We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lizzie Hopson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lizzie below.

Lizzie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission has always been one main idea – provide families with timeless memories,

I was 17 years old when I found out I was going to be a mom, I prepared myself in every way I thought I needed to. I read and read and learned so much about pregnancy, birth and babies but I failed to educate myself on a topic that I didn’t think would ever happen to me. That’s how that works right? You never think it could happen to you until it does.

Flash forward 9 months.

in February of 2009 I delivered a happy, healthy 8 pound baby boy – he had reddish brown, tiny strands of hair and the biggest gummy smile, 3 months later I suffered one of the greatest losses a parent can imagine. I woke up on a Tuesday morning thinking that he slept in, I made a bottle and went to wake him up only for my world to be changed in an instant.

I was only 18, photography wasn’t a big industry back then and even if it was – I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. So 14 years later, I am left with 2 photo albums of cell phone pictures and a couple JcPenny’s shots of him.

After he passed away, I moved back home with my parents. I enrolled in college and started to attempt to move on with life. I originally entered college on the path to be a radiologist and photography was there on the side more of an outlet for my grief and surviving. I soon realized I didn’t want to be in the medical field and fell in love with photography and the way it basically saved my life.

I worked a few dead end jobs up until my 1st daughter was born and that’s when it really took off, I realized I could still do what I love, make into a career and make an impact in peoples lives while honoring my son.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi! My name is Lizzie Hopson and I am a photographer that specializes in lifestyle work with a focus on families, babies and maternity.

I started dabbling in photography in 2009 shortly after my son passed away, at that time it was more of a creative outlet for my grief and helped me survive day to day life. I didn’t have the best camera or any knowledge in the industry even. In 2011 my first daughter was born and that was my “creative awakening” – It really hit me then that during the 3 months that my son was alive I didn’t take many photos, photography wasn’t as big as it is now in 2022 and I only have a couple small photo albums to show for that time I had with him.

From that moment on I took photos of everything my children did, from their milestones to their tiny details of their faces that would change over the years, even just the day to day with them because I wanted to make sure I always had proof that they existed, memories to look back on when they’ve grown up.

After that I decided to make it my mission to document these same moments for other families, I never want another parent to feel the way I do and regret not having photos taken. I don’t want them to look back in 20 years and be left with a tiny album of images.

A lot of my clients tell me “I don’t know how you survived the loss of a child” and that they never could have. I think that’s part of what sets me apart from others, we are responsible for how we let a traumatic life event shape us and I continue to use my life events as the foundation of my career 14 years later.

I now have formal education in photography here and there and I push myself to continue to learn and think outside the box. I’m with clients on the day their baby is brought into the world, I help document their first birthdays, first holidays and so many other firsts as a family. I also do photograph some things that aren’t necessarily happy, but they’re still beautiful like end of life sessions with pets, memorial photography – a family who has lost a baby and wants them represented in their session, a family that’s recently lost a father and wants to incorporate a favorite item of his – the list goes on.

I take great pride in every session I shoot and strive to provide my clients with not only beautiful but meaningful memories.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think the simple fact that I have experienced such a huge loss in my life makes both my clients and potential clients see that I know just how important physical memories to hold onto are.

For example, take a picture of a babies finger. Most people would see just that, but I see the teeny, tiny hands that you created. The little fingers that can barely wrap themselves around your thumb now, will soon grow and grow and become unrecognizable to those tiny fingers you once saw.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Growing up I was never one of those overly confident people, I had to unlearn the entire concept of self doubt, I used to doubt myself ever being able to do half of what I can do now because I was always afraid of that “what if?’ – What if I fail? What if I do something wrong? What if people don’t like me or my work? Mistakes are how we grow and improve our abilities, I know like many other businesses I have made mistakes, but it’s what you do with those lessons that matters.

I realized that doubting myself was just holding me back even more and I just had to go for it. I had to learn how to push through my nerves, meet new people, network and put myself out there. Growth doesn’t come from being comfortable, if you are comfortable at where you are then chances are you’re not pushing yourself to do the most.
BUT, I am 32 years old now and I will still tell you, I get those nervous butterflies every time I shoot with a new client.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lizziehopsonphotography.com
• Instagram: @Lizziehopsonphotography
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lizziehopsonphotos

Image Credits
My person photo headshot is by Kayla Duffin Photography