At the birth of my children, I gained tremendous amounts of respect for all mothers. If every man in the world was to watch a natural birth, all mothers would be more appreciated and the world would be a better place.
I’ve been blessed to photograph a couple of natural births, one in a hospital (seen here) and one in a home. I didn’t photograph the birth of my own children, as my wife wanted my full attention and support.
At the home birth I even became a doula, that is, I provided non-medical support during the labour, the birth, and the postpartum period. Doula in Greek means female slave; I can be OK with being called female, but I’m not too excited about the slave part.
If you don’t believe in magic, attend a birth. Or better yet, attend a natural birth. You will experience magic.
When photographing a birth, respect comes first. I also choose to photograph with black-and-white film, as it occurs to me as poetry. If there’s a place where the photographer needs to be invisible, it’s in the birthing room. And at the same time, one has to mentally create a safe space for the child to be born into. When necessary, put the camera down and help.
I have great respect for midwives and doulas as well. That’s why I volunteered to take portraits for the Santa Barbara Birth Center. I also was part of a performance with my friend and doula Virginia Bobro, at the Yoga Soup. She pretended to be pregnant (with a realistic fake belly) and I was the clueless father not knowing what to do during labor. Then, like magic, I switched personalities and became a very supportive father/husband. We were supposed to show the crowd what a difference a father can make in the birthing room, just by being present and creating eye contact with the mother. Virginia did such a great job that I thought she was really going to give birth to “our baby” in front of all those people. I was to be part of an immaculate conception with the wife of my friend! Weird.
After this off-the-wall story, I’ll leave you with some photos of a natural birth with midwife Judy Nichols, back when Cottage Hospital allowed midwives to work alongside their nurses. Now, if you want to have a midwife-supported birth in Santa Barbara, you’ll have to do it at home, or hold the baby in until the Santa Barbara Birth Center opens later this year.
Another thing Another favorite activity is looking at wedding photos. Yesterday, I lost myself in the photo album from a wedding I photographed last September. It was great to revisit them. They made me feel good, and I even found some five-star photos which originally I had only rated with one star.
I’m a big fan of natural births. At the birth of my children, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for all mothers. If every man was to witness a natural birth, the world would be a better place. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to take photos at the 
There are many great wedding photographers in Santa Barbara. I trust Lynette La Mere, from Pure Joy Catering, to have picked 
