Photographers Create

What a maternity session can look like varies greatly. Amy Sanusi has mastered creating images for expecting clients that are true to them. Instead of having her clients fit a specific look, Amy works at creating a connection and experience that not only rings true to the client, but makes them fall in love with the process, becoming return clients for family photos year after year. On this episode, Amy shares her process and tips for creating an outstanding experience for expecting moms.

Amy Sanusi is the owner of Kinship Photo, and in her 10th year of photographing families. When she got into photography, she was a studio manager for a wedding photographer, who slowly taught her the ropes of how to use the camera. From there, she has loved getting to form long standing relationships with her families through pregnancies, births, and everything in between. She loves making space for families to embrace the chaos of parenthood, and truly revel in the “now” before it becomes a “then.” Before moving to the Hudson Valley in Upstate New York, she lived in Brooklyn with her husband and 12 year old stepdaughter. They now have their own home with two dogs and another daughter, Willa, who is 18 months old. She is loving toddler hood so far, and can’t wait to jump into another year of maternity magic! 

Www.kinshipphoto.com

IG: @kinship.photoI

Magically Moody Maternity waitlist https://view.flodesk.com/pages/644195c21df9ae473e5a568b

February 25th-27th with add on experiences on the 28th in Fort Worth, TX.

Therapeutical photography. Have you heard of it? Do you know where it originated or what it is used for? On this episode I interview Anouk Godbout, a French Canadian mom of three emotionally intense children who has a Masters of Social Work. Anouk explains what therapeutical photograph is, its fascinating origins, and how implementing this practice into our lives is oh so beneficial. This episode was a fascinating shift from what we normally talk about, and listening to Anouk's French accent is a lovely few minutes.

Anouk has a free family self portrait guide that might be interesting for you you'd like to learn more https://familymoments.ca/self-portraits-im-there-too/ 

A course at the Click photo school teaching more in details a lot of what we talked about on the episodet https://www.clickphotoschool.com/documentary-connections/ 
You can find Anouk on IG at https://www.instagram.com/moments.famille/ 

https://www.photonative.com/

Starting out as a teen working the Picture People store at the mall to a thriving family photography business, Leah O'Connell's photography journey has spanned 20 years. The lessons collected along the way are something we all could learn from. Leah talks about what she learned from her past that has made her the success she is now.

Leah O’Connell is a lifestyle family photographer and educator based in Charlottesville, VA who has been developing her style and systems in the industry for over 10 years. She is passionate about creating heartwarming images of families that feel both wild and true while running her business from a place of joy. Pulling from her original love of teaching and master's degree in education, Leah now also guides family photographers through building a streamlined virtual sales experience and foundational business skills in her online course, The Workflow Launchpad. Leah is a wife of 11 years, a mom to 3, and writes about the swirl between art and family through her weekly newsletter, The Firefly Letters. You can connect with her in her private Facebook community for family photographers, or on Instagram @fireflyphoto_leah.

Website:

www.lofirefly.com

Social:

https://www.facebook.com/fireflyphoto.leah

https://www.instagram.com/fireflyphoto_leah/

Education:
Mentoring - https://www.lofirefly.com/education
The Workflow Launchpad (course) - https://lofirefly.com/workflow-launchpad Facebook group for family photographers -https://www.facebook.com/groups/familyphotogs.behindthescenes/

Amy is at the end of a divorce. A time of confusion, pain, and loss of self. In her efforts to heal from this trauma, Amy leans into her art, especially self-portraiture. After taking one specific image, Amy was able to truly see herself and step into her power. On this episode Amy and I talk about how art heals, venerability, abundance verses scarcity mentality, learning to let go so we can truly explore and become the artists we are called to be, holding space for the creative unknown, and so much more! This episode is full of "AH-HA" moments that you need to experience. So get that audio going, because YOU BELONG.; ;

Amy Elizabeth is an artist, writer, mentor, educator, experimenter, and lab owner based in Minneapolis, MN. Her primary medium for self-expression is film photography and over the last few years has found a home creating self-portraits. Her desire is to see and be seen, and in all things uses vulnerability for the empowerment of others.  Her belief in the healing power of community and creativity led her to start The Artists’ Collab, a monthly subscription support group, at the start of 2023. In this same spirit, she recently completed the first run of her workshop Self-Portraits With Meaning, meant to equip, give permission, and guide others through the therapeutic process of stepping boldly in front of the camera to externally process inner-workings. You can find her on Instagram @itsamyliz and on her website https://www.itsamyliz.com/

As adults we don't usually put time for play on our to do list, but maybe we should. On this episode, Cindy Cavanagh shares her reasons why play should be a part of every photographer's work. Leaning into personal projects to recharge and hone skills. And even using play in marketing. Don't miss this episode because You Belong!

Cindy Cavanagh is an artist who seeks beauty in the ordinary and the Australian landscape. Her painterly portraits are scenes that feel like someone has just stepped away, using colour and light to portray visual stories with deep emotion. 
Cindy mentors creatives and photographers to believe in their creative intuition. She uses a gentle voice to encourage the artist to look inwards and to observe, see, feel, listen and ultimately make stuff they love. After five years and over 50 artists later, her goal is to keep encouraging others to create from within. 

Website: https://www.cindycavanagh.photography/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cindy_cavanagh/ and  @cindy_cavanagh

Think about some of your favorite sessions. I bet those clients trusted you completely. I'd also bet, those clients gushed over their gallery and gave you a glowing review. Now, don't we all want clients who fully trust us? In this episode Emily Murdock walks us through how to create that client trust. It's not as difficult as it may seem.

Emily Murdock is a joy-centric film + digital photographer based in Dallas, Texas, USA. For more than 15 years, she has sought to show people the beauty of their lives through photography - not fake, pretend beauty that ignores the realities of life, but rather the kind of beauty that embraces what is real, raw, and painful, along with what is joyful, hopeful, and loving. Her photography work consistently toes the line between polished and wild, and that is precisely where she wants to be. When she's not taking the best portraits of her clients' lives, she can probably be found desperately catching up on homeschooling her four kids, planning her next epic road trip, or listening to 60's pop on Spotify. Or maybe all of those things at once. She welcomes connection in all forms, so please reach out and say howdy!

You can find Emily on Instagram @Emilymurdockphotopraphy 

Photos just aren't enough to tell the story. Enter copy! Being image driven entrepreneurs, thinking about the copy on our websites and bios isn't really on the radar. Rachel Grieman is the owner of Green Chair Stories, the answer to you copy conundrums. Listen how Rachel talks about why copy is so important, tips for writing copy yourself if you're on a budget, and how Chat GPT will affect the future of copy writers.

Rachel Greiman is a copywriter and documentary family photographer in Denver, CO.

With a degree in photojournalism and a decade of experience writing and photographing in the nonprofit world, Rachel started Green Chair Stories: a company committed to writing websites that get photographers booked. It’s run on empathy and storytelling, getting to the heart of why photographers do what they do and what makes them different from the other photographer down the street. 

Every website tells a story. And photos are, unfortunately, only half of it. Rachel helps photographers tell the story they mean to, with the words that keep their favorite people sliding into their DMs.

You can find Rachel and all her downloadable products at https://greenchairstories.com/shop-products

Use the code YOUBELONG15 to get 15%off.

To see Rachel and her amazing feed go to https://www.instagram.com/greenchairstories/

Karmen Meyer is a published photographer of 14 years, renowned for her soulful portraits of women. A mother to 2 daughters and the eldest of 6 sisters, she has spent her life encompassed by awe-inspiring feminine energy and has made it her personal mission to create portraits that showcase the depth, honesty, and power of women. Celebrating each individual, just as they are. Karmen spoke at Photo Native 2023 and together we continue the conversation about photographing the feminine and the power that we as women hold.

You can find Karmen and her work...

https://www.karmenmeyer.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/karmenmeyerphotography/

On the very first every You Belong Podcast episode I am interviewing Fiona Margo. She is an adventure family photographer, mom of two daughters plus a fluffy puppy, lives in Seattle, married to a fire fighter, has her own podcast, and is a marketing guru. In this episode Fiona and I talk specifics about marketing for photographers with actionable tips that you need to implement right now. You will want to take notes with this one!