Lauren Barnes is the Founder of The Motherhood Collective, a nationally recognized Community-Based Maternal Health Program Model acknowledged as one of Virginia’s most impactful Maternal Health programs by Governor Ralph Northam. 

Lauren currently sits on the Community Engagement Committee for the Virginia Neonatal & Perinatal Collaborative, The Central Virginia Maternal Health Collaborative, and the Lynchburg Breastfeeding Coalition. A frequent Subject Matter Expert in the area of maternal health, Lauren also uses her extensive background in the Performing Arts to help women make informed choices surrounding their arrival to motherhood. She firmly believes that empowered childbirth is the most innately feminine act a woman can perform.

Caroline Bologna is a reporter at HuffPost, where she covers culture and parenting. A native of New Orleans, she graduated from Brown University and is currently based in New York. She is passionate about photography, world travel, and women’s issues.

Kristen is a sought-after photographer from Australia who is proud to document love; new relationships built of love and tiny humans built of love. Her work is beautiful, messy, honest, brilliant and full of emotion. Her unique eye and appreciation for the tiny moments bring a treasured perspective to our line-up of judges this year.

Ash Davenport is a renowned wedding and birth photographer from London, UK. A natural-born artist and thrill seeker, Ash is constantly raising the bar with his life and photography.

He approaches every shoot as an exciting new adventure to capture images that make you smile, cry, and laugh out loud. He is constantly observing what’s unique about the people in front of him and the love that the connects family and friends. When he is not behind his camera, he’s running marathons, swimming competitively with his Olympian brother, or trekking up Everest (for his honeymoon).

Molly is a talented photographer who travels around the world to tell stories for families with her camera. Her passion lies in the art of the home: the beauty of living life with little ones and the every day moments that make up the joys of life. She is also the founder of The Define School.

Her mission through The Define School is to help photographers gather the tools they need to find their own unique perspective, while building community through small classes and mentoring relationships with teachers.

Jaydene is the photographer and doula behind Cradled Creations, co-founder of Canadian Birth Photographers, and a past winner of the IAPBP Image Competition. Located in Abbotsford, BC, Canada, Jaydene began photographing births in 2009, and has since captured more than 200 birth stories. 

Jaydene won “Image of the Year” in our 2017 competition and has been published in Midwifery Today, Click Magazine, People, Cosmopolitan, Vancouver Sun, and Canadian Family. Her documentary birth film footage has also been featured in Huggies commercials and documentary films.

She co-founded Canadian Birth Photographers in 2011 and has deeply enjoyed watching the birth photography industry grow and change women’s perspectives on their birth options and choices. Her favourite aspect of shooting births is watching how women process their birth stories and see themselves as more powerful than they did before.

An optimist, dreamer, and biologist turned photographer, Twyla has a unique talent of encouraging connection while simultaneously capturing emotive imagery. Her work is phenomenal and we are grateful for the unique perspective she brings to our judging panel this year.

“I’m a biologist turned photographer turned educator. I have a deep love for capturing emotive images and love sharing my techniques with other photographers. Through mentoring others, I quickly found I have a talent for brainstorming unique marketing solutions for creatives and absolutely love sharing those lightbulb moments that can completely change the trajectory of your business!

I’m obsessed with organizing and rearranging my home that sits in it own tiny jungle, complete with a waterfall and tiny home treehouse, in the middle of town. I’d consider myself a boho, eclectic, maximalist which means lots of rich, vibrant colors and surrounding myself with eclectic pieces that bring me joy (I think I have at least one rainbow in every room of my house).

When I’m not decorating tree forts at home and propagating new plants that I find in my backyard, I’m at the beach with my husband and three sons, checking out our local farmers market, or hanging out at our family friendly cider brewery downtown listing to local musicians.

I’m an optimist, dreamer, procrastinator and believe you can manifest absolutely anything you want for you life!”

Darren has been working in the fatherhood and parenting spaces for over a decade as an educator, advocate, and mentor. After serving as an Expectant & New Dads Specialist, he went on to partner with Life of Dad in 2017. Darren now leads the Community & Social Media Team and continues to be passionate about helping to create better outcomes for dads, moms, babies, couples, families, and communities. He lives in Australia with his son Charlie, his greatest source of inspiration.

“Being dad to my son Charlie is my greatest gift, my greatest joy, my greatest challenge and my greatest source of inspiration.”

Jen McLellan is a published author and founder of Plus Size Birth and the Plus Mommy Podcast. She helps people navigate the world of plus size pregnancy, shares tips for embracing your body, and laughs her way through the adventures of parenthood. Her work has been featured in major publications such as Yahoo Shine, Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, and International Doula. 

Jen has grown a community of over 177,000 via the Plus Mommy Facebook page. She authored My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide and co-wrote the Amazon bestseller, The Peachie Moms Guide to Body Love for Moms. Jen is also a childbirth educator, skilled patient advocate, professional speaker, wife, and mother to a charismatic 7-year-old.

Katie Norris is an award-winning documentary Producer, who believes in the power of storytelling. Katie founded the film nonprofit Fotolanthropy to document and distribute true stories of strength and also started the FOTO brand to equip creative professionals with beautiful, functional photography products. Her work has been featured on People, FOX, Good Morning America and Netflix.

Leilani Rogers is an award-winning, veteran birth photographer with a lifetime of experience in the visual arts industry. As the Founder of The Public Breastfeeding Awareness Project and Birthbound Photographer, as well as being named Austin’s Best Birth Photographer for over 6 years, she brings an unparalleled perspective to our 2020 judge panel.

Growing up in Houston, TX I was raised to appreciate and partake in the arts as much as possible. I spent most of my time in dance and art classes, play rehearsal, the orchestra or violin and viola lessons. In college I received a degree in Viola Performance and Pedagogy, and after years of performing, recording, and teaching, I decided to raise a family. I have 4 kids, ages 13-20 and a husband who encourages me to follow through on all my crazy ideas. These special people have inspired me to pay attention to the little things, find and preserve joy in the day-to-day, and keep on keeping on no matter what. When people ask me how I became a birth photographer, I tell them that it was simply meant to be. My life as a mother and an artist intersected in 2011 when my sister-in-law invited me to document her birth. I photographed a lot of families back then, but that all changed very quickly once I realized my true calling. My love for documenting birth has evolved into a love for teaching birth photography. And when I’m not immersed in that work, I love to entertain, I love plants, and I love goofing around (read: embarrassing) with my kids.

Achievements: Austin’s Best Birth Photographer 2013-2019, Featured on television and in print in The Huffington Post, Midwifery Today, Redbook Magazine, People, FStoppers, CLICK, SELF, Cosmopolitan, ABC News, TODAY, Woman’s Day, and Hello Giggles, Keynote speaker at Off-Call in 2015 and 2017, Instructor at The Baby Summit in 2016, Both finalist and winner in prior IAPBP Image Competitions (2014/2017), Finalist in Lensculture’s Portait of the Year Competition 2017, Exhibited with Lensculture throughout Europe in 2018, Finalist in ClickinMom’s VOICE Collection 2017, Editor’s choice with National Geographic Your Shot’s “The Gift of Life” assignment 2017, 6th place in Birth, Shoot&Share in 2018 Competition, Founder of the Public Breastfeeding Awareness Project Founder of Birthbound Photographer

Lyndsay is the Founder of IAPBP as well as the owner and creator at Life in Motion Photography. Her award winning work has been featured in many publications and has brought numerous opportunities to mentor other photographers from around the world. She founded the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers in 2010.

Since then, she has since worked tirelessly with representatives worldwide to pioneer the beauty of birth photography in the media. She calls Austin, TX home but she currently travels around the U.S. in an RV full-time with her husband, children and dogs.

Kenda Sutton-EL is a Birth Justice and Maternal Health Advocate and has over 10 years of experience as a passionate activist. She is the Co-Founder of Birth In Color RVA, a birth collective focused on providing culturally-centered support to pregnant persons, families and the birthing community.

Kenda also holds the tiles of Holistic Nutritionist, Student Midwife, Certified Lactation Counselor, Perinatal Maternal Mental Health Counselor and Doula. She graduated from Old Dominion University with a BS and is currently attending National College of Midwifery. Kenda has spent more than ten years advocating  in the areas of healthy foods, maternal mortality, reproductive justice, alternative medicine, and nutrition education.  She believes the maternal health care system is systematically broken and Black Women and infants are the most effected. Kenda believes the change starts with us and will continue to create that change by sharing the stories of the women she serves.

Natalia has been a birth photographer & videographer for seven years. Prior to starting her business, she was an Air Force Reservist in her “spare time” while simultaneously working for a busy law firm in Los Angeles, CA.

She is a mother of three girls (one in heaven) and a wife to her God-fearing husband who supplies her caffeine addiction and adds to her laugh lines. Their dream is to travel the U.S. in an Airstream, but she quickly remembers that they have a 100 pound German Shepherd who whines too much.