Bicester baby photographer speaks on her career journey

Klara Valkounova planned on becoming an investigative journalist or a writer, but life had a different journey for her instead.

The 24-year-old was born and raised in a small town in the north of the Czech Republic called Duchcov, and after graduating from grammar school at the age of 18, moved to Bicester where she now lives with her partner.

She said: “I love Oxfordshire. It is such a beautiful county with stunning countryside, history and lovely people.

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“One of my parents’ conditions when it came to my move abroad was that I was to continue my studies, and so I enrolled in City of Oxford College to study Media, and it sparked an interest and planted a seed in my mind that I would like to become a photographer.”

Ms Valkounova now runs a business called The Second Star Photography in Bicester where she specialises in newborn photography.

She has always loved the craft as she grew up with it in her life. She relishes in physical photographs and values capturing and saving memories.

She said: "I was incredibly lucky that my parents and grandparents were also passionate about photography and videography, not on a professional or even semi professional level, but they always had a camera or a video camera in their hand and so I am one of the fortunate souls that has boxes and boxes full of memories and printed photographs.

“I still remember the thrill when we received an envelope with developed film. That’s why I am so passionate about providing my clients with printed photographs, not just digitals.

“I know how incredibly precious these memories are and having them printed on a fine quality paper - or even better on a large piece of stunning wall art - with gorgeous rich colours and being able to physically feel the photograph is priceless.”

Ms Valkounova always had some sort of camera in her hand, but it wasn’t until she was 18 when her passion really kicked in with her parents gifting her her first DSLR as a graduation present.

She started experimenting and playing around, learning about the settings and photography basics while falling deeper in love with the hobby.

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Ms Valkounova would take photos of ‘anything and everything’ and found particular interest in pet photography at the beginning of her career.

She spent many years watching numerous hours of educational and training videos and studying other photographers work.

Her passion for her niche, newborn photography, sparked in 2017 when she was asked by a friend to photograph her friend’s baby.

She said: “I started learning about newborn photography and fell in love with this beautiful genre.

"I discovered the amazing newborn photography network, so many inspirational newborn photographers and the more I educated myself on newborn safety and newborn photography, the more I enjoyed it.

“There is something truly special about being able to capture this extraordinary and life changing moment in people’s lives.

“Newborn photography was a challenge for me because it has so many aspects that are very important, it is not just about taking a photo, it is about being able to safely and comfortably pose the baby, truly capture the emotions and bond new parents share with their newest addition, styling the sets.”

Ms Valkounova constantly refreshes her knowledge on newborn and baby safety by doing online workshops and classes.

She has also done a paediatric first aid awareness class to ensure her tinniest clients are in the safest pair of hands.

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She added: “Each baby is an individual and so I listen and observe what each baby is capable and comfortable doing and work with them to pose them in a safe and comfortable way to create my photographs.”

The photographer also snaps families and older children outdoors, but there is something special about newborn shoots that she adores as she is able to capture a monumental moment in people’s lives.

She said: “What I love about maternity and newborn photography is that it can capture this short but life changing chapter of families lives. Pregnancy is only nine months and the newborn stage only lasts four weeks, and so these moments and memories are very fleeting.

“Newborns change so very quickly - all those tiny little details you fall in love with soon change and in a blink of an eye you have a sitting baby full of giggles and cheeky smiles, and no longer a newborn. It is very special and rewarding to be able to capture these moments for new and growing families.

“Every family has a different story, some families have difficult journeys to parenthood, and welcoming a new family member is a very emotional and intimate moment.

"I feel very honoured that families put so much trust in me and my work with their most precious memories to capture their little treasures for them with all the little details.”

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Ms Valkounova pursued her photography business part time alongside her full-time job while she built her customer base and worked on perfecting her craft.

She eventually felt ready to launch her business in 2018 and says she hasn’t looked back.

Not only is she doing what she loves, but she is in control of her business and has the power to make the decisions that she wants.

The photographer said: “I absolutely love what I do and feel very fortunate to be able to do my dream job. Every day is different, challenging and exciting. Every photo session is different and unique and it fills me with great gratification being able to create something that means so much for families who hire me.

“The best part of being my own boss is the flexibility it gives me. I am the master of my own time and if I feel like it, I can work until 2 o’clock in the morning and sleep in the next day.

“But it also can be overwhelming at times as I am my own boss and all responsibility lays on my shoulders.

"As a small business, I wear a lot of hats and it is a constant learning curve for me, but I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. I love a good challenge and being my own boss never gets boring.”

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With the coronavirus pandemic affecting everyone in some way, including pregnant women who are considered vulnerable, Ms Valkounova set up a Facebook page to bring pregnant women and first-time parents together during lockdown.

It is called Lockdown Babies Oxfordshire - Support Group for Pregnant and new Parents and is a ‘safe and positive’ space for those who need support while services such as prenatal classes are not running as they usually would.

Ms Vol is currently focusing on outdoor socially-distanced family photography in line with the recent Government guidelines, and is hoping to resume newborn sessions from July.

She said: “During the downtime in lockdown I've had plenty of time to plan and figure out the future of my small business and I cannot wait to see what the future has in the bag for me and my business.”

To view her work go to www.thesecondstarphotography.co.uk or you can follow her on Instagram and Facebook by searching The Second Star Photography.