It is truly and honor to be included in this compilation celebrating fathers. I have had the great privilege of meeting some absolutely amazing fathers in my years of documenting and supporting families. Happy Father's Day! 

Sacramento Birth Photographer, Placerville Birth Photographer, Folsom Birth Photographer, Roseville Birth Photographer, Davis Birth Photographer

With my job I obviously am celebrating birth and with that the treasures that birth photography brings more than just once a year. I have the great honor of witnessing so many little ones as they make their appearance. ​

Like the quote says " The experience of birth is vast." This statement is so true and every time I lie to myself that there is some sort of consistency of the process, its like birth is laughing in my face.  Recently in a matter of a two week span a 5 births wrote their own very unique stories. Yes there was late nights, missed bed time stories, but each one I witnessed was so perfectly it's own. The story lines swerved from their expected plot numerous times, leaving birth teams to wonder and realize we are not in control. 
​How is something so simple, yet so complex at the same time? It just is. And I honestly think sometimes it's best to just leave it at that sometimes. Let it be and follow the lead. Adapt to the curves in the road. Have your tools packed of course, but let life lead you. 

Professional birth photography is an investment. I get that and that is why I work so hard for my clients. For me birth photography isn't just something "fun" to do. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. This love and passion is what drives me even after 24 hrs at birth. When you hire a professional, you get more than someone just there for the feel good moments, but for the hard times too. Here are just 5 for the perks to having a professional on your birth team.

This is a big one. Being on call is not something to be taken lightly. Birth is unpredictable and being on call requires me to be able to drop everything an leave for hours and sometimes even days. My phone is on and with me 24/7, I drive separately from my family, all my plans are tentative and my babysitter list is a page long. I take on call very seriously. It breaks my heart when I heard about parents who are left at the last moment by someone who thought photographing would be "fun" but end up deciding its just too much of a hassle to be on call. They are a left scrambling to find someone, when they really should be enjoying they have to together before they a great and wonderful change to their lives.

Even with all the precautions I take while on call I fully understand the unpredictability of life and that is why I have professional back up. My backup is someone I trust completely, because I know they are just as serious about being on call as myself.

Birth is not a new experience or environment to me. I am not saying I am an expert by any means.  But I do know how to walk into a birth environment and work with what is presented to me. Really dark room? I can just turn on all the light then. Um no. The birth environment is not mine to control. It is all about mom. I also know when to put aside the camera and just be human. I feel like understanding and compassion go hand in hand. Sometimes what a mom needs is a hand to hold, not a picture.

Because this is my job and not a hobby, delivering your gallery on time is very important to me. Even with 3 babies born within 22 hrs of each other and then 2 in 24 hrs later that month, all my galleries were delivered on time. It is such a joy being to deliver these perfectly written birth stories and hear about the emotions parents felt as their revisit their little one's arrival.

Having a professional document your story allows you and your support people time to be fully involved in the intense, emotional, peaceful and precious moments that make up birth. Be there emotionally. Be present physically. Be hands on (if that's what momma want). Be engaged. It's really hard to do a double hip squeeze with only one hand, I'm just saying.  Stare into your newborn's eye, not at them through a screen.

I have the wonderful opportunity to witness the birth of babies and mothers on a regular basis. It really is one life's great moments. A moment that is truly once in a lifetime. Hope you enjoy this stunning collection put together by my friends over at Birth Becomes Her.

From the moment I met this momma of soon to be 5, I was blown away. Her strength, dedication and joy was inspiring. She makes homeschooling, motherhood and living a healthy lifestyle look easy. The days leading up to her birth were full of laughs, science lessons, bike rides in the sunshine and snow ( California is having some crazy weather these days), walks, trips to the gym and runs. Yes, I said runs. With all that said, you might understand how I had a feeling that her Placerville homebirth was going to be nothing short of amazing.

A few hours after she joked that "we all knew she wasn't going to have this baby" I got the call 11:40. Being that this was her 5th baby, my stuff had been packed for weeks and my work clothes were ready to go. I arrived to their beautiful home at 11:55. Their sweet little baby girl arrived 14 mins after I arrived. What a beautiful amazing homebirth waterbirth it was!

What a pleasure it was to be able to document this perfectly written story of motherhood. Congratulation to the this perfect family of 7!

​Midwifery services provided by  One Heart Midwifery

You may have see the stories swirling around social media and the internet that lead you to believe that birth photographers don't love or support C-section births. The thing is this is far from the truth for myself and the many birth photographers I know. We love the stories that you write and gladly document them when given the opportunity. Whether you have a cesarean birth, home birth, hospital birth or birth center birth your story deserves to be captured and celebrated. So please know, every birth is beautiful!