Mums in business: PhotoFairyTales' magical pictures
After the birth of her daughter, mum of one Sarah Thexton, began playing with the photographs she took of her new baby. Experimenting in image manipulation software, she placed her daughter in beautiful settings amongst flowers and fairies. She never for a minute expected her hobby would eventually become a unique business. Sarah created some of her mystical images for Chopsy Baby, and whilst she did so we asked her more about how she came to be working for herself.
PhotoFairyTales
How did PhotoFairyTales come to be?:
“It was after the birth of my daughter that I began experimenting with creating images of her from the many hundreds of photos we were taking as typical new parents! Purely as something fun to keep in the family, I would occasionally create basic images of perhaps her face superimposed in a rose, or of her peeking through an egg as it cracked open! I’m the first to admit they weren’t great, but they were something I enjoyed doing from time to time. I had given up work after her birth, becoming a full time mum.
“I had made a conscious decision that I didn’t want to go down the line of childcare”
“Once Amy reached four, I found myself wishing increasingly to get back into work. However, as with all mothers, I had the problem of finding a job that would be rewarding in both senses and which could fit around my daughter. I had made a conscious decision that I didn’t want to go down the line of childcare, not for any other reason than it purely didn’t feel right for us. So I had to find something flexible, and that led me to thinking about setting up my own business.
“It took a long time of thinking, worrying, running away, forging ahead, plotting and working things out, but eventually I came up with the idea of trying to create images for other parents, similar to those I had created for my daughter. I spent many months developing the gallery of images before going “live” in 2008 and selling online through PhotoFairytales.
PhotoFairyTales
Your daughter has effectively inspired your business, how does that feel?:
“This is something that undoubtedly I wouldn’t have done, were it not for Amy. Although I have always used my creative skills throughout my career before becoming a parent, I think those early days of creating images for Amy has given a feel to the business which there wouldn’t have otherwise been.
“I love hearing the comments from my customers”
Although I like my business to be professional in the way it’s run, I also like it to be warm, friendly and approachable in the way that it’s presented. This isn’t something that would have come about had it not been for the way the business bloomed, from a hobby based on creating images of my daughter, to a proper business. Most businesses are created purely from the basis of financial gain, but I prefer to work on my business also providing pleasure to others.
“I know I catch myself trying to do the whole ‘super-mum’ thing sometimes”
“I’m not entirely sure I’ve got the whole work/family life balance sewn up! It’s easy for us mums whether working or not to outwardly show how fantastically in control of our lives we are: well brought up and presented children, clean and well organised home, empty ironing basket, home-cooked food on the table, etc! I think we can be the hardest task masters of all, I know I catch myself trying to do the whole “super-mum” thing sometimes, and I have to remind myself that I can’t do it all. At least working for myself gives me flexibility when I need it.
PhotoFairyTales
How does it feel to work with other people’s precious baby and family photographs?
“It’s a real honour to create an image for someone, It doesn’t matter how many I do, I always wait with baited breath to hear whether they like it or not, and I never fail to feel nervous! I am a self-confessed perfectionist, and check and re-check images before sending them. I know that the results are important, and I treat every image as if it were something I am creating for myself.”
“I love hearing the comments from my customers, I even had one lady tell me that her image had made her cry with happiness, I hasten to add! The reward I get from having happy customers is like nothing else, and I’m extremely proud to say that I have never had an unhappy customer!”
Photo Finish
We asked Sarah to create us two images. Firstly we sent her our favourite baby photograph. It was taken on a 1.5 megapixel camera phone some years ago and was at a resolution far lower then she needed to work with.
Secondly we sent her a more recent child headshot and asked her to create an original image with a ‘punk Jamie Reid style’ in mind.
The result
Our Snow Fairy was so much better than we thought it was going to be. Our low res image actually came out really well, and though we are not really into the Fairy thing we thought it was a really nice image and there are plenty of people out there who would really enjoy this type of picture.
When we opened the punk image, we were totally blown away by it. We thought it was absolutely fantastic. What we ended up with was a totally original piece of graphic art featuring one of our children’s photographs that was treated with care and respect. Sarah went to great pains to make sure we were happy with it, and we were more than happy with it.
