Cool Mums - Trace aka Dawn and Folk

2- Who is in your family? My husband Dave and my two kiddos, Tahli (7) and Cove (4).

3- What gets you pumped to get out of bed in the morning (other than coffee)? Haha coffee would definitely have been my first answer! I also love having a quiet half hour to myself before everyone else gets up and the morning tasks begin. If I wake early enough I go for a walk and that seems to put me in a more positive and productive mindset for the day. I was always a massive night owl, but having kids has permanently changed my body clock and I’ve really grown to love and appreciate getting up early. 

4- Best and worst moments as a mum? The best moment was arriving home from the hospital after having Cove and climbing into bed with him, Dave and Tahli. We all cuddled up together watching some random movie. It was the first time we were all alone together as a family and I’ve never felt more complete.

The worst moment was when I did a massive food shop with Tahli strapped to the front of me in the baby carrier and halfway through at the cash register she had a blow out and it was dripping all down the front of my white shorts and running down my legs. And then my card declined with insufficient funds. I remember calling Dave while he was at work and screaming hysterically, “TRANSFER ME MONEY! TRANSFER ME MONEY!!” 

5- How and why did you start Dawn and Folk? My husband has a business and I decided to learn how to use a DSLR camera so I could take all the marketing and social photos for him. While I was learning to use it I kept taking photos of my friends and their babies while they were on mat leave and I realised how much I loved it. Having two little muses with me everywhere I went meant I was getting a lot of practice too. I started Dawn and Folk on Insta as a place to share and track my development as a photographer, and due to the nature of social media, friends of friends started to get in contact for shoots or people would find me through hashtags and so on. I then wanted to get some commercial experience so I contacted a few local small businesses and offered free shoots so I could build my portfolio. Instagram has been absolutely key to building my business, it’s where 95% of my work has come from. 

6- What have been some of the challenges of following your passion and how have you overcome them? Becoming comfortable with failure has been a huge challenge. I’m an autodidact, I can’t absorb information from having someone tell me what to do, I need to be hands on and learning at my own pace for things to sink in. That approach to learning has led to many mistakes, and then feelings that I’ve let down a client or family that I’ve shot for, and then a loss of confidence in myself. Being open with my clients about my level of experience helped take the pressure off in those early days and gave me some room for error. Pushing through and continuing to shoot after feeling I had failed was the best thing I could do, and those hard lessons learned have stayed with me the most! 

6 - Who and what inspires you? For me, photography is very collaborative. I draw on so much... the location, the light, the tones, and most of all, the people both in the image and anyone working with me on the shoot. If I feel someone involved in the shoot is uninterested or doesn’t want to be there, the creative part of my brain kind of shuts down. I really draw on the energy and enthusiasm of the people I’m shooting with for inspiration. My favourite photos that I’ve taken have been when all of those elements have come together, and the people involved are just as excited and passionate about getting a great image as I am. 

Baby swaddle baby gifts  baby clothing  pregnancy the golden kind

7 - Your 5 essential items that you don't leave the house without? Apart from keys, wallet and phone my 5 essentials are:

         - a little tub of Egyptian Magic, that stuff is the goat

- a hat, I have bad hair days a lot 

- a bunch of those reusable string shopping bags

- a travel size Daisy by Marc Jacobs (my fave)

- my camera with my 50mm 1.4 lens on it, I honestly take that thing with me everywhere 

8- Mum, life, business advice to others... (pick one or touch on all three?) Always look within yourself for growth and inspiration, don’t set goals based on what other people are doing. Look at your own work with a critical eye, and then look for areas to improve and set goals to develop yourself where you need it. And feel proud of what you’re doing right, and do more of that! 

9- Give me 3 inspirational women and links to their instas?@monogiraud is one of my favourite artists. She combines photography with fabric, accessories and homewares and styles them to create these amazing images that look like something out of a dream.

10 - Give me a funny mum quote

“The easiest way to shop with kids is not to.” - @relaxingmommy