We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Helen Kachkova. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Helen below.
Helen, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
My love story for photography began a long time ago. I was born in Belarus, in the beautiful city of Minsk. As a child, my friend and I loved developing film and taking photographs. I still have many black and white photographs to remember those times.
Years passed, but my love for photography remained with me. At that time I had not yet realized my hobby as a future profession. Upon entering university, I received a bachelor’s degree in law. Many years later, I began a family. My husband and I have 2 children. With the birth of my youngest daughter, I realized that I endlessly photographed her and my amateur photos brought me and our entire family great pleasure, as well as the process of photographing itself. That’s when I decided to change my profession. My husband’s support was essential. He encouraged me when I thought I couldn’t do it. After graduating from photography school, I took on all types of photo sessions: family, love stories, pregnancy photo sessions and I liked everything!
I was able to finally decide on the direction of photography only 8 years ago with the birth of my friend’s daughter. She asked me to take a photo of her newborn daughter. And it turned out to be very challenging. Without training in this type of photography, getting an excellent result was unrealistic. A newborn photographer must learn the correct posing of the baby, the right angles, as well as how to handle the baby. Thanks to my friend for that invaluable experience and sorry for those photos lol:)) They were frankly not very good.
Since then, I have attended numerous master class trainings. I’ve performed many newborn photo shoots, more than 1000 and, I’ve won many international awards. I opened my own photography studio and even taught the art of newborn photography to many students.
Photography is one of the most difficult areas of creativity. And photography of newborns is even more difficult. In addition to creativity and imagination, the newborn photographer must be able to get along with the newborn. The newborn may be hungry, cold or not in the good mood, the newborn may not want to sleep or lie still. Dealing with newborns requires calm and patience.
After a photo shoot (sometimes it can last 4 hours) I am physically tired. However, mentally I rest and get a huge boost of energy from contact with little clients and from enthusiastic reviews from parents. They say I work miracles. However, I cannot agree with them. A newborn baby is a miracle! This is a true and beautiful miracle. And I only help capture it because I understand how important it is. Children grow very quickly and photographs help preserve pleasant memories from the arrival of a new family member.
Newborn babies are incredibly photogenic and different from each other. Each has its own facial expressions and its own character. And I, as an artist, can create a portrait of their newborn child as a keepsake for parents.
For me, photography is a hobby for which clients pay me 🙂 LOL. I often remember the Confucius quote “Find something you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” It’s about me . I found something I really liked. I see my destiny to be
creator The creator of beautiful, priceless newborn portraits that delight a huge number of families and make them happy!
At the same time, I understand perfectly well that every photographer must continuously improve himself and improve his skills. I do not stop in self-development and in my creativity, I am constantly looking for new ideas, and sometimes I even create outfits for my newborn models myself.
I would like to wish all readers to find your favorite thing that you will love with all your heart. Don’t be afraid to change your field of activity and remember that continuous self-development is the key to success.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My family and I recently moved to the United States. I love America and sunny Florida. Now I live and work in Sarasota. My photography studio for newborns is also here. I love Photographing newborns because I understand how important this special time for every family. I get great pleasure from working with newborns. They are the cutest models in the world! I also really love creating outfits for photo shoots. I am inspired by natural colors.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think my main quality is kindness. A newborn photographer must be kind. My Little Models feel it. Secondly, persistence. I don’t like to leave things halfway. If I decide to start something, I will see it through to the end. My perfectionism is also important. It pushes me to improve myself.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I must say that the biggest challenge and difficulty this year was learning English. My level of English a year ago was practically zero because I studied French at school and German at university. Now my English is much better thanks to ESOL classes in college.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bestnewbornphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/best_newborn_photo?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Image Credits
Helen Kachkova
