I’m a mama, and a motherhood and family photographer based in Perth, Western Australia.
Hi there and thank you for visiting my website, I’m so glad you found me! What’s a motherhood photographer? Well, put simply, I capture the connection, the bond, the little moments between mother and child. It might be a beautiful pregnant mama, brimming with the excitement and nerves of the impending birth of her firstborn, a newborn stretching, yawning, still learning to latch, a toddler reaching out to hold mum’s hand as he starts to find his feet, a child gazing into mum’s eyes like she’s the most important thing in the world (she is!). A laugh, a look, a touch, a moment. You just do you, and I do the rest.
Why should I hire a professional photographer? I have a camera!
It’s true, we all have cameras and most of us take lots of photos every day. But there’s a few reasons you should consider a professional photographer. Firstly, are you in your own photos? Unless you have the world’s longest selfie stick, chances are you aren’t. If you’re anything like me, you probably have hundreds of photos of your partner and your child, but hardly any of you with your most precious babes, and probably even less of you all together. You need to be in those photos mama. Secondly, wouldn’t you love to see your special and unique family from an outsider’s perspective? Someone who might notice the little details and moments that you may not as you go about the extremely busy and demanding job of parenting? Someone who can stand back and observe the connection between you and your babes, and document it as a work of art that you will want to look at time and time again? And lastly, you will look stunning in your photos. Don’t even worry. I will capture all the right angles, the right light, the right composition to make images you’ll love.
I’m here to make art with you and your tribe.
Something you can put on your wall, gaze at everyday and appreciate as a work of art in itself. Images you will see as beautiful, interesting, timeless. They might be a little bit abstract, slightly off focus, or not quite what you’d expect. Something with a depth and warmth that may come from anything other than your face. That’s where my creative heart lies. Your face, to me, is not all that important. In fact, if you *think* you don’t like having your photo taken (although I intend to change your mind about that), I might just be the photographer for you. In my sessions there is lots of shooting from behind, from the side, and not so much from front on. You can probably see from my gallery that I love a back of head shot! Don’t worry, I will capture plenty of your beautiful faces as well, but you’ll have lots of other perspectives too.
I hate having my photo taken and I’m shy in front of a camera.
Let’s be honest, most of us are not comfortable with it. But did anyone ever regret taking too many photos? Well, maybe when you run out of memory on your iPhone. But generally, absolutely not! However we often regret not taking enough, or not taking the right ones. It doesn’t matter if you feel like you’re not “photo ready”, you’re not at your goal weight, your hair’s not perfect, you didn’t have time for makeup, or your toddler is having a day of meltdowns. I can assure you, none of that’s important! We are documenting how you are at this moment in time, however that is. Remember that; it’s a documentation of you and your loved ones, on that day. It’s not about perfection. So don’t wait for the perfect time to have your photos taken because it doesn’t exist! All I need is an hour of your time spent slowing down and connecting with your special people to give you memories to last a lifetime.
I’m passionate about capturing the details.
Your baby’s wrinkly feet, your hair blowing across his face, her arm around your neck, the sand on his skin, the flowers in her hand. I’m not into smiley, posed family portraits. In fact, I probably won’t even ask you to smile at all. You will do that naturally, as you interact with those you love the most. I might ask you to look this way or that, to reach for each other, to kiss his head, to take a walk. All I’m looking for is connection. If you bring that in abundance, I probably won’t talk that much at all. I’ll just move around you capturing your unique magic as you go.
My photos are natural, immersed in nature or nestled amongst the quirky details of your home.
I will ask you if there is anywhere special to you that would make an ideal location, but I am always very happy to make suggestions. Most importantly, it needs to be a place that you feel comfortable and that speaks to you as a family. Somewhere you like to spend time together and make memories. For example, if you’re not beachy people, please don’t have your photoshoot at the beach! These images will not speak to who you really are.
I love photographing families of all kinds.
I’ve spoken a lot about mums but of course dads, husbands, wives and partners, grandparents and caregivers, biological or otherwise, are all an important part of your family’s story, and they wouldn’t be who they are without you. You are very, very welcome to be involved in the shoot, as much or as little as you wish. We can discuss this further before the shoot.
Let’s make some art!
Is there anything else you’d like to know? Get in touch with me at kirstychisholmcreative@hotmail.com with any other questions you have about my photography sessions, or check out my FAQs page. I’d love the opportunity to document your family and can’t wait to hear from you!