If you’re not familiar with Lynsey Stone, take a trip over to Google and you will see that she is widely recognized as being one of the best, if not the best birth photographer out there. She is certainly the most popular, receiving recognition from National Geographic, Midwifery Today, Improving Birth, BirthPhotographers.com, Squat Magazine, and praise for her photos can be seen on countless blogs all over the web. She has a wonderful talent for capturing the rawness, the joy, the pain, the LOVE and the beauty of birth. Dads crying, moms working hard for their babies, grandparents and siblings meeting the new baby, that other-worldly space traveler gaze newborns have… you name it and she is an expert at capturing it. After the first birth she photographed (a surprise baby girl named Cedar) she has gone on to immortalize precious moments for families in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for over 5 years. I was curious to gain some insight about her stunning work and I feel very privileged to have been granted an interview with the famed photographer.
Were you always interested in becoming a birth photographer or is this something you sort of stumbled into?
When I started doing this there was no such thing as a “birth photographer” so it was definitely not something I set out to do, it just sort of fell into my lap! I already had a strong interest in childbirth because of my own history with my children ~ my 1st child was born by cesarean and then my 2nd and 3rd by VBAC and home waterbirth. *Birth* was one of my favorite things, 2nd only to photography! After Cedar was born I went home and told my husband that I wished I could do that again ~ it was so exciting for me to be able to combine 2 things that I loved so much! We never thought I would actually get paid to go to a birth and take pictures again though. The very next month, however, I was contacted again! My business grew slowly the 1st year, but I seemed to meet all the right people and had a lot of support from the birth professionals I worked with.
Do you have a favorite type of birth (waterbirth, for example)?
I don’t really have a favorite type of birth… I do love waterbirths because they are so beautiful, I love cesareans because I enjoy being able to capture something for the family that they might not be able to otherwise see being behind the drape and not having as much immediate contact with their baby. I really love the variety of different birth experiences. I am not a childbirth snob.
Do you have children? If so, did you have a photographer at your births?
I have 4 children, they are 13, 9, 6 and 2. I did not have an official photographer at any of my births. With my youngest I did have 2 friends come and take some pictures for me, but typically I am too private to want very many people around. I would never hire a professional. 
What do you love most about attending and photographing births?
I LOVE trying to take beautiful pictures that will enhance the mothers feelings about her birth. I feel like they can be such a blessing, especially for some women whose experiences didn’t go exactly as planned.
What do you think is the best photograph you have ever taken – birth or otherwise? Do you have a favorite picture or memory from the births you have attended?
I don’t know that I have *one* favorite picture ~ I usually have several favorites from each birth I go to! I know that the women that follow my work definitely have a favorite though ~ it is a photo of a husband and wife, the husband is catching the baby and the wife has her head thrown back screaming. Most people, when they see the photo, assume that she is screaming in pain or terror, but what they don’t realize is that she actually screamed “I love you baby” as he was being born. Click here to view photo.
One of my favorite memories is from this past January. The mother was pregnant with twins and planning a birth center birth. The father was away at para-rescue training, I believe, and wasn’t able to leave to come home until her labor began. Watching her labor in the birth pool, pray for her husband to arrive before the babies were born, and thank God for these 2 precious children was one of the most moving, humbling, beautiful experiences of my entire life. The paternal grandmother had picked the dad up from the airport after he flew in and everyone was texting back and forth as they drove closer to the birth center. The entire birth center staff, all of the family, the photographer, EVERYONE was in tears as he pulled up, ran inside and embraced his wife. Very shortly after, she began pushing and delivered the 1st of the twins, a son.
What do you do in order for a woman to feel comfortable with your presence? Do you try to stay out of sight or diffuse your energy?
I do try to stay very quiet and out of sight when I am at births. I prefer to not even move around much, but that doesn’t often work out very well. I know what I prefer when I am in labor so I keep that in mind when I am at others.
What is the best compliment you have ever received about your work – either from a mother or a fan?
I have been told a few times from clients who didn’t have their ideal birth experience that their photos were the “highlight” of their births ~ that looking through the pictures they were able to see what was beautiful about it, how hard they worked, the support they had… This means a lot to me because I have also had a particularly disappointing birth experience and only wish I had something to help me see the good in it.
Do you have an idea of where you would like to take your work in the future, or are you just going where the wind blows you?
I would like to continue to do birth photography as far into the future as possible, but I hope the wind blows me far away from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and all over the entire world!
And for a fun one, what is the cutest baby name you have ever heard?
Mina Salome!
A BIG thank you to Lynsey Stone for this interview and for what she does for women and families.
You can check Lynsey out online here and here.
Musings of a Moongazer 