I am a wife and mother to three beautiful children living in southern california.  When i was younger I studied interior design at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. After working in the design industry for over ten years i had my first baby, four years after that i had boy girl twins. When the twins were in their first year i picked up the camera. I was inspired by photography sites such as flickr and found myself obsessed with getting just the right shots of my kids. In the beginning I was frustrated, because I would see other people do such beautiful things with their photography--i wanted that too. I didn't understand why i couldn't do it with the camera set to auto and the editing program that came with my camera. So I started asking lots of questions-- to others and myself. I began looking at EXIF data, examining camera settings and studying the lighting in photographs i saw. I bought photoshop, I took a class at a local camera store, and then i just started taking photos, a LOT of photos, that was about four years ago.

MT: One of the most distinct qualities of your work is your amazing post processing.  How did that style emerge? How did it develop over time to the signature look you're known for now?  What would you say to our momtographers who are struggling to find their own unique voice in their photography?

Thank you for your sweet words about my photography and processing. This is a very tough question to answer because to tell you the truth I don't really know, what I can tell you is that I have taken and still do take a lot of photos. In the beginning I would use other people's actions and presets and take hours editing one photo. I would look at the same shot forever trying to decide what it needed--what it needed to tell the story that I thought needed to be told. Style is something that comes from within you, it isn't something that can be defined or created out of a box or with the push of a button. I think the best way to find style is to stop looking and just be.  Do what you love, edit to what you think looks good to your eye, and your style will emerge from there.

MT: You have very generously chosen to share your beautiful processing with the world via your presets and actions.  It's so tempting, especially for non-pros and novices, to see a beautiful "style" and mass apply it to every picture. What would you say to a novice who's looking at a photo trying to decide which post direction to take it in? Is there a style of photo that works best with the "lilyblue" look?

I don't believe you can mass apply "style", that is one reason i am comfortable putting my editing out there, others can use it to edit their photos but they will never have my style, and i will never have theirs. There is certainly not one action or preset that will work well on every photo--a click of a button is not the answer to great photography. Editing choices need to occur on each and every photo, as photographers, we are artists and artists make choices to achieve a desired end result. I have created my actions to be easy to customize and I always encourage personal refining to my presets, even it that just means adjusting the temperature slider a bit.

MT: Are there some moments in your photography journey you look back on and say "I can't believe I did that"?  Any examples you care to share?

Well, if you mean dropping my camera in the pool by accident, no, can't think of any off the top of my head. But if you mean getting a really great shot that i couldn't believe, yes, I have a few. One was when I was photographing my grandparents for my grandmother's birthday.  We were focusing on portrait shots, I usually tell people "i am just testing the light" sometimes I am, and sometimes I'm not. This time i really was testing the light. I noticed my mother and niece standing in the doorway and thought how special it would be to capture them in the background. My grandparents were being relaxed and themselves so I quickly snapped the shot. I didn't really think anything of it until I saw and processed it at a later time. I named it "generations" and entered it in san diego's  "art of photography show", it was one of 150 photographs selected from over 15,000 international entries, and found out at the show the photograph had won an honorable mention. I still can't believe I saw the moment as something special and captured it.  

MT: Processing aside, your photos consistently seem to capture something timeless and authentically youthful, can you tell us a little about how you approach a shoot?

My first choice would be to hang back and observe a family or children or even a newly married couple. Natural, authentic images are always my favorite--but sometimes getting them is not as natural as I would like it to be. People always seem to need some sort of direction, I work on getting them together in the best light and then trying to make them as comfortable in front of the camera as possible. For kids I usually just let them play and often put my camera down to talk to them.  Having a camera in their face the whole time gets old quickly, letting them have fun and be themselves is your best bet.

MT: What would you say to our momtographers who are trying to capture their own families in a timeless and authentic way?

Well as I mentioned before, a camera in your face all the time gets really hard, for almost everyone. My own family is the hardest for me to capture because they are so sick of being photographed. Make sure there is something in it for them, and i don't mean a lollypop or ice cream! I can tell you this is hard, and i am still working on it with my family, put the camera down, connect and play...then pick it up only when you want to get the shot.

Many of my shots are taken of children playing in natural environments, they don't have to be looking at the camera and saying cheese to get a beautiful memory.  Let kids be kids, observe and let go!!

MT: Since you are a pro who does this every day, what are some of the things that keep you inspired year after year?  Are there any tricks you've picked up that help pull you out of a rut?

It is certainly hard to be inspired all the time. Usually what inspires me most is something new, a new idea, a new method of doing something-- something that might be old but new to me; for example, shooting film. I have been trying my hand with film the last few months and i feel like i did when i first started photography. Pushing myself to try new things is the best way at keeping yourself moving forward and growing in photography, whether as a profession or a hobby.

One thing to realize about ruts is that they are usually a sign of a growth spurt so just keep shooting and the rut will pass!!

MT: If you had any one piece of advice to give our momtographers about their own photography journey, what would it be?

Try taking your photo off auto settings, give aperture priority or even manual a try. It is important to have a good understanding of the exposure triangle--iso, shutter speed and aperture, figure out what each means and how they work together--you won't be sorry!

MT: And in closing, do you have any fun, fast and easy (because we shoot between flying sippy cups and potty breaks!) tips or tricks you care to share with our camera toting moms?

Just make sure to keep you shutter speeds fast enough (i try and keep mine higher then 1/200)...i can't tell you how many times i had camera shake or movement, when my kids where smaller, although i was usually trying to photograph one, while the other would be hanging on me!!

We can't thank you enough Leah for being so generous with your time and amazing knowledge! Your perspective is refreshing and relatable! If you would like to take home a little sprinkle of Lilyblue fairy dust, check her out at:

http://www.lilyblue.com

http://leahzawadzki.lilyblue.com/actionslilyblue/