Fall mini sessions are here! Book your session for a quick and easy way to get beautiful portraits for holiday cards or gifting! Limited time slots available for these shorter sessions.
I got together earlier this summer with some Connecticut photographers and there was much shooting of one another’s children, as children will often be more compliant for a stranger than for their own mother. This is why your babysitter gets your kids to sleep with no fussing and they demand 5 cups of water, 2 stories, a monster search and 3,489 kisses from you. I shot with film the whole day, and one of these days I’ll manage to get that post written where I talk about WHY I like film so much.
I asked Meg to be one of my “nursing on film” models this summer; I had a hunch she’d be interested as I met her at the La Leche League conference in April where she was coordinating the exhibit hall. She met me at Westmoor Park, one of the treasures here in West Hartford, and she and her daughter nursed here, there and everywhere.
Tell me about your daughter.
The sweetest girl! She is everything I have been told about myself as a child, my mini-me. Boy, am I in trouble!
Less than half women are still breastfeeding at 6 months and the number drops under 20% at a year. Why did you decide to keep going? To what do you attribute your success when so many other women struggle with breastfeeding?
I didn’t really decide, its hard to believe she is 2 1/2, already. Not sure when that happened, LOL. I was determined, when things were rough I sought support from my doula, LLL, and my mom. It was so important to me that she was breastfed, that was my driving force. When she latched on and was suckling, in the early days, she was happy and at peace, it made the whole process worth it!
Why did you decide to become a La Leche League leader?
I attended LLL meeting with my mom as a young child. I thought about going to meetings and being a LLL Leader long before I ever had a child. I want every woman to be able to experience breastfeeding and know how important and wonderful it is!
What is the best part of motherhood?
Watching your child grow and learn, and become a little person. Everyday is something new. It’s amazing!
What do you think is the most challenging part?
The most challenging part, is having enough time and money! Having to be a working mother, I sometimes feel guilty but breastfeeding allows us to have a bonding time and spend time “just us”.
What does your daughter say and do that makes you melt?
WHOA! There is so much! When she says “I wube you” (I love you) that’s the best!
What makes you nuts?
The total defiance! When she doesn’t want to listen, she doesn’t…oh and probably when she response “NO WAY!” that could make me crazy!
What advice do you have from the trenches of motherhood?
Just go with it! Don’t worry about the right way/wrong way to mother. Just nurse and be happy! We are so stressed by everything, and the time line of mother-baby is so short and goes by so fast, don’t waste it being worried about everything! Take a deep breath and jump in!
Thanks, Meg!
Thank you so much, Stacie!
If you ever think to yourself, “You know, self, I’d really like all the other mothers at the playground to stare at me like I am a total lunatic” I have some tips.
1. Leave the DSLR at home. Everyone has one now, they all know what they are and they are sizing up your lens. Is that a 70-200 in your bag or are you just happy to see me?
2. Instead, bring out a toy camera. Make sure to load the film – what is this film thing you speak of? – at the picnic table. The medium format film will get an extra odd look as it doesn’t look like the film people remember. Then, pull out your roll of gaff tape and tape the sucker up.
3. Lie on the ground slightly in front of the swing set so you can shoot up. Try not to get kicked in the face – it’s best to be back a little bit.
This was one of those childrens’ portrait sessions I was really grateful at the end it wasn’t my kids because there is simply no way I couldn’t have every single one of these. It was s fun mix of film – love that film look – and digital for these. I adore working with film and am always thrilled to have a client who appreciates the special feel of a film portrait!
Of course, my kids never actually cooperate like this. Mine aim more for the “running away from the camera as fast as my legs with shoes on the wrong feet will go” look. Since if they consistently gave me portraits like THESE my house would be wall-papered with photos perhaps I should be grateful.
Just one from the A Day in the Life at the Cobb School. This was a full day of shooting, following this little Miss around her preschool as she washed windows, painted, prepared herself a snack, played with her friends, sang songs and more.
Your album should be ready in a few more weeks!
People ALWAYS want to know how to dress their kids. Little boys in tank-tops and jeans are about as cute as it gets. It gives them the freedom to show me the bugs they find (and, err… your kids will probably end up dirty after a photo shoot with me – best not to plan a fancy dinner directly afterward) and to sit in the mud or climb a tree. Of course, I’m perfectly happy to send a girl in a linen dress into the mud too but there is just something about a little boy in a simple shirt and jeans that evokes timeless childhood innocence in a way that ties and button down shirts just don’t.
SUCH a beautiful girl. This young woman was one of the models at a workshop I went to recently and she was just amazing. I love getting to work with girls this age. They are so self-possessed and just hovering on that paper thin line between childhood and adulthood and over the course of a session you can see them go back and forth between the two.
I went to my first photography workshop this weekend and I’m still recovering. The other photographers were awesome and I ate brains.
No. Really. Jen Snyder, who is my long lost dork twin, ordered “lobster with sweet breads” at dinner the first night. Sweet breads are brains. Who knew? She didn’t, and neither did I. They taste like garlic.
Back to the photographers. Summer was so much fun. She does some of the most beautiful color newborn work I’ve ever see and she can get joy out of the most recalcitrant child. Leiba was the coolest, most inspiring wench imaginable and Zoe, who organized the workshop, shoots the most beautiful scenes and intimidates the hell out of me because she is just that good. As for the teacher, well, I am Cheryl Jacobs‘ crazy stalker and some day she’s going to find me living under her porch so I can pluck every last bit of knowledge from her brain.
Brains. Mmmmmm….
So, we took a lot of pictures – go figure at a photography workshop – and this particular child was one of my favorite models because she was such a bit of mischief. And those freckles!
I call this one “Her Ladyship Sits for Her Portrait.”
Expect more of more kids as the days go by…
When I tell people I shoot on location they tend to freeze. What does that mean? Can I suggest some place? And, of course I can. Parks, fields of wildflowers (aka weeds), old barns all make wonderful, classical places to get a picture taken. But if you want something a little funkier, a little more interesting, well, that’s where location photography really shines.
This one was shot in the Farmington River. Little Miss wanted to wear the “mermaid dress” and get in the water. Dressing up AND getting wet – does life get more fun? I waded out, carrying the 3 million pound camera and the child and placed her on the rock and asked her to just hang out for a few minutes. I stood in the right place, on very painful rocks, and we got this.
This was shot in a diner. I tried to put his hair into a ducktail (hair style FAIL – I can’t style my own hair, why would I think I could style his?) and dressed him up in jeans, a white t-shirt and a faux leather jacket and took him to a 50’s style diner at an off time so it would be basically empty, bought him his first milkshake ever and started snapping.
If you are thinking “I want something like THAT” let me know. There is nothing wrong with parks, wildflowers or your back yard and you’ll get shots you’ll adore taken in your spare room but I am always happy to head out someplace odd to get that one special shot. Like where? How about a carnival? Or an amusement park (though, yes, you’ll have to pay my entrance fee). The candy store. Who IS your child? What does she beg to do, where does he shine? Is your child an avid baseball player? Maybe his Little League game is the best place for a portrait. Does she live to swim? Maybe the pond is where to go. Don’t be afraid to push the boundaries of what a “location” is – that’s the best way to get something that is emblematic of your family and your child!
Last winter I had a snapshot contest and this little guy ran away with it. I didn’t even need to count the votes as he was so far ahead he basically lapped the other entrants. Twice. Last time I saw him he was still in utero so it was such fun to get to see him walking about and exploring his world. He liked sticks, seemed puzzled by dirt and was not a fan of goats.
Thank you for bringing him out to me! He is a delight!
Make Sure YOU are in the Pictures
World Breastfeeding Week Poster
How to Take a Picture of a Toddler
All images are copyright by Stacie Turner Photography and may not be used without permission. Please contact me through my website for permission to use my photos.
