Best Birth Photos 2020 | Competition Winners IAPBP
Well, this is a surreal feeling.
I have been a member of the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers for as long as I have called myself a birth photographer. IAPBP was founded 10 years ago by Lyndsay Stradtner of Life in Motion Photography. Just over 10 years ago birth photography was almost unheard of and I am so proud to be a part of the movement that is cultivating a whole new breed of artists and helping to change the way the world views birth.
For years I have watched the annual birth photography competition come and go, not entering because…DAMN…the competition is fierce!
There is a whole wide world of incredibly talented birth photographers out there. A global collective of artists who spend their lives on call and work in the most difficult lighting conditions imaginable, and make absolute magic.
Afraid to waste the entry fee on images I didn’t think had a chance, I elected to sit out.
This year, sure that I had at least one really strong image, an image that told a story, I decided to enter. But still, I was surprised to see this image titled ‘Denial’ place Best in Fresh 48.
I AM SO PROUD TO SEE MY IMAGE AWARDED
BEST IN FRESH 48 IN THE 10TH ANNUAL COMPETITION
OUT OF 702 ENTRIES FROM 22 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
The Story Behind The Image
The image was taken during a Fresh 48 session at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, FL. This hospital is one of my favorite hospitals for Fresh 48s for its postpartum rooms with abundant natural light. The family and I are good friends (Dad Tim also being an incredible Pensacola wedding photographer)) and the whole session was so very relaxed and undirected. It is always my hope that my clients are so comfortable with me that they just continue on with their routine and interact naturally with each other while I document their moments. Rachel and Tim are so adept at this that it makes them an absolute dream to photograph.
Their oldest daughter, Rosie, while not exactly in denial or upset about her loss of status as the baby of the family, wasn't terribly interested in her one-day-old baby sister (which I find to be the case with most toddlers). In fact, to get her to hold her sister for a picture we had to resort to setting her up in Tim’s lap with Netflix and placing the baby in her arms while she was otherwise occupied.
She was, however, completely enthralled with the hospital room. She inspected everything, took everyone's vital signs with an unattended stethoscope, and finally climbed into the bassinet to cuddle up with her sister's stuffed bear. In reality, this moment was brief. Within minutes she was up again continuing to play with everything she that might not otherwise have been able to had mom not had her hands full (and dad not been at the door chatting with visitors).
I absolutely could not resist wheeling the bassinet around to capture this incredibly sweet moment while Rosie pretended to nap, stuffed into the newborn bassinet as if she were pretending to be a baby, while Rachel fed the baby in the background. I chose to submit this image both for its sweetness and for how it so poignantly addresses some of the anxieties women face as second-time mothers-to-be. The image really tugs at the heart because we all worry about how our babies will cope with a new sibling and the loss of mama's undivided attention. We know exactly how tired we will be and how much of our time will be spent feeding and caring for the baby in those early months. So naturally, we struggle with the idea that our first baby, who is STILL just a baby and has been our whole world until now, might somehow feel less loved. Even though we know that kids are resilient and a mother's love never divides, only grows.
You can see more moments from this Fresh 48 session here: https://www.nataliezepp.com/blog/lily-kate-fresh-48-baptist-hospital-pensacola
ANOTHER IMAGE OF MINE PLACED IN THE TO 20%
While the maximum number of entries is five, after polling my Facebook audience on their favorite images, I only entered three images. I actually meant to enter one more, but mom brain. I would have also entered a 5th, but I realized too late that I didn’t have a signed model release for it, which is a requirement for the competition as winning images are often picked up by multiple news outlets.
I felt pretty good about my three but I am still blown away to have had an image place and very proud to have another in the top 20% of all of the incredible images. Both images are of the same little girl, from different sessions.
So maybe it isn’t me at all and just that I was blessed with a subject who is so full of personality that she creates all of these amazing opportunities to capture beautiful moments. Or maybe I owe it all to her amazing parents who aren’t afraid to let her be herself so that these moments can unfold so naturally in front of the camera. Whatever it is, I’m grateful.
Thanks so much to the judges, the IAPBP team, everyone who participated in helping me to narrow down my image selections, everyone who supports my work, and to my incredible clients who trust me with their most precious memories.
THANK YOU!
For fun, here is the third image that I entered along with the other two I would have entered if it weren’t for mom brain and no model release.
IMAGE COMPETITION HOSTED BY THE
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHERS
If you’d like to find a birth photographer near you, visit birthphotographers.com and use our super easy search engine!
If you’d like to view all the winners of this year’s contest, and all the 702 entries, click below:
(https://birthphotographers.com/2020-birth-photography-image-competition/)
