My name is Amanda McGhee and I am the owner and photographer of Kimberlin Gray Photography.  (Kimberlin is my mother’s maiden name and Gray was my husband’s grandfather’s name.  We used those names for our children’s middle names, too, before I named my business!).  I have a studio in the Church Point Commons shopping center at the north end of Virginia Beach and specialize in maternity, birth, and newborn portraiture!

I have a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and taught elementary school for 8 years.  When I had my first baby, I realized that teaching full time and caring for my baby was much more difficult than I had thought!  I decided to stay home and wanted to learn how to take better pictures of her…and then my son who was born 3 years later.  What started as a passion turned into an obsession to learn everything I could about how to properly use my camera and take the absolute best pictures I could.  Once my friends (and friends of friends!) started asking me to take their family/kids’ pictures, I decided to try to turn my hobby into a business.  I worked out of my home for the first couple years and then transitioned to a studio when business became more than my little home studio could hold. That was 7 years and hundreds of happy clients ago!

The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that the images I create for people will be preserved and enjoyed by their family for decades. The idea that the images I take could become family heirlooms absolutely makes my heart sing! I am committed to making sure that my clients PRINT what they want to preserve. I want to be sure that their grandchildren have printed products to view and enjoy – not just obsolete technology or Facebook pages. It is such a gift to be able to provide families with these amazing images chronicling the birth of their baby!

I believe that birth photography is a priceless gift for families – especially the mother who has carried and nurtured a precious baby in her womb and through whose body this baby will emerge. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first baby or the fifth – every baby’s birth story is unique and precious. Laboring mothers are often unable to remember details about their labor even the day after. And months or years go by and the details get even more difficult to recall. So birth photography is truly a way to give the gift of memories to families!  Just as important as a mother remembering her birth journey, it is also amazing to be able to share with your child the story of his or her birth.  Showing that child how much he was loved before he was even born and how hard his mama had to work to bring him into the world is an incredible gift to give a child. And being able to see how much love was in the room and how much joy there was at his arrival?  Priceless!

After photographing over 60 birth stories, I have had many families who have shared with me that viewing the images of their birth journey was transformative and healing.  One particular mother labored for many, many hours but did not progress past 4 cm.  Eventually she and her birth team decided it would be safest for her baby to come via cesarean section. When I delivered her birth images, she began to look through them and tears welled up in her eyes.  She got about halfway through and said, “I really did try everything.  I really did!  I had forgotten all of these things.  I’ve been beating myself up thinking that I could have…or should have…done something different.  But I see now that I did everything I could to bring my baby girl safely into the world.”  The power of seeing the images helped her to understand and accept her journey.  It was such an amazing feeling to be able to give her the images because her memory had been so clouded.  It was clouded by exhaustion, it was clouded by emotion, it was clouded by medication, it was clouded by doubt.  And allowing her to see exactly what happened with no judgement or clouded memories helped her to truly see it as it was.  She was able to see the beauty in the story and it totally reframed her outlook on the entire experience.  That is the power of birth photography!  Even for birth journeys that go exactly as planned, the images truly allow parents to see the love they have for each other and the love they have for their child reflected in print.  I would love to see more families have the opportunity to receive this gift!

I think birth is inherently an emotional event.  It has such a perfect storytelling arc – from the build up and the anticipation to the true LABOR of the journey.  Then the climax – the moment of delivery –  brings forward a flood of emotion when parents first see this tiny soul that they have waited nine months to meet.  Finally, the sweet moments of a family soaking in every detail of the newest member of their family bring the story back to its soft beginnings.  Everyone loves a good story – and everyone loves sweet new babies!  Putting those two things together and throwing in a dash of unexpected drama makes for fabulous storytelling and amazing emotion.  I think when people view birth photography stories, they get completely caught up in that journey and can’t help but feel all the emotions!

I have been married for 16 years (!) and have two children. My daughter is almost 10 and my son will turn 7 in just a few months.  They keep us very busy with homework, sports and activities!  I absolutely love to travel and have been many places in my life.  One of my favorite trips was about 3 years ago when my husband and I went on a Mediterranean cruise!   When I’m not photographing or editing, you’ll probably find me hanging out on my couch watching TV with my husband or reading a good book!

I think the most important thing that newly training birth photographers to remember is that someone’s birth is THEIR journey and your job is to quietly, respectfully, and tastefully document it.  There is no room for a photographer’s ego or opinion in the birthing room.  I like to say that I am a ‘fly on the wall’ – seen and not heard.  I go out of my way to make sure that I am respecting the care providers in the room, staying out of the way of both them and the birthing couple, and documenting the events professionally. I make sure that families are comfortable with me and often leave a birth feeling like a friend, but I am careful to not overstep any boundaries or allow myself to get caught up in ‘getting the shot’ at the detriment of the birthing mother. It’s also important to remember that a birth is very much like a wedding in that there are no ‘do-overs’!  If you don’t know how to use your equipment backwards and forwards, I encourage you not to take on birth clients just yet. If someone pays you to document their baby’s birth story, the images should be in focus, clear, tasteful, and exposed properly. Be sure you have both the knowledge and the professionalism to be a part of the birth photography community!