ABOUT STACY BRATTON

Bratton, who is also an advocate for children, donates her time and services to charitable organizations such as the March of Dimes and Children’s Advocacy, which provides legal defense, medical care and psychological counseling to battered children. She has also helped develop public service campaigns to prevent abuse and Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Additionally, Bratton contributes her services to more than 40 schools every year in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, donating portrait packages to auctions furthering the needs of education.

“I know I’m a photographer,” Bratton says, “but photography is pretty much second nature to me now. I honestly believe my real skill is working with preverbal babies, and being able to work with them without them really being able to understand what’s going on.

“Photographing babies is much different than photographing grownups,” Bratton continues. “Being able to get a two-year-old who walks in the door, kicks me in the shin, and says ‘no,’ to do everything I’d like them to do, to cooperate fully and hug me and love me, that’s my talent, not taking pictures.”

Although heavily influenced by the work of many other photographers, as well as her background in painting and art, it is Bratton’s internally generated non-stop striving for excellence that she credits most for her style and success.

“I think what I have learned from the photographers I’ve worked with,” she admits, “is the persistence of perfection. Whether you make money or don’t make money, you’ve got to just do it right no matter what. It has become very expensive to do this,” she admits, “and I’ve been very fortunate to be able to raise my prices to cover that, but sometimes I’ll pay a lab three or four times for a print. If it’s not right, it’s not right, and I don’t care if the lab tells me they’ve done all the redos they would normally do or I’m getting a little persnickety, I’ll still pay for it again because it doesn’t matter. It has to be right.”