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Missoula Maternity Photography. Belly. Missoula Mama. Pregnancy

Missoula Birth Photographer. & Maternity

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Jessica was one of my very first Maternity clients. I was running a Henna belly- photography event at Missoula’s local – Lotus Project. This building no longer exists but the resource and energy to provide expecting mamas with all local birth recourses does. Classes and events that were provided through the Lotus Project space were free or fairly cheap. Tracy Topp partnered up with me to provide beautiful henna art. Tracy lives in Arlee, MT and her main work is homeschooling her kids and she is the wife and support drummer behind her husband the well known Matthew Marsolek- THE DRUM BROTHERS MISSOULA.  I will need to dig up some of these images just to show you how amazing Tracy is.

Jessica was one of the first mamas through the door and she brought along her husband, Jonathan, as well. They had great energy. I was thrilled to be photographing them. They had no problem being photographed and seemed to easily slip into intimate spacing and emit that energy in front of the camera. To my delight Jessica booked a follow up Maternity session for the next week. They wanted the full session experience. I chose the Historic Missoula Mercantile. This building was currently up for sale, but I was able to contact the realtor and he allowed me access, at my own risk, to use the space for the session. This old building 139 years old, falling apart, hard wood floors, large windows- was breathtaking. Jessica & Jonathan took to the stage and we created some epic images.

Jessica went on to hire me as their birth photographer- twice, their wedding photographer and family portrait photographer.

In August 2017 I am honored to join this couple a third time as they welcome another baby earth side!

I felt Jessica needed a maternity session like no other we had done before. I had a crazy idea to travel and travel early. I wanted to head to water, and warm water so I could ask Jess to hang out, pose and not be tortured. We headed out with a 4:45 a.m. start time, 1.5 hour drive, 1.5 mile hike in and…..gorgeous hot springs. Jessica and I have messaged each other a few times since the session reflecting on how worth it was to get going that early and mostly the drive time we had to mama chat, uninterrupted as we never do. Jessica and her family are tender to my heart. We are friends, birth united us.

 

Missoula Professional Birth Photographer.

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When a dad reviews my page, it is the biggest compliment. Dads may see things through a different filter than mom. See birth and babies just a bit differently. And it was a wonderful surprise to hear this Dad’s review-

Jenna did an amazing job capturing the beauty and power of birth.- Joel Patton

Short and to the point. Two words: Beauty & Power. This is it. This Dad was able to see the beauty and power that was captured. My job here is done.

The joy of his daughter’s arrival lingered in his smile for hours following the delivery.

Birth. What it is. Missoula Birth Photographer

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Birth just IS. I have to start with that. The world of Professional Birth Photography is so tricky. Tricky in terms of what to post, how to crop. How will my images be received by society? Wow. Consider the workflow of a birth photographer. The added element of risk and judgement a birth photographer takes on surpasses – I believe all other forms of photography. We, risk being banned on social media platforms for sharing images of birth. Birth images are repeatedly kicked out of photography competitions trying to reason that said images might offend the overall audience. Birth photographers are constantly assessing their market to determine what types of birth images will be accepted or recoiled at.

Just think about that for a moment. If someone were to recoil at a birth image, doesn’t that speak volumes about that individual and their view of birth versus the artist? I say so. Looking at the big picture. – Society has yet to accept birth completely- accept women and our right to birth in a manner we choose, in a place that we choose (?)Yes, we are making waves in the community. There are more and more pockets of humans that love and appreciate birth and the sharing of the journey through images. We still have a long way to go.

This year 2017. I am unwilling to keep stunning birth images a “secret”. I will love what I do with complete abandon. Birth IS. I cannot risk stifling my passion and a women’s birth story for the sake of possibly offending some one individual. And maybe, just maybe…the more we start to look–really look at birth we all will be more accepting, uplifting, and empowering of women.