I’ve had a “big girl” camera since my oldest was born, twenty years ago. For most of that time, it lived on full auto and came out for birthdays, holidays, the occasional “everyone stand together and pretend to like it” family photo. A hobby, nothing more. I never once looked through that viewfinder and thought, this is going to become my career. Never once thought: this is what is going to launch me into becoming your Grand Rapids Newborn photographer.
Then, five years ago, my youngest arrived, right as the world was creakily trying to remember how to be normal again after the pandemic. I don’t know if it was coincidence or some collective nervous system still on high alert, but I was gripped by this fierce anxiety about taking my brand new baby out into the world. We’d hired a wonderful local newborn photographer for my last two kids, someone whose work I genuinely admired. But the idea of packing everyone up and leaving the house? It felt like too much.
So I told my husband, half as a joke and half dead serious: I’ll just do it myself.
I did not just do it myself.
The Beginning Was Rough. Rough-Rough.
“Myself,” it turned out, meant starting from absolute zero. I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of every newborn photography tutorial that existed, which — back then — wasn’t many. Newborn photography felt like a small, slightly mysterious guild that wasn’t exactly handing out membership cards. A random late-night search led me to Hello Little Props — this is where the obsession quietly began, though I didn’t know it yet. A couple of backdrops came home with me first. Then a light off Facebook Marketplace, which turned out to be dramatically more powerful than I needed. My posing tools were rolled-up socks. I had more confidence than I’d actually earned.
It took days — actual days, not a cute exaggeration — to walk away with five images I’d call acceptable. Even then, I knew they weren’t good. But something about the process cracked something open in me. That crack has quietly rerouted every decision I’ve made since, starting with the fact that I didn’t stop at one session.
Images of my son and my very first newborn session 😂
From One Session to a Full-Blown Obsession
I didn’t stop, is the short version. Next came free newborn sessions for any friend or family member who’d let me practice on their baby, all in the name of building something that resembled a portfolio. Eventually it became obvious that YouTube and sheer stubbornness had taken me as far as they could, so I started investing in real education, online courses, in-person mentoring, the whole thing: posing, lighting, safety. My work actually started looking like work, not a hopeful accident.
That shift , from hopeful accident to something real, is what pushed me toward the scariest part. Opening the business itself wasn’t really a decision so much as a cliff I decided to jump off. The alternative was quietly reselling all the gear I’d bought and admitting defeat, and by that point I was far too obsessed to consider it.
My first paying client is still crystal clear in my memory. That entire booking process, I held my breath — a habit, I’ll admit, I still haven’t fully kicked. Years later, I’m still photographing that same family, and I’m endlessly grateful someone took a chance on me before I’d proven a single thing.
Why Newborns, Specifically
That kind of all-in obsession doesn’t happen by accident. I don’t think it would’ve happened for just any niche. I niched into newborn work because it’s genuinely what I love, full stop. From day one, I believed that if I was going to own a business, it needed to be something I actually cared about, not just something profitable. It’s the same advice I give my own kids whenever they start agonizing over career choices. Every Grand Rapids newborn photographer probably has their own story for why they landed here; this happens to be mine.
I’m still chasing the perfect image, despite being fairly convinced it doesn’t exist. There’s always something new to learn. A different tiny personality to figure out. A familiar pose that suddenly looks different in a new light. Five years and hundreds of babies in, that chase hasn’t lost a bit of its pull.
The Doubt Never Fully Leaves. I’ve Made Peace With That.
That chase is what keeps me in it — but it doesn’t mean the work itself is easy. I still have days where I wonder if the hustle is worth it — running a business is genuinely hard, and some days it wins the argument. But without fail, the second I’m in a session, actually in the room with a family and their brand new baby, that doubt evaporates. My passion for this work gets rebuilt from scratch, every single time.
What I Want You to Know
That’s the loop, five years running: doubt, then a session, then remembering exactly why I’m here. If you’re pregnant, or currently holding your own newborn, and any of this sounds familiar, the anxiety, the overwhelm, the not-quite-sure-what-I’m-doing-but-doing-it-anyway of it all, I want you to feel seen in it. Supported in whatever your version of “surviving these early days” looks like.
And honestly, I hope you finish this feeling like you know me a little better than you did five minutes ago. That’s really the whole point: showing up for families the way others showed up for me.
If you’re local to Grand Rapids and thinking about newborn photos of your own, I’d love to be part of your story too. Reach out anytime to talk about booking a session with your Grand Rapids newborn photographer.
xoxo
Jackie
