Lauren Honza uses tricks she knows from being a mom to help her photograph 7-month-old Trey MacDonald with his mom Rhea. (Photo by Lauren Honza)

When shooting a distractible 7-month-old like Trey MacDonald, portrait photographer Lauren Honza has a few tricks up her sleeve.

“I do bubbles. I do bribes. We sing songs. We tell jokes. There’s lots of different things to interact with the kids,” says Honza.

And when Trey gets fussy and can’t take another minute of being in the camera’s eye, Honza knows it’s time to take a break and get a snack.

She is one of the many local photographers who also are mothers — professionals who simultaneously use their artistic eye and motherly know-how to get portraits of kids in their natural setting.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, photographers held 152,000 jobs nationwide in 2008, and more than half were self-employed. And it seems that a growing number of them are women. A membership survey done by the Professional Photographers of America showed that nearly 50 percent of the 2,500 members who responded were female and that number has grown every year, according to Angela Wijesinghe, marketing specialist for PPA. Of those women, more than 75 percent specialize in family and children’s photography and do not work in a retail studio, Wijesinghe said.

Such a career is perfect for mothers who want to stay home with their kids.

“It seems that many moms find this as a great career to move into because of their love for photography and from their experience photographing their kids … as well as the flexibility it provides,” says Kristina Rust who, along with Tina Case, owns and manages MomsWhoClick.blogspot.com, a photography website and online community for photographer-moms. MomsWhoClick, as well as other such sites, have been growing in popularity, says Rust. This suggests that more moms are entering the market.

A resident of Arbutus, Honza, who is mom of a 4-year-old and 8-month-old, had been an amateur photographer since high school but worked as an elementary school teacher until her kids were born. After she started taking pictures of her own kids, she decided to take her photography skills to the next level.

When she was getting started, she used connections from her father, who is a pediatrician, as well as friends and family to help build her business. Now she gets enough clients from her mom connections and from word of mouth to keep her plenty busy.

“I really just enjoy it,” Honza says. “I like working from home.”

Of course, it isn’t always easy. Her own kids want attention, and “it’s hard to run a business at home,” she admits. Each shoot requires hours of additional work, from editing the photos to shipping them.

“My poor kids get dragged to the post office constantly,” she says.

Back at Trey’s photo shoot, Honza asks parents Brent and Rhea MacDonald if he would be happy on his belly. She often consults the parents, getting their opinion about position, wardrobe, places to shoot, and even stops at one point for the model to have a snack.

Being a mom helps her understand the stages that the kids go through and makes her more comfortable with her subjects.

“It helps to have gone through it yourself,” she says.

Amy Donahue, a Catonsville mother of three kids ages 2, 5 and 6, is another photographer and stay-at-home mom. She majored in photography in college, worked as a photographer for a newspaper and taught photography before having kids. Now she works from home doing all kinds of photography from weddings to family and child portraits.

Donahue said she likes her job because it’s never boring.

“I don’t think I’d enjoy it so much if I didn’t have kids,” she says. “You have to be super candid and really able to shoot any moment.”
This is one reason that some parents choose an independent portrait photographer over a studio at the mall. Though it can be more expensive — Donahue starts at $75 and Honza at $150 — parents say it is worth it to preserve their kids’ images in a way that is natural and unique.

The MacDonalds wanted a more one-on-one, personal experience.

“You’re going to get the real Trey here, more than you would at a third party location,” says Brent.

Honza captured great shots of Trey laughing with mom and dad and playing in his crib before the session was through. Honza was constantly moving around to find new spots to shoot in the MacDonalds’ home.

Honza and Donahue both do a lot of shooting outside as well.

“I love the lighting for starters,” Donahue says of outside, and she prefers the natural feel of those pictures over plopping kids in front of a screen.

Not being attached to a studio allows photographers like Honza and Donahue to capture children racing around the woods, exploring a duck pond and just being kids out in the open.

“I think the kids like it, to be able to go to the park and play,” says Honza, and “not just sit still in one area.”

Of course, kids are unpredictable, and even the most gorgeous setting and the most clever distractions may not be enough to keep them smiling. When that happens, it may be time to reschedule, or it may be an opportunity to capture a different mood.

“It doesn’t bother me because I have kids, I know how quickly it can change,” says Honza.

What she gets can be anything from funny faces to crying to smiles.

Donahue agrees adding, “none of these are bad to me, they’re just part of the kid.”

Tips for Getting Great Shots of Your OwnKids

* Amy Donahue advises taking the kids outside in the natural light, since it is hard to get a good picture inside without a really good lens and flash. Find a fun outfit and take them somewherefun.

* With kids, “you want the light on the eyes, you don’t want the eyes in shade,” says Donahue, “I get the kid to look up at me.”

* “Pay attention to lightshadow,” Honza says. “Outside you’ll do better to shoot in the shade because you won’t get as many shadows.” If inside, shoot near any open window to capture light coming in.

* “Try not to use the on-camera flash because it’s awful,” Honza says.

* Camera speed is key, says Honza, so rather than using a point and shoot you may want to invest in a faster, more professional SLR (single lens reflex) camera. “The moment is gone in a heartbeat. If you use a camera that has a delay when you press the shutter, you’re not going to get it,” she says.

* Honza recommends Smarties as bribes: they are small and not dyed enough to stain the teeth.