We were lucky to catch up with Angelique L’Allier recently and have shared our conversation below.
Angelique, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?
As you can imagine, birth photography is a pretty niche field – and even more so, home birth photography. Not everyone who does photography is interested in or has the home support needed to photograph births and not all birth workers have a desire to explore photography.
Because of this, there are very few resources available for someone wanting to become a birth photographer.
I began to offer one-on-one mentorships to try to meet this need, but I found that my birth clients, who had so carefully and intentionally chosen their birth team, were – understandably – hesitant to invite an extra, unfamiliar person into their birth space to shadow me.
In the end, I could teach my mentorship students birth etiquette, client experience, marketing, etc. but in order for them to gain hands-on birth photography experience, they would have to take on a real birth client of their own.
Practicing on someone’s once-in-a-lifetime moment is a very intimidating way to learn! Birth can be unpredictable and the moment-of-birth itself can happen very quickly. And on top of that, babies are almost always born at night so lighting can be extremely technically-challenging.
I spent a lot of time mulling over how I could better solve this problem and finally landed on the idea of hosting a staged (or mock) birth with real midwives, doulas, and expectant moms acting out various labor scenes in true-to-birth lighting scenarios for new photographers to practice.
The idea has gotten tremendous support and excitement from both new photographers and the birth community. Tickets have sold out within 3 weeks and we are now on a wait list. There have been so many model volunteers that we are able to create 4 different scenes with 4 unique birth teams and still had to turn many away volunteers.
2 of the scenes will take place in the daytime and 2 at night with lighting scenarios designed to truly challenge and grow these photographers.
Additionally, the photographers have the opportunity to network with those in the birth community, find back-up photographers in each other, and walk away with a portfolio to use to book future clients. The birth workers are excited to receive professional images of themselves for us on their own social media pages, which again benefits the photographers because they are being posted on pages their ideal client frequents. It’s a win-win all around.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am Angelique – a home birth photographer in Upstate South Carolina.
I have always been drawn to art. I started with drawing and painting from very young and then first explored film photography in my college years – developing the film in the dark room and all that good stuff. From there I moved to digital and began photographing weddings, but quickly learned that photography itself only matters as much as your passion for the subject of your photos and weddings were just not where my heart lay.
For a few years I stopped shooting professionally altogether and only used photography for myself – to document my world travels and things that sparked my interest. It was not until I had my second home birth that I thought, “You know, I love how the birth space feels. How can I be in this space more without being the one giving birth every time?”
Truly I first used photography as an excuse to get myself in the door of a birth. I wanted to be there, not to photograph it, but to just see it unfold, to be a small part of an incredible miracle – and photography was the only skill I could humbly offer in exchange.
Imagine my surprise when I found that photographing and editing these photos sparked my creativity and passion in a way I had never felt before. You see, this incredible thing happens in birth where the mother is so fully engaged and focused on her work that she is genuinely entirely unaware of the camera and this results in photographs that are so beautiful and raw, I could only have dreamt of them before. It was the very opposite of stiff, staged portrait sessions where I had to work so hard to create the illusion of a comfortable subject when the reality is, no one is truly relaxed in front of the camera. Birth photography made me feel like I was invisible in the best possible way.
I truly feel so fortunate to do the work I do. It is an incredibly vulnerable thing to invite someone into your birth space and I hope to always hold this work with reverent hands.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Hands down, the best source of new clients has been through word-of-mouth referrals from midwives and doulas in my birth community.
For someone starting out fresh, I would say, think about the others who are in your industry and how you can build relationships and establish trust with them. Go to networking events, yes, but more than that, reach out and invite them to coffee (your treat) with the heart to learn about *them* – their motivation behind their work, how they are set apart from others in a similar role etc. This is your time to listen, not to speak.
If they have a giveaway or an offering, share it on your page. Let them know you are on their side!
Send referrals their way too.
Be generous with them. Personally I allow birth professionals to use my birth images on their social and website free-of-charge and have even gone so far as to pay for prints to hang in their offices. Why? Because it is a nice gesture for them, but is also free marketing directly to my ideal client for me.
If you send them a stack of business cards to display in their office, send it with a gift card to their favorite local coffee shop to say thank you.
It takes a lot to trust someone else with your clients, especially through such an intimate and life-changing experience as birth, but there are ways to build that trust before you’ve even worked together.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
YES. Everything Jai Long puts out into the world is a hugely invaluable resource for all types of creative entrepreneurs. I found him relatively early in my business journey and he truly impacted the way I view business and marketing – as something creative, fun, and challenging, rather than boring or intimidating. He has a podcast, among many other wonderful resources, called Make Your Break that is a great place to start.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/upstatebirthphotographer
- Facebook: facebook.com/upstatebirthphotographer
Image Credits
Not applicable