Studio Maternity Photography - A Mentorship with Chelsea Haworth
At some stage in the near future I will be making the leap into studio photography. We have made some haltering progress with building the structure that will house this little dream of mine, right here on our farm in Helensville. We are amongst the ever growing population of people who are waiting with hope in their hearts, for all the delays that are going throughout the world with the building industry.
So, in the midst of getting my hopes smashed with every new date that we are given, I am also studying up on my studio photography skills. It’s going to be an exciting skill set to develop and so much fun to test how to combine my natural style of photographing people to a more controlled environment. I have constructed the studio layout in my head a million times, so the anticipation to see it become a reality is almost unbearable.
For anyone that has spent a bit of time with me, they‘ll know that I invest a lot in education, I study this art form almost obsessively and I love nothing more than practicing and developing every new technique I learn. Mainly, as I just really bloody love photography and how expressive it can be, but also to give my clients the best experience that I possibly can.
So, with this in mind, I sought out the Queen of studio photography and booked in a mentorship. Chelsea Haworth runs a portrait studio in Henderson and is an ultra talented photographic artist with a wealth of knowledge to share, you can check out more of her beautiful work here.
My photography diploma was done via distance learning, as well as many of the photographers I choose to learn from are abroad as this style of learning really suits me. Having an actual, in person mentorship was really a new and exciting experience for me.
I chose maternity photography to focus on, I love the sheer power of a pregnant body and I also understand how important it is to be shown how beautiful you are as a Mama to be, which adds so much meaning to the session. It could also be that I’m pregnant myself, but I’m so glad that I chose this captivating genre to work on.
I was lucky enough to find the most perfect model for the job. The poised and graceful Mrs Zoe, of Danceville Helensville, the dance studio my daughter has gone to since she was 3 years old. I knew that Zoe would be perfect for this project, being a teacher that shows such patience and care for her little dancers, as well as a gifted dancer herself who knows how to position her body, unlike the rest of us mere mortals. I really was not disappointed and we had such a fun afternoon together.
Zoe and I headed off for the session at Chelsea’s studio in Henderson. The car was packed to the brim with all my studio equipment taken from its usual position in the corner of our dining room, pending its own home being built. My entire client closet of gowns sitting safely in my kids car seats, we were ready for the mentoring session.
Chelsea has such a calming presence, she is measured in her approach and you just know that no detail goes amiss with her gentle and careful techniques. It’s clear that Chelsea’s clients would feel comfortable with her guidance.
We talked through lighting and props and techniques, I love nothing more than talking through the nitty gritty of client experience. When you feel so passionate about something, being able to babble on about it all with someone who has such a standing in the industry was so much fun.
The aim of this mentorship was to see how another photographic artist achieves their particular style. We did a version of Chelsea’s workflow so I could see how she adjusts her subject, how she uses light and direction to make her vision come to life. How her studio is set up and how she makes her clients feel when they are in her studio.
I am so excited to take what I have learned and translate it into the vision I have for my own studio work.
“A wonderful flaw about human beings is that we’re incapable of making perfect copies. Our failure to copy our heroes is where we discover where our own thing lives. That is how we evolve.”
