Women Empowerment Through Maternity Photos
Nicole Peguero is the woman behind Mia Monroe Photography. She offers glorious queen-like maternity pictures and a moment of beauty and empowerment to pregnant women wanting to remember that time of their lives forever. She talked to us about her journey towards her art.
“I never ever thought that I would be a photographer. I never went to school for photography, never took a photography class. I kind of stumbled into it” starts Nicole when talking about her new and highly successful photo studio, Mia Monroe Photography.
Mia Monroe Photography specializes in glorious, goddess in gold queen-like maternity photos. Her style is all about beauty, empowerment and an unforgettable moment.
A background in art and a camera
Nicole has always been big into art. She was a portrait drawer and a painter. But everybody told her that there wasn’t any money in those things. She actually went to school for pre-med.
But one year, her husband bought her a camera. It all started from there, 5 years ago. As a hobby, taking pictures of her first daughter. Who the photo studio is now named after.
Nicole was doing family pictures, a lot of outdoor settings. She had no idea about lighting, no idea about anything.
“Having a background in art and painting has been really helpful for me, to grow so quickly in studio work. At least I already knew how light should look” she laughs. “I just had to figure out the technical part of it. But once I got that down, it all came pretty naturally to me”.
The technical part was acquired through free Youtube videos and Facebook groups, watching people with the same material as her. “From there it’s just basically trial and error, just practicing with it”.
From friend’s families portraits to Professional Photographer
The jump to career was made gradually. Friends started asking her to take their family pictures outside. She would charge them 20 or 50 bucks and would get them all the pictures. Nicole has been familiar with Photoshop since high school, thanks to her art interest. It got perfected by Youtube videos as well, anything for free, because “buying a camera was already pretty expensive. It was an expensive hobby”.
From friends it got to be friends of friends. Everything was word of mouth for a while. It snowballed from there. Nicole got on social media only recently.
The step to “professional photographer” was a big one. “I’ve never been comfortable charging people for something that I feel is not at my best yet. I always made sure to get better at it first. Let me do a few more “practice runs”, 50 dollars sessions. It took me a long time to call myself a professional photographer” reflects Nicole, still hardly believing it now.
The turning point: photos as art pieces
For her, the turning point came when she started doing maternity photos, with the gowns and everything. Making it more into a creative piece, that’s when it changed.
It all started with a vision she had in her head of a photo. A vision that her friend Isabel, now her full-time hair and make-up artist, helped bring to life. Another friend of hers, pregnant at the time and “absolutely gorgeous”, accepted to model for it.
“We did the gold one, the first of the queen creative style one, and it went really well. The pictures came out really good, exactly what I had envisioned”. From there it just really took off, she found her niche, what she wanted to do.
“That’s what I love doing. Taking photos like art pieces, because that’s what I originally wanted to do. Once I figured that out, it all changed for me. Especially when I got a studio light, and started working indoors, where I could really become creative, then I really started loving it” she smiles, looking back.
At first, Nicole didn’t have her own space. “I was just a traveling gypsy photographer” she chuckles. “I would find spaces, rent them out and just throw all my stuff in my van and just kind of shoot where I could, it was horrible, I don’t want to do that again”. She just signed her lease on her very own studio last July.
A Statement Piece: Empowerment Through Maternity Photos
For Nicole, one of the reasons for her success is that her photos are different from what you would normally get. Usually, maternity sessions are kind of outdoors, boho style.
“My clients like that my photos are different. I also think that these ones are more displayable. It’s something that you would want to put over in your house. It’s more of a statement piece”.
“It’s just a big confidence boost to feel like that. Especially during pregnancy, when you don’t feel very beautiful. Seeing yourself in such a beautiful light is really uplifting ”
They love their picture of that time in their life. “You’re never going to be pregnant with that baby again, you won’t have that moment again. Especially for people who had a hard time getting pregnant, or it may be it’s their first or, last, pregnancy. Being pregnant is going to change your life completely. And you want to remember”.
For Nicole, her favorite part of the job is seeing their reaction when they see their pictures for the first time.
“Everybody is nervous coming in. And then when they actually see it and see themselves, you see the change in them. Usually, they say “oh my God is that really me?!” and “wow, I look amazing” she laughs happily.
“It’s just a big confidence boost to feel like that. Especially because it’s not something that you do every day, getting glammed up in gowns and have this goddess feeling. It’s especially important to feel like that during pregnancy when you don’t feel beautiful much. So seeing yourself in such a beautiful light is just really uplifting for them”.
First awards and recognition
Having found her niche, Nicole gained confidence as a professional photographer. Recently, she found the strength to enter a few contests, and to start speaking with other big photographers who have inspired her.
She ranked pretty high in her first contest, and she’ll be getting her first award, to her amazement.
“And having photographers who inspired me tell me now that they think that my work is great, and one that even said being inspired BY me, I was just, waaaaaaaa ?! No way!” she laughs in disbelief.
Little things like that, getting recognized, is just amazing to her. She started with no expectations, just going with the flow.
“Even when my clients say, you’re like the hit girl right now, I’m like really?! Maybe I’m doing something good here” she smiles happily.
Being a mom, a wife, and a successful business owner
For the immediate future, Nicole needs to get some order into the whole “working mummy business wife thing”.
“When you do something that you love, you just kind of do it. And go with it. And keep doing it”
“It’s really hard being a mom, and a wife, and a business owner. Just turning a passion into a business, it’s so hard. Because sometimes all the business things get in the way, and you wonder where are that love and passion”.
She needs to “manage” a little more her life, because having three kids, a husband and a business to run have been really tough.
“I never thought I would be taking off so big and so fast. It’s been a lot of learning and life management. I’m still learning my limits and how to juggle everything, it’s difficult.
“But when you do something that you love, you just kind of do it. And go with it. And keep doing it. And as it gets bigger and bigger you’re like, wait, slow down, I never thought it would get to this point!” she smiles.
For the future: a whole team for an experience beyond the photo
As for Mia Monroe Photography, she has plans for that as well. She noticed that on top of the creative vibe of her work, her clients love that she provides everything. It’s a whole experience. A room full of gowns, her own hair and make-up artists, they literally just need to show up and enjoy the day.
She already works with her own seamstress, bridging her visions to life. She’s now talking with an esthetician as well, and other professions like that.
“My goal is to keep building that team. I really want to build a whole beauty experience team. Just to make women feel beautiful. I’ve noticed that little things like that make the women feel better and more confident, and I think that’s the main thing that I love, to see them become more confident, cause it can be a struggle for a lot of women, especially when you’re pregnant, and you don’t feel that amazing …”.
Nicole wants to offer an experience from feeling gorgeous all to way to the memory of the feeling in the picture. “For me, it’s an overhaul experience, it goes beyond just that picture”.
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