2017 Spring Breastfeeding Photoshoot - Stillwater, Ok Photography

I decided to create a tradition of sorts around August last year. I have now hosted 3 breastfeeding group photoshoots, and I'm obsessed! I do two each year, one in the spring, and one in August just before World Breastfeeding Awareness week. Here are both of my past shoots: Canola field and Downtown Stillwater. I love seeing all of these gorgeous mamas come and take part in this. Some of the faces are the same, and some of them are new. The reason I started this tradition stems from my own struggles with nursing my two children. The canola post goes into more detail about it, so I won't bore you with details here. Through my struggles, breastfeeding became a muse of sorts. I was only able to nurse my youngest for a very short time, and so I took our time together as inspiration. This time when they are little enough to snuggle up to your breast and hold you in that way is so fleeting. And it deserves to be documented. You deserve to be documented with your child. And what better way to spend that time, than with other women who are experiencing the same things that you are. I can't speak for any of the mamas who participated, but I could definitely feel the sense of camaraderie these women feel for each other. It's a beautiful thing, and I loved every moment of it. 

So the story for this shoot started out about a month or two ago. I had decided I wanted to get all these mamas and their babies in some water. But as you can see, this isn't water. Thanks to all the "lovely" April showers we had, the creek I had picked out (and every other creek around) had flooded pretty bad, making it unsafe for us. So that left me scrambling a little bit. I was looking at my insane schedule, and the weather forecast, and it didn't look good for my creek idea. So instead, I spur of the moment decided we would change locations. I had been out driving a few days before and stumbled upon this gorgeous piece of property. It had old barns and tall grass, and a huge patch of Indian Paintbrushes. I knew it was the perfect spot, and the owner was so gracious to let us use it. And while I'm a bit sad that my vision didn't play out like I had originally thought, it was so much better than I could have hoped for. The weather was perfect, the light was fabulous, and the mamas were GORGEOUS! 

I will be hosting a creek breastfeeding shoot in August when the weather is hotter and hopefully there is less flooding. I can't wait to see some of these mamas and their babies again later this year. And I have a very big idea planned for our spring shoot in 2018. 

Check out all these beautiful mamas and their babes!