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!

Gorgeous family. Beautiful Boulder day. I was *supposed* to do Amanda’s maternity photos but the day of our session she went into labor with baby Quinn.

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

Ok, well I am so, so, so excited about my friend Jaime, moving here to Boulder from New York. She is just the most amazing, creative, beautiful photographer I know, and she will be living here. In Boulder. Where I get to see her every day. She is such a brilliant artist, that I wanted to share some of her work here on my blog.

What Jaime does is breathtaking. I asked her if I could purchase the photo below as a piece of art work for my home. As is. I did not realize that she does this thing where she puts YOUR child into the photo. It is called her Daydream Series.

I may have mentioned before, that one of my favorite artist/photographers is Gregory Colbert, and he does something similar. In 2002, while I was traveling around Europe, I saw his first exhibition (Ashes and Snow) in Venice. It was an incredible experience. They hung his photos from strings from the ceiling in this old (like hundreds of years old) artillery building. And it was dark, and cool, on a hot June day in Venice, and when I got half way through the exhibit there were just a bunch of people sitting on the concrete floor watching a screen with a movie playing of a beautiful man and woman swimming with whales. And when that part was done, I continued to walk through the old building looking at these images-and it was just awe-inspiring.

Even though I was back packing through Europe, and had no money, I bought a print anyways (my biggest expense on my trip). But by the time I got home it had been bent and ruined. I should have shipped it right away. I was so sad, but thought I could get another one down the line. Later I did purchase one of his books, teeny tiny, just to gaze at it, but the poster I loved so much is no longer available.

I must have an affinity for elephants, because Jaime has created so many beautiful photographs with different animals, and the one I wanted was the elephant. I will be commissioning Jaime to do one of these when she arrives in Boulder at the end of the summer. If you want to set something up with her ahead of time, you can call her at 516.769.3709 or email her at jaime.bley@gmail.com. She will be a huge success in the Boulder/Denver area.

She also does family photography. It has a totally different style than mine, and I can not wait to collaborate with her on projects and see what we can come up with. It would be interesting for us to shoot together and see what totally different kinds of photographs we create.

I will see you soon, jaime! Best wishes on your journey to Boulder.

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.

Everyone is pregnant in Boulder. At least, everyone I know. I have been taking maternity pictures every day now. I can’t wait to be surrounded by all these beautiful little newborn babies! I will be in heaven. I am going to be doing the birth photography too, for a few of these beautiful women I have been posting about so keep an eye out for those blog posts. I really am going to try to blog every day again now.  I promise! I am really, truly back this time!

So yes, I was VERY sick. With my old woman witch disease (crohn’s disease-an autoimmune disorder) and have been out of the loop for 4-6 months. Time has passed so quickly. But I am here, getting healthy, nurturing myself, and ready to go! I am so excited about so many things and have a ton to share with you all.

Let me give you the background on this photo. I was talking with my good friend Kim earlier in the day yesterday-and even though she is a maternity photographer herself (check out the link, she is an amazing photographer for those of you in Englewood, Co), she STILL had not had any photos taken yet of this, her fourth pregnancy (and she is only 28 yrs old, can you believe it!?). I was the last of five children, and there are about 6 pictures of me total. Total. About 6 from the time I was a baby until I graduated high school. There are definitely no photos of my mother pregnant with me. So I INSISTED that Kim capture her belly for this little one. It always made me feel a little sad that they did not bother to take pictures of me growing up. And then ironically I became a child photographer, hmmm…

I told her to pack up the family and head down to Boulder all the way from Engleton and I would do some photos of her that evening. I had to take Elijah to a birthday party in Superior and then we would all meet to do an impromptu photo shoot at my house at 5:30pm. Well, at 5pm the storm clouds started rolling in, so I called her from the party and told her to just meet me there and we would try to get a couple photos in before the torrential downfall. So, it was freezing, windy, raining-AND all the kids were locked up in the car with Kim’s husband.

We ran out to the side of the road somewhere off Rock Creek Drive in Superior, and spent like 5 minutes getting some photos. At least she has a few now! I have another disk of even better images from this 5 minute shoot-but I ruined it-it cracked somehow. Does anyone know how to fix a cracked memory card? I will have to take it in somewhere to get the photos taken off of it. Maybe Mike’s Camera? Anyways, there are more photos from this 5 minute maternity shoot to come. Probably the quickest photo shoot I have ever done.

You are beautiful, Kim, and a dear friend. I can not wait to meet this new little life you and Chris have created.

xoxo stacey

…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

I know three months ago I said I was back to work, but after being in and out of the hospital since, I am just letting it come on easy and get back in to the swing of things. First of all, all old shoots and photos floating out there will all come together this week. I have everything set up and am ready to get going. So, if you have been worried, I will email or call you this week!

I am taking on only 1-2 shoots a week right now, so if you do want something soon please contact me at boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com to discuss. I always leave room open for newborn portrait sessions, too, so those can always be last minute.

Anyways, for my health. Who knows? Every time I get better I get sick again, and then there are all these side conditions that come with it. For example, I had to leave a newborn shoot after taking three photos a few months ago because I did not feel well. I felt awful, like I should have just stuck it out. Well, I ended up in the ER that night and my lung had collapsed, so I am learning it is better to trust myself.

Anyways, I did not pick up a camera for four months-and then my best friend had her baby shower last night so I HAD to bring it and take some photographs. It was like riding a bike-and so good for me as it reminded me of how much I love the simple art of photography.

I am going to try to blog every day for now on-we just bought a house in south Boulder and I am trying to sell our house in central Boulder so I am busy with that, but otherwise I am going to just dive back in to photography.

I am still here!

I have been sick, if you read back I have crohn’s, an autoimmune disorder, and have been in the hospital. Such a hard time around Christmas, and then of course all my wonderful, understanding, caring clients that I photographed before I went in had to wait for prints.

Here’s the breakdown: I got sick, went to the hospital, got a miracle medication that basically cures my old woman-witch disease. Went home, and my two year old gave me bronchitis the very next day. So, after taking the miracle drug that suppresses my immune system, I could not get over the bronchitis. And because of that, I could not take my miracle drug anymore. So my crohn’s got bad again. And antibiotics are crohn’s nemesis, so I got even more sick.

And then, it was really strange, but my left lung collapsed, and I ended up in the hospital again. Come on! I am 32. But, such is life and all is well now. Challenges only make me stronger.

Thankfully after THREE rounds of different antibiotics, I am HEALTHY. I flew out to TN with my family to recuperate and will be back for 24 hours on the 3rd to catch up on all past sessions, and then will officially be fully back to work on the 9th.

My parents live on 30 acres in the middle of nowhere on a lake. It is beautiful, serene, and a perfect opportunity for me to finally slow down and relax (and take photos).

So, I hear the weather was pretty rough in Boulder for a few days and is now beautiful. Can’t wait to get back to Boulder on Tuesday! Email me if you want to schedule a newborn, family, or even high school senior session (I want to do them now bc Kayla’s shoot was so great.)

Oh, by the way, this photo has a funny story. I got a call from a rancher in (I *think*) New Mexico. She told me that I had photographed her sister’s family in San Francisco, and she just loved my work so much she had to have me do her daughter’s high school senior portraits. Her daughter would be driving 3-4 hours by herself to do the session with me.

I told her honestly, I don’t photograph high school seniors, and there are probably a ton of really great photographers in her area that I could find for her, but she insisted that I must be the photographer (huge compliment, thank you L!). Well, after she heard my prices she told me that her jaw was on the ground. But she also said she knew I was worth it and would I do a trade?

Well, of course, I love trades. Hit me up, see if it is something I need. Well, she is a rancher. So it was meat. And I laughed, bc I am a vegetarian. Luckily, my husband is a big guy who loves meat and we have a deep freezer, so I agreed.

Kayla reminded me a bit of myself at that age. Artistic, totally her own person, laid back, and fun. We had a great time. I took her to the old hippie farm just outside of Boulder and we got some amazing images-it was the perfect place for her. This is just one of my favorites that I just happened to have on the laptop I took with me to TN, so I am posting it. Those eyes! She is gorgeous. She is actually sitting in an old VW Bus. I will post more when I get back to Boulder. Promise.

If you need to get a hold of me I am here now!  720-310-0336, boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com.

Btw, it is EXACTLY 12am right now New Years Eve/Day. And I am sitting here quietly, sipping chamomile tea, posting while the babies are sleeping. My dad set off fireworks earlier, and then the kids passed out by 8pm. This is just how it is when you have young children-and I love it.

xoxo stacey

ps, thank you to all my wonderful friends and clients in real life and on FB that emailed and called constantly bc I stopped posting for so long. I love that I am so supported-it means everything to me.