Portraits at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington

There are moments in my business when I get that “full circle feeling” and my experience with the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington is certainly one of them.

Seven years ago, just weeks after my son was born I was having difficulties breastfeeding and found myself sitting down with Pat Shelley, founder of the center and lactation consultant to new moms. Upon Pat’s suggestion, I joined a weekly support group at the center where I met with many other like-minded moms. The group continued for several months and the women I met became my friends and my first group of clients when I later launched my family photography business.

During that time, I also met Linsey Silver, graphic designer and current board member at the center. Linsey and I crossed paths in the support group and quickly discovered a shared desire to give back to this center that had helped us both immeasurably. She offered her graphic design prowess, I contributed my photography skills, and together we redesigned the center’s website. A few years later, Linsey approached me about decorating their new classroom space with my photography and I donated several large prints which still grace the walls there.

Over the past several years, they’ve added many more staff members and are offering more services than ever before. While they’ve steadily upgraded their website again, the needed staff’s photos to go along with the site’s new fresh look. Thanks to our longstanding relationship, I was invited to take new professional headshots of their staff.

So, at the end of February I gathered together with the center’s team members and snapped away new portraits of each one. By the end of the afternoon, everyone’s cheeks were tired of smiling and everyone had a new headshot – from the lactation consultants, to the class instructors and the board members. This is an exceptional team of individuals, all providing much needed support and guidance to breastfeeding moms (and dads too). And while there are many new faces that have been added in the last seven years, the spirit of the team and the mission has remained very much in tact since the days I joined my first mom support group. Here’s a sample of the images and you can check out the rest on the center’s website.

In the upcoming months, that “full circle feeling” will continue as I will be taking photos of their breastfeeding classes, which will be displayed on their website and in promotional materials. But that’s not the only collaborative project we have on the calendar. Here’s what’s coming up:

• Two upcoming Snap Happy classes hosted at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington on July 11th from 1-3 PM and on the Feb. 13th from 1-3 PM
• A big giveaway at the end of the year to help promote the center’s end-of-year fundraising efforts (stay tuned for more details)
• The publication of lots of useful photo-related content that will be targeted to new moms and published on Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington Facebook Page

As any new mom can attest to, navigating the first months of motherhood and the challenges of breastfeeding can be an overwhelming time. My experience at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington and the women I met there made a big difference in my life and donating my photography to them has been a pleasure and a small way of making a difference to a service I cannot recommend highly enough.