier.
I hope you choose me to photograph your baby. It would be my honour to capture this very special time in your lives!
