Blog Post- The Business of Babies and Photography
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (our home, actually), my husband and I ran a photography studio. It was a smooth, well-oiled machine. We had our routines, our busy seasons, our moments of creative inspiration. Then, one fateful day, we decided to add another full-time job to our already overflowing plates—we had a baby.
Now, we thought running a business together was a test of teamwork. But nothing, nothing, could have prepared us for the tag-team wrestling match that is running a photography studio while caring for a newborn. And not just any newborn—a newborn with CMPA (Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy) and severe reflux. If there were an Olympic sport for projectile vomiting, our baby would be a gold medalist.
Newborn Meets Peak Season—Surprise!
In true cinematic fashion, our tiny human arrived right before our busiest season. While other photographers were knee-deep in golden-hour sessions, we were knee-deep in muslin cloths and regretfully underestimating the amount of laundry a baby could generate.
At first, we thought we could handle it all. After all, we’re business owners! We thrive under pressure! We’re creative problem-solvers! But when you’re surviving on three hours of broken sleep and your child is redecorating your entire wardrobe with vomit, that confidence starts to wobble.
The Great Formula Experiment
If you’ve ever tried to find the right formula for a baby with CMPA and reflux, you know that it’s a bit like playing a game show called Which Milk Won’t Ruin Your Night?
First, there was Cow & Gate. Nope, rejection by the tiny overlord. Then Nutramigen—nope, still projectile. Enter Alfamino, the hypoallergenic superhero… which our baby sniffed, tasted, and promptly spat out like a Michelin-starred food critic rejecting an undercooked scallop.
Each new formula brought fresh hope and, inevitably, fresh laundry. And of course, with every new formula came a new medicine or thickener: Baby Gaviscon (too clumpy), Carobel (too gloopy), Omeprazole (took ages to work). We basically turned our kitchen into a science lab, testing various concoctions to see what would keep the milk inside the baby. Spoiler: nothing worked immediately.
Where We Shoot, and Baby… Shoots
To keep our business rolling, we continued to bring our pop-up studio to baby classes. Sounds lovely, right? Adorable babies, soft lighting, happy parents. That’s the Instagram version. The reality? Trying to pose someone else’s cherubic bundle of joy while your own baby explodes like an overfilled water balloon in the background.
We quickly learned that every session needed a battle plan: one of us would be on photographer duty, while the other played defence against the ever-looming threat of an impromptu milk geyser. It was all going (semi) smoothly until the day our baby decided to dramatically projectile vomit across a set right as I was taking a photo of another baby. Let’s just say Photoshop has seen some things.
Business, Marriage, and a Baby That Runs the Show
People say running a business with your spouse is tough. They say having a newborn is exhausting. They say dealing with CMPA and reflux is overwhelming. What they don’t say is what happens when you combine all three into one high-stakes, sleep-deprived adventure.
Would we change it? Absolutely not. Okay, maybe just the laundry part. And the vomit. And the part where we had to become milk chemists overnight. But our baby? He’s the most beautiful, unpredictable, hilarious addition to our little photography empire.
We may not have figured out the perfect balance yet, but we have mastered the art of dodging baby vomit while capturing the perfect shot. And really, isn’t that the true mark of success?