Just another great product that I had the honor of photographing. I love, love doing product photography! Well, usually only when it is a baby, child, family, or maternity product, or just something really cool. It is all about lifestyle and connection. And about mama’s. I love supporting other mothers whether it be through being a friend, mentor, or working with them as their photographer.

The owner’s son is the model here. He does not have kids. I am not sure how many babies he has actually held, but I think I did a good job in getting them to connect. The mom in the photos in a natural. She has four boys of her own (and one on the way!), so she was able to really love on Drew, who is my photography intern’s son.

But-”daddy” did have a really big tattoo all up and down his arm. I had to send them to my amazing, fantastic editor, Heather, over at Dark Room Diva, to work on getting the tattoo removed. If only it were that simple in real life (I don’t have one, but I had a boyfriend once that had a horrendous one and had to have it removed and it was no fun).

Anyways, these teethers are amazing! Just so, so perfect for little hands and little mouths. The silicone (no worries about latex allergies) part is nice but the metal part is so soothing. Check them out at Toofeze.com. Plus they are local, and you gotta shop local, right?

I really do just love everything about product photography, and do workshops where I teach other photographers about how to do lifestyle product photography specifically for babies, children,and maternity products. I just have to figure out how to do that full time, and I will be set. I am happy, too, with all the free products I receive as a result of the photography. It means I need to have another baby to really put to good use the things I receive. So, as of now, it is looking like it might be awhile before I have another baby, but I am still young, right? 32 is youngish, especially since I have already had two easy peasy pregnancies and births. My sister had her last baby when she was 40, so I have some time.

That’s all for now. I will probably post more later:)

xoxo stacey

They really are the cutest things ever, right? That is my Amelia (the firecracker), on the left, and Anabelle, my photography intern’s daughter, on the right.

I don’t know why a vw bus makes a shoot so much better, but it does. Here is a high school senior photo shoot I did with a different vw bus, and here are the Jinky photos of my own family (I really have to show these off every chance I get because I love them so, so much).

It could be because I am a hippie at heart, and really wanted to follow the Dead when I was 13, but then didn’t get a chance bc Jerry died. I don’t know. I always pictured myself traveling the country in a Komby, bare feet hanging out the window, listening to good music. Instead, I am photographing my beautiful children in the buses instead, and that is an even better life than I dreamed of originally.

So, a lot is going on in my life right now. I will be moving into my old house soon in north Boulder (yes, we have been moving around like crazy and it is driving me totally nuts). And I have all the rooms planned out on my Pinterest boards (if you don’t already know about pinterest DON”T click on the link-it is so addictive and so fun but when you first find out about it you spend day and night there).

The house is going to be a wonderland for children. I have already started the process. Last night I spent an hour at Home Depot finding everything I need to make my own wooden swing. Here are the instructions I am going to use. Cute, right? I have a million projects to work on. i love, love making things. The new house will have a whole room just for crafts and such.

Alright, off to edit and work for the rest of the night. Yep, that is a Friday evening for me, but I like it. More photos tomorrow!

xoxo stacey

Oh Amelia, you are so spunky, full of life, so fun, and you are MINE. All mine. I am so lucky to have you.

The other day we were talking with a new neighbor (we just moved to south boulder), and we were discussing names and nicknames briefly. Amelia named herself “Me-me” right off the bat-as soon as she could start talking. So we call her Me-me or Amelia or Amalea or Ami.

As we were talking about this, she proudly stood up, shook herself off as if to make her presence known to us, and announced that her name is “Amelia, but mommy calls me her firecracker.” And she was so proud, It melted and broke my heart all at once. First of all, it hurt my heart a bit, because when I call her “my little firecracker” it is ALWAYS in reference to how Elijah is my buddha baby and Amelia is, well, quite the opposite.  She did not realize that being a firecracker might not be the best thing to be. And it melted my heart because she was so, SO very proud that mama gave her a very special name.

So, there she is on the left, being the awesome firecracker that she is.

xoxo stacey

ps. this is just another great photo for the product/commercial photo shoot we did for Urban Baby Bonnets. My very favorite hats in the world.  For real, not just because I am their photographer, but because the design works so well and the fabrics are so, so cute. More soon.

pps, only in Boulder will a photographer be so lucky to find a Komby (a vw bus) on every corner and, only in Boulder, will you find a nice and friendly owner to let you stick a couple cute kids in cute hats in it and take some photos. Well, on second thought, aren’t ALL vw bus owners nice and friendly? I doubt it is just a boulder thing.

Just a few before  bed…lots more to come! Will post more in the morning when I wake up at a DECENT hour and get some work done. First of all, I have more photos to post from the Tofeeze shoot (the best teether in the world AND it was created by a local mama and her daughter!) and some MORE Baby Hawk.

Taken at my workshop for photographers on baby and child lifestyle product and commercial photography at the Scott Capenter Park In Boulder just off 30th and Arapahoe. Great location to take “urban” looking photos.

I *love* this company. I have been working with Urban Baby Bonnets for years-since they were just an itty bitty Etsy store. The other day, I walked down Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, and saw THREE babies wearing Urban Baby Bonnets. That is a sign they are about to become BIG. I know that some big stores are taking interest in them, and I really believe these lifestyle product photos are going to help them reach the next level with advertising, magazines, blog exposure, etc… I have a bunch more photos to share, but here are just a few. More to come. And I *do* want to do a post some of the awesome photos my photographer participants took. I am so proud of them, I feel like a mama bear.

Anyways, Urban Baby Bonnets are the best hats EVER. They protect your child perfectly from the sun, then you flip it back when indoors. And they are reversable. Worth every penny. We have a million of them, but that is a perk of being a baby product photographer:) This was the last shoot of the weekend, and I did NOT organize the baby models very well, so if you have a 6 -10 month old and you want them to be a super model, please contact me asap so I can get a few more photos for this wonderful mama.  I work mostly with mom-owned companies -in case you don’t follow my blog and haven’t heard me say that ten times in the last month. I guess I repeat myself all the time because you all don’t comment enough on my blog and it is hard to believe that you all follow it, so comment on my blog already! But when I meet you, you tell me all about my kids, and you recongize them in public, and you know me, even though I don’t yet know you.

So, today we had to buy a new car, because yes, I totalled my car a couple of weeks ago. We were all ok, just some whiplash-I need a massage-bad-so if anyone out there is a massage therapist and LOVES my photos and wants to trade for family photography, let me know asap. I just need to REST. Well, I have been having this problem where I can’t wake up to my alarm clock and am oversleeping, I guess kids are a natural, built in alarm clock. But I have been sleeping a lot. I gotta get well.

Anyways, we did buy a new car-our FOURTH Subaru Impreza-the 2012 gets 36 mpg, which is great for Adam as he drives around all day long (he works with autistic and develomental disabled children and adults).

We went to the Boulder store first, and they were RUDE and expensive. If you are going to buy a Subaru, take my advice and go to the Longmont location. They are courteous, give you a great price, and the treatment is outstanding. They washed our 2011 Impreza while we were waiting, and gave us a great loaner car until our new car arrives in a week or so.  And free oil changes forever.

I am still in shock that the Boulder Subaru guy walked away from me mid-sentence when we started to say we were going to shop around, and didn’t even shake my hand or say good-bye. He just walked away. Seriously? I would highly recommend the Longmont store. We worked with Todd, and he was fabulous-ask for him if you go.

So…I have been putting so much time and effort into really perfecting this workshop, and I am excited to take it around the country! I am building the workshop website right now and partnering with Portfolio Sitez, which I love (so easy to use and they have gorgeous templates and excellent customer service-you can tell I am all about good customer service??.

The workshops are one of those things that give me fire in my belly. In college, I volunteered for a group that provided water filtration systems for villages in Haiti (this was pre-earthquake). The leader of the group was a chaplain, and he was always talking about doing the things that “give you fire in your belly”. Like helping the people in Haiti.

So, even though that was 12 years ago (dating myself, yes-I am), I have tried to live by that motto, and it truly has lead me on incredible path. I do what I love for a living as a photographer because of him. I created Karma Baby, my own small label baby product company, because of what he said. And now I am pursuing teaching other photographers because I feel that passion in my belly.

I am still sick, I still have two kids (which is WAY harder than one, not double hard, more like 4x as hard, not to discourage my clients-I still want to photograph your next newborns, but realistically it is harder, just say’n), I still struggle with my husband (we are both naturally fiery creatures), and the day to day struggles don’t ever really go away. But there is this FIRE is my belly, and I am following it. And I feel great. Happy.

xoxo stacey

ps, sorry this post ended up being a critique on everything. I am in one of those moods. I need to sign up for Yelp and get my Yelp on.

I love, love, love doing commercial product photography. It is so much fun-especially when it is a company local to Denver and created and owned by another mom. My passion over the years with working with other mom-owned companies has only grown.

I realized when I got professional photos done for my other company, Karma Baby Slings, that that was what I needed to take my business from being just another mom-owned do-it-yourself website product, to a company that a store like Target would take serious interest in. It changed everything-magazines started picking us up as the new “what’s hot for hip moms” product, blogs started requesting photos so they could do reviews-and our orders SPIKED. Retail stores finally took us seriously and we went from one wholesale order a month to one very other day (this was back when the economy was still good for a high end baby product).

Anyways, I was thrilled when JP Lizzy decided to go with me for the photos for their newest line of designer diaper bags. I just LOVE them, and they are way more affordable than some of the other designer diaper bags out there.

I want to say a special thank you to Poppy just off Pear Street in Boulder. We just randomly wondered into their store with this gorgeous model and a bunch of photographers and the owner was gracious enough to let us stay a hour and shoot there. The photos from that store are my favorite. And there are SO many cute things for babies there-I am serious, I want to buy everything that store carries-it is all so cute and unique, though they need to (ahem) look into carrying that really awesome baby pouch sling…what was it called again? Oh yeah, Karma Baby Slings, that’s right!

Anyways, more photos to come! I have so many things to blog I WILL be blogging every day, I promise, so check back tomorrow:)

xoxo stacey

ps, 5/6/12- just a side note-I have been using the gray bag for a week and I LOVE it. yes, of COURSE I kept one for myself, I had to. My $20 Target bags just weren’t making the cut anymore. There are so many useful pockets in this bag, and I can even throw my laptop in there. I am so in love, I want more of these!

If you are wondering….the workshop I led this weekend was FABULOUS! It went much better than I expected. I am still a bit sick, so that was a challenge,  so there were a few things I forgot to bring and a few things I will change, but overall I feel like the participants walked away with a TON of info to digest and the product companies are going to walk away with THE most amazing photos.

Let me tell you about a photography workshop. Basically, it is you and 6-12 other really amazing or amazing but-just-starting-out photographers that get together for a week or a weekend and focus on ONE topic. This topic happened to be baby and child and maternity lifestyle photography. Which is a very specific niche of family photography that I LOVE to do. Just LOVE. Not only do I get to capture the beautiful, quirky expression that your child makes right now that you may one day forget, but I get to use that expression to sell products that I believe in. Do I believe in wearing your baby? Yes, I think it is one of the most important things you can do for your baby (if you can, otherwise, some good laying down, belly-to-belly-time works, too).

So, I only work with products I believe in, because I want that company’s customer base to see in my photography just what I see-warmth, love, nurturing, bonding, fun, etc… I mean, I photograph all sorts of baby products, from pants and dresses to teethers and strollers. I probably wouldn’t do an ad campaign that aims at showing how a bucket seat (aka, the infant carseat) is convenient (insert cheesy man’s voice here) “not only for the car, but wherever you go!”). That would just make me sad. We have to pick up our babies and hold them tightly, right?

So, this weekend, I had the best time. I got to teach 8 other photographers how to do a type of photography that I am so passionate about. I have already gotten so much feedback but am also going to send out a detailed questionnaire so that I can perfect this workshop and take it to other cities-focusing on bringing together local, mom owned companies with photographers in their area (I also believe in keeping it local). Babyhawk IS in California, not Colorado, and so are a lot of my product clients, but for the workshop purposes I hope to be the one to network together local companies with local photographers. Just a little added bonus of the workshop IF you decide to do one-you will be connected with clients and thus be able to start up this new part of your business that focuses on baby products right away.

Photographers: if you are interested in this workshop (I think I am going to be able to keep the cost low) and want me to bring it to your city, PLEASE email me at boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or leave a comment in this post’s comment section. I am thinking Utah next. Why? Because it is so close and because there are SO, so many fabulous photographers there.

So, to continue, the workshop is divided into teaching and shooting, and of course I teach as I shoot.  I organized 7 baby, child, or maternity product companies, many of them local to Boulder or the Denver area, and we would spend about 2 hours shooting, then 2 hours teaching. It was a fast, packed weekend, but was SO much fun and (at least the participants are telling me this) the photographers left with feeling confident shooting products and knowing how to get lifestyle product photography bookings.

We got really phenomenal images for the companies that participated. Here are just a few from one of the Baby Hawk shoots I did. I wish I could post them all but that would be WAY too many photos. I AM going to try and post every day so there are a ton of images coming on to the blog, so you *may* see more of Baby Hawk when we did their second shoot at the Boulder Farmer’s market. These particular photos were taken at Chautauqua in southwest Boulder.

Can you tell I am happy? I am.

xoxo stacey

Calling all Boulder Colorado baby models! I have such a great group of models already lined up for my April 28th and 29th lifestyle baby product photography workshop, but really, really, REALLY need some ethnically diverse babies and toddlers. Mostly babies though.

So, if you have a beautiful baby (they are all beautiful to me, I am not kidding, I am THAT woman in line at the supermarket who is obsessed with talking with and cooing and making silly faces at your baby and you give me weird looks but I keep doing it anyways), that is of a different ethnic background and you want him or her to have a ragingly successful career in baby modeling, please contact me.

The “payment” for modeling is the product your baby models (and we have some really great ones lined up), the digital negatives from not only ME, but 6 other truly fabulous photographers that are participating in the workshop, and then of course the fame and glory that goes along with your baby being in national magazines, ads, product packaging, etc…

I am ALWAYS so thrilled and proud when I see my Amelia on the cover of a magazine or in some random ad as I am flipping through Baby and Child Magazine. Or, when I am strolling through Real Baby on Pearl and spot her on the packaging for some product I shot for. I know I should not be proud, because I am the commercial photographer in charge and CHOSE her, rather than her earning it because she is the cutest thing EVER, but still, that feeling of pride wells up in me.

So, all I am saying is, that if that appeals to you too, please contact me at boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com

Here is a little write up I did last year on getting your child or baby into professional modeling. It is a short write up and is worth reading to see if your baby is right for modeling. Hey, they ARE all cute, but some just don’t love the camera, and take a little longer to warm up.

We also need hot moms and dads, any ethnic background. So if you consider yourself a hot mom or dad, and want to model and get a bunch of awesome free baby and kids products, please also email me. It’s ok if you are just not ethnically diverse. Am I being totally politically incorrect in this blog post? My husband always says I am. If I am someone email me right away to take this down! Please!

So, anyways, we lined up Marisa, the cute little girl in this video to model. She is half Puerto Rican and half Japanese. I just happened to go back to this video of her two years ago to show the owner of the product we are photographing her in how darn cute she is, and just fell in love with this video again. So I wanted to post it. I want more of my photography clients to do videos. If I run some kind of special with video included, would that appeal to you? “Like” me on Facebook and let me know. I will see if i can start a poll or something. Can you do polls on FB?

Isn’t this the cutest freaking video ever? And I love how the photographs are randomly in it, and you can see me at least once off to the side “in action” photographing her. Wish I could make the video bigger, but I don’t have the time right now to figure that out. I think if you click on it it is a link and you can see it bigger. Be sure to turn up your volume on your computer-the song is the BEST.

Ok, please contact me about the multicultural baby modeling and the hot mom and dad modeling in Boulder 4/28 and 4/29.

xoxo stacey

ps, here are some of the other photos that were not really in the video from that session, just to give you an idea of what a video/photography session with me produces. I can not believe this was OVER TWO years ago, time goes by SO quickly!

pps, I just have to be honest and say I was lazy and just copied the photos here from the blog post I did two years ago. So if it looks familiar, that is why.

…see the blog post below. We had a few glitches and had to change the workshop to the last weekend of April-so if you are a photographer and are interested in learning everything you need to know about baby and child and maternity lifestyle product photography it will now be Saturday, April 28th and Sunday, April 29th. There are TWO spots left so please contact me ASAP to sign up. It is going to be sooo much fun and we have the BEST baby gear lined up to photograph.

It is actually good that we had to change dates because the Boulder weather is not looking so great this weekend. AND I lost my voice.

And because no photographer’s blog post is complete without a photo, here is one of my stunningly gorgeous, 33 week pregnant friend, Monique, again. How much more beautiful can the human form be?

Here she is at week 32 of her pregnancy. With clothes on.

xoxo stacey

ps-keep checking back here-I am going to post soon about needing models for the photography workshop at the end of the month. So if you are in the Boulder, Co, area and you want your baby, child, or belly to model check in soon-I will *try* to post the info tomorrow.

I am so, so, SO excited about this. I LOVE leading workshops. My passion for teaching is off the hook. I spend hours on the phone with mom photographers all over the country mentoring them on their photography and businesses. I can’t help it. I know my life is already totally overbooked, but other moms helped ME when I was first starting out and one of my greatest pleasures in life is helping another mom find her confidence, her artistic soul-when that spark in her belly gets LIT up and everything is full speed ahead from there. And one of the best parts? They realize they can get PAID for doing what they love. And paid well. And from there on is the never-ending journey of how to nurture that passion, create a solid, worthwhile income for the family, AND be the super mom that we have always dreamed of being. I am still figuring that last part out, but believe me, when I do (and I WILL), I will share it relentlessly on my blog.

About the WORKSHOP

Get ready-This is going to be the most fabulous, most interesting, FUN workshop you have taken in a long time. It is ALL about how to envision, create, collaborate, and BOOK those baby and children product jobs that are so interesting and fulfilling to do.

What I have found is that there are “product photographers” out there. They are represented by agencies and agents and start their services at like $10,000 and offer services that I would not even want to do (like working alongside a stager and stylist to get that one shot dreamed up by some man in an office at their corporate ad agency:). But I love MOM owned companies-and up until now I have always just done product baby, children, and maternity lifestyle photography in Boulder as people have asked-I have never set out to make it one of my main things. Usually it is a friend of the product’s creator that recommends me and we go from there. I make about $2000-$4000 on shoots like this, and I love it!

Really, nothing is better than a product shoot. Yes, I love capturing just who my 1 year old client is in that very moment of his life, but when that photo is printed by the thousands and shown to mothers around the world, I feel a special kind of connection and pride with my art.

The mothers viewing the photograph are drawn to that bright expression the baby is making, but they are also taking in the soft, warm, fuzzy blanket that he is snuggling in as well. So it is a win-win. You produce a photograph that brightens up some one’s day, and then your client’s product is sold! It is a really rewarding, fun, interesting, and lucrative subset of the baby and family photography industry.

I have been getting a lot of emails from new as well as already-established photographers lately wanting to learn how to get these kinds of jobs and how to exactly go about it.

So… I am going to have a weekend where we shoot multiple awesome products at several very different locations with different types of light and models. The weekend will be jam packed with shooting for real baby product companies, having fun and getting to know other local women photographers, and just having a lot of giggles out of tickling, pinching, and googling over all the sweet, fat, squishy babies we will be photographing:). You may even find that one of your own photos from the weekend ends up in a national ad or magazine:)

Overall, this weekend is meant to give you a solid introduction into the how-to’s of baby product photography. We will also go into detail on how to find these jobs and, most importantly, how to choose the right products to photograph for YOU to enhance your portfolio.

We will be shooting such a wide range of products, you will definitely be able to build a complete portfolio from just this one weekend. I have so many great companies for this first workshop-Baby Hawk, GoGreen Baby Diapers, Belle Baby Carriers, JP LIzzy Diaper Bags, Toofeze Teethers, maternity wear, high end children’s fashion, etc… It will be a great product portfolio for any baby photographer.

Here’s the tentative schedule (the much more detailed one will be sent out a few days before the workshop).

Saturday, April 28th

8am-9am Boulder Farmer’s Market-Baby Hawk Baby Carriers-plan on shooting at every shoot-practice makes it more fun and you will produce amazing portfolio shots in the end. We will just jump straight in to this one!

9am-10:30am Meet in the park and we will provide coffee, tea and a light breakfast-picnic style. I will teach on the basic outline of a product shoot and answer any questions about that morning’s shoot. Go over the plan for noon shoot and lighting.

12pm-1pm Pearl Street Mall, Boulder, Co- Designer Diaper Bag shoot. Follow me around as I point out why certain locations/poses/angles look best for this type of product and how I choose the locations during such a bright time of day. Then disperse on your own or together to find some yummy lunch on Pearl Street.

6pm-7pm Wonderland Lake, Boulder, Co. Variety of smaller of baby products-blankets, pacifiers, changing pads, hats, burp clothes, etc… This is a beautiful location and big enough for us to set down a little gaggle of babies in different spots and be able to rotate-each getting a good amount of time with every baby and product. Great opportunity to learn how to shoot into the setting sun as well.

7pm-8pm Wrap up talk and picnic style catered dinner. I will speak about what we learned today and outline certain necessary points in planning, organizing, and pulling off a successful baby product shoot.

Sunday, April 29th

8am-9am Chautauqua Park, Boulder Co, East Side above the theater. Children and toddler high-end fashion shoots. During shooting, we will discuss the different poses and backdrops that work for the branding of each clothing company. We will also focus in on how important expression is for fashion shoots and I will show you my tricks and tips to get certain looks.

9am-10:30am Meet in the park and we will provide coffee and a light breakfast-picnic style. This morning’s talk will be on choosing and sourcing models and locations, the importance of stylizing your photographs to the exact branding of each company, and how to create a flow of photographs for a fashion shoot that tells a story.

3pm-5pm Scott Carpenter Park Pavilion-One on one sessions with Stacey to be scheduled. 20 minutes each.

5pm-6pm Scott Carpenter Park, Boulder Colorado. We will meet at the pavilion for a catered dinner and talk. I will go over how to begin booking products sessions, how to communicate best with your clients to ultimately produce for them images they will love, and how to refine your style and portfolio to attract the kinds of companies that fit well with YOUR branding and what YOU love to shoot.

6pm-Sunset Skate Park at Scott Carpenter Park. We will be shooting high end boys clothing as well as a few baby products. There are great angles here and a lot of fun graffiti to play around with.

Investment: Normally $795, but since this is my first baby product workshop (which makes it even better since it will be a lot more fun and laid back), I am offering this session for only $375. This includes catered meals, snacks, extensive teachings, and an opportunity to build a COMPLETE product portfolio so that you can begin shooting on your own right away. It also includes 1 one-one session where we can review your images or you can feel free to ask me just about anything about anything-no holds bar-I like to be an open book:)

The fine print:

-There will be a limit of 6-8 participants per weekend.

-Must have a DSLR or SLR camera and be able to shoot on manual or Aperture Priority-(contact me first if this is a problem and I can help).

-No need to be in business or plan on being in business-if you are doing this just for a fun weekend, OR hoping to get stellar images and become Boulder’s #1 baby product photographer, either is fine. Even if you are a mom entrepreneur yourself and want to learn and get some great shots of your own product, I am down with that!

-We will try to work with the Boulder weather as it comes-but certain shoots may need to be rescheduled if there is rain. Rescheduling should be fairly easy with such a small group.

-Payment is due in full to secure your spot and can be paypaled to ($375) boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or a check mailed to Stacey Potter Photography, 4734 Hampshire St, Boulder, CO 80301. To pay by credit card, please call my office manager, Kellie, with your info and she can process it for you over the phone- (720) 352-8665. This is non-refundable but can be transferred to another photographer or credited towards a later workshop or session.

-Each participant must submit 8-10 photos from the weekend within 2 weeks with a copyright release for all the companies to be able to use your images if they would like to.

-Please register by Monday, April 9th to secure your spot.

Thanks everyone and I am so excited to meet and get to know all these new, amazing photographers! Please don’t hesitate to call or email if you have any questions, or if you just want to chat! 720-310-0336. Oh yes, and if you want to registar please email at boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or call my office manager, Kellie, at (720) 352-8665. Thanks!!!

xoxo stacey