Interview with Brittany Woodall of Baby as Art

I was beyond thrilled when Baby as Art agreed to interview with us on the bloom forum. No one does newborn photography like Carrie and Brittany do. Their work is so inspiring and so outside the box. A big thanks to Brittany for answering our questions. We also asked Carrie if she would answer one specific question for us about balancing work and family, and she agreed!

Brittany, Will you start off by both telling us a little about yourself?

Hi I’m Britt and I’m 25 years old. I live in Southern California with my two Whippet doggies Gracie and Ollie. I have a wonderful boyfriend who is constantly taking me along on some of his wild adventures. We love to camp with the pups as often as we can. I’m originally from Georgia- born and raised, but you would never know! I have no accent to speak of- no pun intended! I moved to California about five years ago to collaborate with Carrie Sandoval. I first got into photography when I was in middle school. I saved up my summer’s babysitting money and spent it on a 1mp digital camera. I was instantly in love. Over the years I continued to take TONS of photographs of just about anything I could, but most of the time I was photographing the kids I nannied for in the neighborhood. I never actually intended on being a “photographer”. It just sort of happened that way. The families who I photographed for began putting my photographs on their walls and before long I was getting phone calls for photography sessions- not babysitting! I began my business officially during my senior year of high school and I did it on the side through College. I was actually going to school to be a nurse, but before I began nursing school I decided that photography was really where my heart was. And that’s what I have been doing ever since! I actually never took a photography class. I’m completely self taught. It was a slow progression, but I never gave up. I learned from every mistake I made and I found my perfectionist tendencies to be a huge asset when it came to bettering my photography skills on my own. Books from the library and, of course, the internet were wonderful tools which helped me progress along. I wasn’t always a newborn photographer- it totally happened over time. I always knew that newborns were my favorites to photograph. It was something about that fresh, new life that was completely inspiring to me! Over time I just took on more newborns than any other session and here I am today with a clientele base that is 95% newborns! I love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

How did you guys get together to become Baby as Art?

I initially met Carrie via a online photography sharing forum. We instantly had a connection, because of our love for photographing newborns. Back then photographing newborns isn’t even close to as popular as it is today. No one did it. In fact, most photographers seemed to dread their newborn sessions. Carrie and I didn’t though! in 2006 Carrie had her fourth baby, Lily. I went out and visited with her for two weeks and photographed her along with Carrie. We thoroughly enjoyed teaming up together to photograph her. We found that having four sets of hands, and more, two creative brains, greatly enhanced our creativity. Two years later I told Carrie that I wanted to move out to California and work with her full time. Almost immediately after I moved out to California and started photographing along with Carrie I noticed that our creativity exploded. We were constantly brainstorming and always looking for new inspiration. The inspiration flow hasn’t stopped yet. We are constantly trying to push ourselves creatively and I hope it shows in our work!

What is your most favorite part of being newborn photographers? Do you have a least favorite thing?

I love photographing newborns, because I love almost everything about them! They are such unique little people and I love that my job consists of holding and photographing beautiful brand new babies. I couldn’t ask for a better job! My least favorite part is probably getting pooped or peed on. I know that’s gross, but when they don’t have diapers on accidents are bound to happen and usually it happens on me. I learned a long time ago to never wear my favorite shirt to a session! Ha!

I have found with newborn photography, that parents aren’t always educated about the best time to photograph their newborn when they contact me. Do you only shoot newborns before a certain age, and how do you convince your clients that newer is better?

Our website is set up, so that potential clients must contact us with their contact information and due date in order to obtain our information packet which contains our prices. Our studio manager then contacts the potential client to discuss our information packet with them and gives the parents vital information about how to get the best results from their session. Our studio manager definitely reiterates the importance of doing sessions at around a week old. She lets them know that as the baby gets older it will be more difficult to obtain the poses and set ups they are wanting to capture of their baby.

To read the rest of the wonderful interview, including Carries answer to balancing work and home, head over to the forum! Thanks so much Brittany for being so open for us!

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