I’m a portrait artist at a real, brick-and-mortar studio on the square in Neosho, MO.
My husband and I have four children- Jack, Clara, Bruce Michael and Charlotte Rose. (The first two kids have middle names, too, but we hardly ever use them because they’re so well-behaved).
In addition to being a children’s photographer at Calotype, I’m also a classical home educator. I teach my children to pursue beauty, goodness and truth.
Pictured: Photographer Julie Stephens (that’s me) with Jack, Clara, Bruce Michael and Charlotte Rose. My husband, Jonathan, took this picture after I set it up and bribed the kids with promises of ice cream and Candy Crush on the laptop. Since Mommy is anti-screen time, this produced BIG SMILES and BRISK COOPERATION.
The truth about life is that is doesn’t stop.
One minute you’re sixteen and wondering who’ll you marry, the next minute you’re looking in the mirror, wondering why your mother is staring back at you.
There have been times, especially when my children were tiny babies, that time seemed to stand still. The nights, specifically, dragged on endlessly. But we made it through, and looking back from the other side I can see how fast it went. Once after a particularly rough night with Clara, who wouldn’t sleep unless she was wedged between me and Jon with all four limbs touching some part of our bodies, I woke up to see her dreamily studying my face and patting my cheek. Mommy may not have been comfortable, but little Clara was highly satisfied with the Humans who ran her world. That realization helped the long night fade away and gave me the energy to go again.
There is so much sweetness in childhood, but too much of it is forgotten. Professional photography is my way to document and preserve the time we’ll never get back. Every Portrait Session I do at the studio is a victory for preserving someone’s family history. I can’t make your nights any better, but I can create a piece of art that helps you constantly remember the purpose behind those sleepless nights.
Like any good thing, there’s resistance when it comes to booking a Session. Here are some recurring concerns I’ve heard:
The kids need haircuts/kids’ pants are too short/nothing matches
I don’t know what to wear
What if I spend all this time planning it and the pictures don’t turn out?
I’m not creative- I don’t have any ideas
I’ve gained too much weight, I don’t want to be in pictures
I will address those questions for you in some of my posts. We started Calotype in 2005, but I began this journal fifteen years later in 2020 so our clients can look into the creative process and learn more about what’s involved in a Portrait Session, whether it’s personal headshots or family photos. It doesn’t have to be hard, it doesn’t have to be Pinterest perfect. My clients are ordinary people with extra-ordinary love for their children, and they know photography is one way to stop the crawl of time.
Follow this journal, and you’ll see how we resolve problems and turn them into happy memories. Keep in mind, some of our Calotype clients are very private so we don’t share any of their images. But the people you see in this journal, on Instagram, YouTube (or our displays around town) have graciously allowed us to share the artwork we’ve created for them so you can learn from their experience. I hope to do this for you, someday!
Feel free to email me and let me know your thoughts!