We were lucky to catch up with Lana Hansen recently and have shared our conversation below.
Lana, 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.
I wish I could say I was the cliche and “I always wanted to be a photographer” but really it just sort of developed. 12 years ago when I had my first child I wanted to soak everything in and remember every tiny detail but there weren’t newborn photographers anywhere near me. So I used my dad’s canon Rebel and from there it felt like a flame had been lit. I loved it. I craved it. I wanted to take more and more pictures! Soon enough I was taking every type of picture from newborns to weddings.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I feel like newborn photography is an art, you pose a little baby, add in blankets and props then bring it to life editing and the outcome is something to be proud of. It’s fun to try new props or new poses and with each baby is a different outcome!
What I like about newborn photography is no matter how perfect the pose turns out, parents will always love them! When compared to other types of photography like weddings or seniors, they have an exact idea of what they want and with newborn photography, even if the pose isn’t neccesarily “correct” parents will think the pictures are perfect because thier baby is the cutest baby on the planet.
I do however, find newborn photography harder than other types of sessions because the baby is in charge and if they don’t want to sleep they wont, or if they don’t want to do a certain pose they won’t. You also have to be extremely careful and watch for cues of blood circulation, open airways, and other cues that the baby is uncomfortble. I have diagnosed two babies with broken collar bones that the doctors didn’t find at birth from picking up on cues from the babies being in pain when putting them in certain poses.
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?
Growing up I wanted to be a “baby doctor.” I was obsessed with babies! I held and played with babies a lot and I come from a big family where I babysat a lot growing up so I feel like I’m pretty good with kids and soothing babies. I think that has helped me know how to handle babies and to stay paient while babies are taking time relaxing into poses or if they aren’t doing what.
I also think not comparing yourself to others is a big piece of advice for someone just starting out, or really even a seasoned photographer. Social media is all about posting the good and not the bad so when you’re comparing your photos to someone, you’re only seeing their best photos. They probably have photos that suck and that they aren’t confident about but social media has taught us that everythig is perfect.
You need to be a people-person. I was more on the shy side and working with people has brought me out of my shell! Working with the public is hard though! You have to be able to handle all types of personalities and know you’ll never be able to please everyone and that’s ok! You’ll have those who love you and those who prefer someone else.
Just be you! Be honest. Be humble.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I feel like one way I’ve become sucessful is by NOT trying to be good at everything. I was at a point in my life where I was taking photos everyday and didn’t have time for my family or friends so I decided to narrow down my photo sessions and become REALLY good at one type of session rather than mediocre at every type. I dropped wedding and and focused on babies and worked really hard at becoming the best photographer I could!
Contact Info:
- Website: lanahansenphotography.com
- Instagram: @lanahansenphoto
- Facebook: Lana Hansen Photography
