Marysol Blomerus Photography - Cape Town Birth Photographer

19/09/2020

Surviving covid as a mother has been brutal, hasn't it? When we needed to hand over a business with 6 kids, 6 hour time difference, and basically zero childcare... here's how we did it. We talk REAL CANDID about what its been like.

11/09/2020

This is me 10 years ago. Three days and less than 5 minutes from arriving home from the hospital. I was on pain meds, sliced open, swollen everywhere after a 45 hour all natural labor that turned emergency c-section and then 3 days of a dauntingly hard and literally bloody nursing start. I was a smiling shell of myself. I just sat down on our coffee table and thought, now what?! Anyone feel like that as a ? It's not typically IG worthy especially on a photography account, but who cares. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of all I overcame as a mother. I look at her tired eyes in that photo and respect that younger version of myself so much now.

🌸 And you know what else? I regret. I regret I don't have better photos. Heck, even organized photos. A decade later, and I haven't gotten around to this for myself. I wish I could have hired me to document this properly. Not just the birth. But an honest newborn or home coming session. At the time, there were no birth photographers in South Africa. And while the street cred of being the first might be cool, it means I missed out on it myself.

🌸So I'm talking to you as a mom who regrets and as a pro... Hire someone!Maybe you get a less fancy nursery but you prioritize the funds towards what will outlast decades. I don't care if there's limited access with covid. There was barely any access allowed 10 years ago and I still would have wanted WHATEVER I COULD GET because it matters so much and it continues to matter as the years go on. I know many of you are bummed I'm not there anymore. But I did spend a full year mentoring Kristen in everything I know and she's on the ground, and as covid restrictions are slowly being lifted, she's going to be harder and harder to book. So get your names in early, if you are or just found out you are pregnant, drop her a message just to get on her radar. She didn't ask me to write this, my account is still 💯 mine to do what I want with. I'm telling you who I would hire as I reflect on my decade anniversary of motherhood this week.

31/08/2020

Its been such a professionally and personally rewarding process over the last year to work with Kristen (Yellow Lemon Birth Photographer). I didn't know what it would feel like to hand over "my baby" but actually the journey has taught me so much. Its bittersweet that this working together is coming to an end.

This month, Kristen and I will be pulling back the curtain to show you what it has taken. We filmed some zoom chats for you to see, discussing how we had to adapt with covid and my sudden international move, where things are at with birth photography in South Africa, and a bit of our personal journeys: both in handing over and taking on. Watch this space, its all coming!

31/08/2020

It’s time to end my 5-month radio silence on social media. The last 5 months have been like a long labour that has demanded all my focus and privacy. Let’s rewind back to mid/late March. Remember our pre-Covid days? One night, I was planning family sessions with clients. The next morning, I woke up and our lives would never be the same. The US State Department issued a Level 4. Their highest alert. Citizens should come back or you might not be able to get back for an indefinite period of time. We had no idea the SA Lockdown was coming in just a few days. As you know, we were planning a move in late May, but now this brought up big questions. Our friends who are knowledgable about how these things go down hopped on a call with us. "Put all the complexities aside, the question to answer is this: Are you prepared to stay in South Africa for possibly another 4-6 months?" And the answer was a resounding no. For too many reasons and responsibilities on both sides of the ocean, we simply could not risk that. Honestly, I thought it was crazy. Surely this would all blow over in a few weeks? Little did I know, the SA border would still be closed nearly 6 months later.

🌸
I had felt an urgency from God building all week but no idea what for. And here it was. "Well then you get on the first flight you can."
I nearly fainted. I thought we had a week. Surely, at least a week. We were being strongly advised that no, in a week, you will no longer have this option. Turns out, we got out on one of the last flights. It was the quickest most painful decision we were forced to make.
From when we had a paper ticket in hand to leaving was 12 hours. 6 pm to 6 am. Can you even imagine?
🌸
12 hours to frantically sort, decide, pack, weigh, stop to soothe a crying child, repack, weigh, purge, label.
12 hours to move heaven and earth getting critical medication for one of our kids.

My assistant sent messages to cancel with shocked clients. I sent a frantic voice note to Kristen. We worked through the night and barely made it in time. On waves of adrenaline, tears, snot and tissues, we put one foot in front of the other. At great emotional cost. The photos don't show the tears.
🌸
Not being able to have closure or say goodbye has been incredibly traumatic for all of us. Loss upon painful loss.

We pulled over on the way to the airport as the sun was coming up to say goodbye to this ocean. The very same ocean God promised me 14 years ago "from these shores I will bring you family." He has. Not just family. He brought me home.
🌸
The uprooting was so sudden and graphic. 4 international airports, 52 hours of travel that was nail-biting at each leg with cancellation boards and stranded passengers, we arrived in Atlanta. Alone in a new city and beginning our quarantine and then long isolation.

The relief of it all was palpable.

But the fall out was real and still needs contending with. I had to cocoon my heart like never before. Trying to navigate this AND a pandemic complicated everything. On top of that, one of my children started having seizures, my husband needed surgery, and I still have another child with a chronic condition. Figuring out healthcare in covid, in a new and expensive country has drained me something extra.
🌸
The pang in our hearts of not getting to say goodbye to so many we love just isn't resolved.

None of this is how we wanted it.

Yes, we were "already on our way out" but we were grieving that. My feelings about this move were already complicated. As an analogy, it's like is knowing someone you love has 2 months to live. So you make sense of that in the best way possible. You plan everything you want to do together, think through everything you want to get in order, get ready to say all the things you always wanted to. And then, they suddenly die in a car accident. They are gone and the pain is now compounded.
🌸
If you know me at all, you know that connection is one of my highest values. I want to reply to everyone personally but my capacity is at an all-time low. I simply won't be able to. I’m sure most of us can empathize that the demands of this year have rendered us not as high functioning. But I do appreciate each and every one of you that reaches out.
🌸
I’ll leave you with the quote that has carried me in this season: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” - Corrie ten Boom

09/03/2020

If not for the love, endurance, touch, kindness, and selflessness of women, humanity would cease to exist. Every human you see walking around is thanks to a woman.

Image by Kristen van Staden Yellow Lemon Birth Photographer. I love the subtle tenderness and connection.

05/03/2020

What does a handover look like for working parents in the 21st century? It requires creativity! Kristen & I have a combined 6 kids that are 9 and under. Yep, that's a party. While she's coming along on shoots with me to shadow and meet clients, we also have a lot of work to do in me transferring all of my knowledge of business, marketing, film making, the list goes on and on. Kristen () is so committed to making sure the experience is seamless for her new clients and that she's leveled up her game. I'm committed to end well and have it be something I'm proud of as a legacy. Ideally, that would be lovely strategy sessions at a quaint cafe. But . And even more so, ain't nobody got childcare for that on top of already full lives. So when the kids are in bed, the dishwasher running, the house finally quiet, I start recording my screen and filming away, talking her through every aspect. She recently watched me edit and talk through my whole process on a film creation. It was 12 HOURS of content! I upload it to dropbox, she downloads and watches. It's truly team work to make the dream work. It has been personally kind of cathartic for me to walk through this process. I feel really confident that I will leave having fully passed on the best of myself and my existing/would-have-been clients would be best served by having her running with those skills. -
-
-

28/02/2020

You know what is the best thing about this photo? It's not mine! I want to highlight some of Kristen's work Yellow Lemon Birth Photographer. No, it's not exactly like mine. And that's not the point. Image creation is an art and no two artists are alike. But she's working hard to glean everything from me and incorporate it into her own already established skillset. A good birth photographer pays attention to tiny details others might have missed, finding the artistry in the otherwise blur of a day. Love that tiny moment with his wedding right and those fingers. 😍

© lemon birth photographer

26/02/2020

That first photo is actual footage of me trying to leave Cape Town. 😆Jokes. But don't you love honest moments like that from family sessions? So small still, she does the leg squeeze because she doesn't reach his hip.

I only have a handful or so sessions left before I leave. I want to take you behind the scenes on them (see stories before they are gone). So many more of my wonderful clients I would love to work with again, but an international move with a family is a beast so my schedule is now full. Last available sessions sold out in just 36 hours. But you never know, perhaps on return visits or on another spot on the globe.

Kristen (Yellow Lemon Birth Photographer) is shadowing me as I work. We are working hard to ensure the same high level of client satisfaction across both brands and her learning every facet of my business as she makes it truly her own.

© Marysol Blomerus Photography - Cape Town Birth Photographer

21/02/2020

It's the news all of Cape Town is shocked about. If you haven't heard, go read through on Birth Options Midwifery Team. The option of midwifery led care and birthing options for women in the private sector have abruptly, shockingly, and horrifically all but closed up. Let's be clear, this is direct assault on the birthing choices woman have in this city. It's 2020 and we are sitting here talking about women having very little choice in how they birth their babies. How!?! Even though I'm moving away, I'm still so deeply invested here. I can not just take this news and say "shame". I care too much. We all care way too much!

In the coming weeks, I will be filming for Youtube with Angela the Midwife and Kristen Yellow Lemon Birth Photographer (as the head of SABPA) to discuss what, if any, are the options for women of Cape Town. It's going to be something we can all share and spread word of. We want to join forces with Right to Birth SA with a deep belief that the story can't possibly be over.

This is how you can help. Drop in the comments what are your questions? We will include them in the video!

© Marysol Blomerus Photography - Cape Town Birth Photographer

18/02/2020

I texted him from a layover, "Babe, I think its time. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. But I've never felt like this before."

He knew exactly what I was talking about. My built with sweat-love-tears- over-a-decade business.

Thus began a few conversations surrounding what that would mean for us and specifically, for me. When I rolled over in bed a week later at 1:30 am saying, "I can't sleep. I know it needs to be over. I know it. It's hard. But I know its right." He didn't flinch. He trusted my instinct and we talked til 4:00 am working out how to end well.

It would mean sacrifice for both of us. It would mean reworking alot of our day to day. And the man who always championed me starting this crazy-idea-of-birth-photography-in-a-new-country was fully ready to help see me end it in a way I could be proud of. Never once did he make me feel guilty or pressured.

When no one would book me in the early days, he urged me not to quit.

When I burned the candle at both ends meeting deadlines, he left me encouraging notes.

When others talked about their wife's work like it was some quaint hobby, he took my craft seriously.

When I was stuck deep in learning a new skill, he helped me google and troubleshoot.

When I second-guessed if I was even any good at this, he would genuinely believe I was the shizz. 😆

When I got called out at the worst time, he would always be on the other end of the text saying "I got this, you go crush it."

Teamwork has MADE the dream WORK.

I would have never discovered my talent or honed my craft if not for him.

I don't know what the next chapter for me holds, but we will explore that one together.

In the next three months, I will fully hand over my business and say goodbye to this beloved nation. As I do I want to chronicle my journey and say some important thank you's along the way. I'm calling this (Basically I couldn't think of what else to call it!).

De Wet Blomerus, you unexpected South African love of my life, you are top of my list.

Photo Cred: Darren Bester

18/02/2020

I want to thank everyone who reached out to me personally after this huge announcement. I'm still catching up with responses as each is so important to me. Kristen (Yellow Lemon Birth Photographer) and I are deep in the handover process and will be bringing you lots of Behind the Scenes over the next month. If you missed it, here's our unscripted uncut candid conversation about the whole thing. If we missed one of your questions, be sure to let us know!

Images & Production Copyright: Marysol R. Blomerus of www.capetownbirthphotography.com An exciting announcement about the future of my business. If you misse...