I try with every session I photograph to show people the goodness I see in them. I find women to be the toughest on themselves and are often the most self-critical, especially about their appearance. If I could, I would show EVERY woman how beautiful she is, how she is way more than the sum of her perceived flaws. If you’re a woman who is less than comfortable with the way you look (or knows someone that fits that description) take the 3 minutes to watch this commercial.
I headed to photograph my first Stroller Strides Flagstaff class not knowing what to expect. I guess I pictured a handful of moms running behind jogger strollers with easy-going babies snuggled patiently inside. It sounded like something I wouldn’t have been able to manage when my kids were at their very squirmiest. I could imagine them wriggling out of the stroller out of boredom before I was able to get my heaving lungs to push it halfway around the track. I arrived at Buffalo Park and happily had that expectation turned on its head.
Beth Sabol is a wonderfully talented trainer and teacher. She is both peer and cheerleader for her classes of strong and committed women. She brings her own young children with her so she walks the walk (jogs the jog?) as she spurs on the other moms. I was impressed with the variety of exercises she came up with, a majority of them designed to not only strengthen mom but to simultaneously entertain child – something I had never seen done so effectively before. The kids were fascinated watching the group of mothers stretch and lunge in front of them. Just as they got wiggly, they were off to run to the next stop. Never a dull moment. Well, almost. At one point, when the kids did, one by one, all start to make their impatience known, those determined mamas finished the reps they were working on, laughing at the growing momentary cacophony. The kids didn’t have to wait long for the fun to get going again. After the class, there was time to chat, share information and play.
I loved witnessing the camaraderie and mutual support, happy moms getting stronger and healthier, and the minor miracle of enthralled kids, along for the ride. 
To see additional images from this shoot or to learn more about Stroller Strides, visit the Stroller Strides Flagstaff website.
Twenty years ago, while on a five-month backpacking trip through Europe, Israel and Egypt, I made a life-changing decision. Until then, I had been working in a psychiatric half-way house, but was finding that I preferred making portraits of the patients to doing the therapy. I left the job to travel with a friend.
Then one morning at sunrise, after a grueling hike to the top of the famed Masada overlooking the Dead Sea in Israel, I had an epiphany. I was taking pictures in the hazy golden light and I turned to my friend and said, “I wish I could just be a photographer.” Without missing a beat she smiled and said, “Do it!”
I went home at the end of that trip and started taking pictures part-time. Soon, I had somehow talked my way into a full-time job at a photography studio in Boston, shooting any job that came in, from legal photography to weddings. I continued my education that way, working for photographers who could teach me a particular photographic skill, also learning the business of photography along the way.
I sometimes marvel that I found my calling in making portraits, and that I still love my job so much – even after 20 years. I wish that for my children, for everyone. I love the creativity, always learning new things, being my own boss, but most of all, I love the people I get to work with. They regularly make my day: a two year old climbs into my lap and asks me to read to him, a mom cries happy tears looking at my pictures of her kids, a person sitting for a professional portrait says, “Wow, do I really look like that? I look great!”
Transformation and connection occurs, people see themselves in a new way, tell me their heartbreaking, heartwarming or hilarious stories, and trust me to make pictures of them and the people they love. It is truly an honor.
