women, breastfeeding and photography

This was an interesting shoot. The kind of shoot that tests your creativity and lets you know if your getting too comfortable with your surroundings.

It started with a four hour trip to Liberty Township Ohio, close to Youngstown. It was rained the whole way there and continued to do so after we arrived. Koren prefers to shoot with natural light so dark rainy days are the enemy. And on top of that our expecting mother’s apartment didn’t have a lot of window light. Luckily we cary a portable softbox (light) just for these occasions.

After the introductions and setup, aka “rearrange your furniture and turn your house into a studio”, she describes her desires for artistic pregnant nudes. Great! That’s what we do. But, that she also really, really dislikes her breasts and it is obvious that she is uncomfortable. So, all the usual shots are out the window and it’s time for pure organic, unpasteurized creativity.

Your temperature raises, your hands are hot. Visions of shots are racing through your mind faster than you can take the pictures. At least that’s what Koren is experiencing. I am handing Koren fresh memory cards and holding a light reflector, just trying to make sure the basics are covered so she can focus on being creative. But I am plagued with this persistent image in my mind of a pregnant belly against a white background, but not just a white background, illuminated! I tell Koren about it. It now seamed obvious how to achieve this effect, why hadn’t I thought of it before?

It worked better than I ever could have imagined. Now it is one of our favorite shots. The entire shoot turned out fantastic and I still smile when I look the images because with all the technical things that can go wrong at any moment during a shoot, staying centered and focused on the art is the true test of talent and creativity. After ten years of loving what we do, we still pass the test!

But what about this issue our subject had about not liking her breasts. Unfortunately this is not at all uncommon for us. I find this so sad and disturbing.

It seems like every woman at some point in her life picks a body part and decides that it is in some way substandard. Most likely due to some magazine image featuring a picture of a woman that has been digitally enhanced. Possibly repeated offhand comments from a boyfriend or even her own mother. All innocent enough but latent with heavy consequences.

Koren and I have been doing this for a long time and we both agree that women come in all shapes and sizes and we have yet to see a “bad” one.

If you have a part of your body that you think is ugly, you’re just looking at it from the wrong perspective.

By the end of the shoot our mom-to-be became completely relaxed and comfortable with us and Koren got a few shots with her not covering up. I am sure you can see that the only thing wrong with her breasts is her own perception of them.

For more on this subject check out the I Am Project

Nine A.M. on May 6th 2007 at the Mall. It was a little chilly but that warm glowing Sun made everything just perfect. These were shot around the Capital building.

An interesting note about this shoot: There happened to be a marathon scheduled to run through downtown that day. (isn’t there always?) So, the family made it to the shoot just in time. It was cutting it so close that they had to run across the road right in front of the first runners.

This is from a family shoot in Arlington Virginia on May 5th 2007. The weather was cooperating, mostly. The outside shots were captured between raindrops. This was one of those times when the kids were just not really down with having there pictures taken. Not a problem. We just spent a little extra time and it all turned out great!

Most of the pictures Koren takes are shot using natural light. This insures a natural feeling and helps her subjects stay relaxed.

Over the next several posts I will revisit our last trip to Washington, D.C. last spring.

So, lets get started with a beautiful sunny day in Cabin John, Maryland on May 5th 2007. You can feel the Sun and the Love!

Some of you may not know that Koren has been capturing captivating moments like these in the homes of families for more than ten years.

When she first started out she had to educate her clients on her innovative style. So she came up with the phrase “fast-food photography” to describe the then standard get ‘em in get ‘em out mentality of studio photography that everyone had taken for granted for so long. In contrast, she showed them what a few hours of patience and immersing herself in the kids environment could do.

Ten years later, her work is more captivating than ever and her creativity seems boundless.

Well, here we go!
This blog is about myself (Joe Albright) and my wife (Koren Albright). Two photographers living their dreams, struggling to create something beautiful while raising three kids.

The whole family in the car during an Arizona trip. Koren’s eye on the lower left corner, Me on the lower right, Tesla in the center, Antigonee in the back on the left, and Amber on the back right screaming because Antigonee has her feet on her.

Over the next few weeks I will be tweaking the layout and integrating the blog into out website. Then I will catch up on some of the shoots from this and the past year.