50 Essential Portrait Photographers: Rachel Ludwig of Rachel Ludwig Photography

This is our 100th article on VancouverMom.ca!!

Fun tidbits about photographer Rachel Ludwig: her favourite time of day to shoot is in the hour prior to sunset – she loves the beautiful glowy light. She believes that she single-handedly supports her local Starbucks with her regular orders of a non-fat, sugar-free, vanilla earl-gray tea mistos. She loves that through her camera she sees not only outer beauty, but inner beauty as well. Every day as she drives around chauffeuring her kids and running errands, she’s on the lookout for locations to use and dreaming of ideas for her next session.

Rachel Ludwig of Rachel Ludwig Photography

Fun tidbits about photographer Rachel Ludwig: her favourite time of day to shoot is in the hour prior to sunset – she loves the beautiful glowy light. She believes that she single single-handedly supports her local Starbucks with her regular orders of a non-fat, sugar-free, vanilla earl-gray tea mistos. She loves that through her camera she sees not only outer beauty, but inner beauty as well. Every day as she drives around chauffeuring her kids and running errands, she’s on the lookout for locations to use and dreaming of ideas for her next session.

Why did you get into photography?

I originally got into photography through scrapbooking. After the birth of my son 7 years ago, I started scrapbooking and wanted to have better pictures in his albums and our family scrapbooks. Over time I started getting requests to do pictures for friends and family, and in 2006 I officially started Rachel Ludwig Photography. It’s been a fun and crazy ride and I feel lucky to be doing something that I’m so passionate about.

Tell us a bit about your company

It’s a one-woman show around here, but I’m fortunate to have the support and encouragement of my husband to follow my dreams, and my three kids to keep me balanced. I am inspired by the people I photograph and love incorporating the beautiful world around us, whether it’s nature, urban or something in between, into each session. I shoot on location mostly in and around the Fraser Valley.

How would you characterize your style of photography?

My style of photography falls into the lifestyle category and I love to tell stories with the images I take. I feel so blessed that I am invited to document some of life’s most important moments. With my camera in hand, I capture the awe of first-time parents falling in love with their brand new baby, the pure bliss of young children as they run around without a care in the world, and witness love blossoming between young and old. I believe that pictures should be more than just a snapshot, but need tell your story, complete with personalities, relationships and interactions with the ones you love. Being able to freeze that moment in time for someone, makes what I do so amazing.

Who are your clients?

My clients are usually expectant couples, newborns and young families who want to document the exciting life-stages in their growing families. I have the most amazing clients, and one of my favorite aspects of doing what I do, is getting to know the people I photograph. My clients are fun-loving, relaxed and looking for images to tell their story and decorate their home. They usually don’t mind taking some risks to get the perfect shot (and trust me, sometimes a photo shoot can be risky business with tromping through fields to get to the perfect spot, getting peed on by a newborn and the list could go on!!)

What should your mom clients expect when working with you?

Sessions are fun and relaxed. No really! I know lots of family members roll their eyes and complain ferociously when they find out mom (it’s usually mom, but sometimes dad or grandma or….) has booked family pictures. However, by the end of the session I’m getting some high-fives, and although we may have been strangers when we met, we part as friends. When my clients see their images, there’s usually at least one or two tears shed and they can’t wait to share them with family and friends.

When photographing babies and young children I follow the lead and moods of the child. As a mom to three, I’ve seen it all! I know moms can sometimes get uptight about how their child might act or the things they might do during a session, but I can say that I’ve probably seen it all in my own home first and that there is no need to stress. Plus, I happen to have a few tricks up my sleeve 🙂 For newborns, we take lots of breaks for feeding, changing and cuddles. For toddlers and younger children we do fun things like running, jumping, picking flowers and blowing bubbles to keep things entertaining.

About two weeks after the session I post a sneak peek of my favorite images from the session on my website, and the client receives a link to their slideshow and ordering gallery. I create custom storyboards, wall galleries and albums, and I work closely with my clients to make the entire experience from start to finish as easy and enjoyable as possible.