'round here

in ,

our kids are nearly-3 and 1 years old. there is abundance of life -- messes, laughter, screeching, falls, triumphant firsts, hugs and kisses, and all the rest -- that comes along with living with tiny people. and one of the most satisfying hobbies i have is photographing that life. i use my iPhone a lot these days, but remain committed to breaking out the Big Camera relatively often, too.  i'm hoping that what this hobby accomplishes is the creation of a photographic record of their childhoods, of my marriage, of our home and our people. this feels important, not optional, nor merely fun. 

which is where the nudge for teaching the Light and Life workshop comes in, I guess. i want others to know how to do this for their own families, too. tell your story, people. you will never regret it. 

anyway, here's a random sampling of recent life at the Collier house (really, just at our own house). 

milk time :: breastfeeding portraits

in ,

I've been lucky. Both of my babies took to nursing easily and stuck with it for over a year (Gus is still nursing). Though it had certain challenges (e.g., the sheer duration of Hazel's nursing sessions nearly killed me... 45 minuts plus?!?!), it has for the most part been an easy and incredibly special relationship with both of them. 

I know that many women have to fight very hard to keep up a breastfeeding relationship with their babies. Some overcome incredible obstacles, and others have to stop sooner than they'd prefer, or never even get to start at all. So this can be an emotional subject for many mamas. 

Yet for those who have been given the gift of a breastfeeding season with their little ones, I wanted to create an opportunity to capture this one-of-a-kind, fleeting-but-incredible relationship. I've noticed how many mamas take cell phone selfies of themselves nursing their babies, which tells me that there's something in us that recognizes that this stage of the motherhood journey is worth documenting, worth telling. So these mini-sessions were created with that truth in mind. 

Over the course of about three hours, Sara and I welcomed 14 mamas and their nurslings, ranging in age from 2 months to 28 months, into Cedar Tree Birth & Wellness to eat some nourishing foods, talk with one another about breastfeeding and motherhood, and watch their babies play together. Meanwhile, each nursing duo (or triad!) came into a separate room, one at a time, to be photographed together. 

I can't begin to tell you how special this was, how absolutely heart-melting and sacred. As a breastfeeding mama myself, I could deeply feel the connection and love and vitality of each of these pairs. I noticed that there is something so wonderfully common and universal about breastfeeding. It's as old as time, and babies are babies and mamas are mamas, which means that this really transcends any individual or culture. And yet each relationship was as unique as the two (or three) people that it is composed of, each session had it's own feel to it, it's own quirks. It's deeply personal. 

But I'll stop gushing now and allow you to see a quick sampling of these images (every mama signed off on a model release! i love how we're getting less embarrassed about breastfeeding!) It was SOOOOO hard to choose just one image from each session to share here, but I did my best. :)


life & light :: a workshop

in ,

just before Christmas, i announced that i'd be teaching my first ever photography workshop. it was a workshop that would teach women how to use their DSLR cameras to their full potential, but also would include conversation and tips about family photojournalism, telling stories with our cameras. and all of this would unfold in my cozy living room around the wood stove with old quilts over our laps. we'd share meals together and root the techy talk in the beautiful messes of our daily lives. it was a beautiful dream in my heart. 

and within 12 hours it sold out. so i made a second group. 12 hours and that one was also sold out. that's when i knew i'd hit a chord. my excitement grew. 

the original "flier" for the workshop

the original "flier" for the workshop

yesterday, the first group went through the workshop. they were my brave and good natured guinea pigs. and they were wonderful. 

and the day was such a dream. we waded through all the technical information about exposure and metering and focal points and depth of field and ISO and all the rest, and as we did, light bulbs were going off over every head. which, i have to say, is THE most gratifying thing to observe whenever you're trying to teach something to someone else. we wandered around and practiced making images in manual mode, looking for beautiful light as we did. we trouble-shooted and gave feedback on one another's images. we talked about the beauty our lives contain and how to tell the story of our lives using our vision combined with our technical savvy. and so much more. 

the second group meets this upcoming weekend and i'm really ready to go at it again. 

if this is something you're interested in participating in, keep an eye on my FB page and on this blog, as i'll announce a summer date something in March. 

meantime, here are a few shots from the day.

birth photography :: betsy

in

on occasion i don't get a chance before the birth to meet the family. that's rare, and i actually try to avoid it. birthing space is such a sacred thing, and you don't want to go galavanting in there with no previous relationship, without knowing that you the photographer are someone that this family will feel peaceful about letting you be with them in this intimate event. but sometimes it just happens that way. 

as was the case in this story. diane and i just had a couple phone conversations under our belt before i got the call that they were in labor in lansing. so the first time i met them, she was having intense contractions. bless them, they were so kind. but i had to give them a little space before they were ready for me to be in the room with them. if you are a birthing/laboring mom, please know that it's always ok for you to ask ANY member of your birth team to leave your birth space for as long or short as you need. most of us will get it, and won't take it personally. you do what you have to do!

anyway, when i finally entered into the space, they were DEEPLY focused. Jeff was an amazing coach and support to diane as she labored serenely without any drugs at all. none of us knew just how close we were to meeting their daughter. 15 minutes later, diane's water broke in the bathroom. she waddled back out, endured maybe three more contractions and then announced in a sweet but firm voice that her baby was coming out and somebody needed to catch her! in the absence of OB, the nurse swiftly stepped in and gently caught the baby.

later, the nurses referred to betsy's birth as "precipitous." when they weren't in the room, we googled the term and had a good chuckle over the definition which included the phrase, "sudden expulsion of the infant." yup, that about sums it up. 

for the next several hours i watched these three bond with one another, watched and documented as betsy was cared for and her name announced, and as her parents shared a post-labor orange juice toast, and stayed until betsy's big brother arrived to meet her, grandparents in tow. it was a really special afternoon spent with this family.