Life & Work with Mily Cooper of Woodland Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mily Cooper

Hi MILY, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I liked to take pictures since I was a very little kid and when I graduated in college, I decided to stay for another semester to study photography, while I was still looking for a job. I learned all the basics as well as composition and developing my own pictures in a dark room. After I got a job as an industrial engineer (my actual career), photography was put on the side and it wasn’t until many years later, when I had a solid career and a little money to travel, that I started to take pictures again.
I was born in a middle class family in Lima, Peru. My father passed away when I was five years old, so we became more of a struggling family at that point. Traveling was something I always wanted to do but we didn’t have the means. Since I was a kid, I was fascinated with archaeology and I would imagine myself as a female version of Indiana Jones, going on adventures and discovering old civilizations. I was very lucky to travel to many places around the world in my late twenties both for work and for fun. I traveled all around Europe and Asia, camera in hand, and what surprised me is that I started taking pictures of people more than archaeological ruins. By then I got married and my husband joined me in my adventures. He used to say that I made people very comfortable and willing for me to do their portraits.
Fast forward 5 years and many trips, we decided to have a baby. She was born in 2007, Sophia. All of a sudden we became the happiest people on earth. No more trips for the moment; everything became her and she became my new muse. I loved taking her pictures going about her day, playing and running around. 2 years later our second child was born, Daniel. Our life was full and like most of families with two working parents, we were always trying to make time every week to spend time with our kids. And we did. Lots of little kids parties and we made new friends with other similar families and we were very happy.
Unfortunately on one of those get togethers, a horrible tragedy struck our family. We lost our son in a drowning accident. He was only 2 years. We were devastated with the loss.
Thankfully, I got pregnant very soon after Danny passed away. I was 40 years old. Mourning and pregnant. Sad and happy. Devastated and hopeful. I questioned a lot of things in my life like the way I’d spent it so far and what I wanted to do with the rest of it and I decided to give photography a chance. I was going to continue working because we could not afford our living on one salary. The plan was for me to build my portfolio slowly and transition to my new career in 3-5 years.
When Benjamin was born, exactly a year after Danny’s death, we welcomed him with so much hope and love. Watching a photographer friend do his newborn session was enough for me to realize that I wanted to photograph babies as well. In the coming months, I took newborn photography classes and I built my portfolio. After that, I started photographing pregnant ladies as well as doing cake smash sessions.
It’s been almost 13 years since Danny died. My career blossomed. The love and passion I poured in it has paid off. Projects are short in photography (unlike the ones in my previous career, which would take years to show their fruits ). I can see the results of every session very soon and it’s wonderful to show my clients their baby pictures. Eyes open up, tears fall out of their eyes … I bring them happiness and they bring happiness to me. Even before I snap the first shot, I am able to hold their baby, their most precious treasure and while I photograph the baby, we talk for hours and get to know each other. I am there at the happiest time of their lives and I am happy for them. Happiness is infectious for sure.
Danny’s time with us was brief, but definitely left a mark on who we were and who we wanted to be. I really wanted a flexible career so I could be at home more. I wanted to be able to volunteer at my kid’s schools and I never wanted to miss a performance ever again.
And that’s how the second side of me as a photographer started. My good photography skills became quite popular and in all these years, I can say that I’ve had almost a second career in photography, becoming “the photographer” at my kid’s schools, their theater company, their music department, etc.
My volunteer work has given me so much joy. First, because I am able to watch my children do what they love to do and meet their friends and other volunteer moms. But, it also gave me something I wasn’t expecting at all, and that is the joy to watch young people pursue their passion. To watch them perform on a stage and get better and better through the years in pursue of a dream is such a gift to me. Being their photographer puts me right there and believe me, I feel sometimes so elated and lucky to see the beginning of someone I know will go very far. I feel a little bit like an aunt or a family friend, someone that they may not know well but that they’ve seen for years and that cheers for them and celebrates their accomplishments.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road.
At first it was the struggle of leaving a well paid job that I had for 15+ years, to start something new. A huge leap of faith.
Also I had 2 bulged disks on my cervical and had to have surgery. Fortunately after that, no more problems of this sort.
I used to be risk averse, but my son’s passing made me see life from a different perspective and helped me find happiness in the little things every day.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I photograph newborn babies. I photograph pregnant moms. I photographllgjbnokoooorroiugggggrggggggggggr

I also photograph people. Anyone that wants to be captured, from a glamorous session for a woman to a kid graduating high school or a little one having his/her first communion. Generally people come to me to capture a special moment in their lives. Isn’t that something?

I am proud to know that an image I took will last longer than me on this planet. That further generations will treasure that image.

What sets me apart from others? My passion. Photography is not just a way for me to make a living. I certainly make a living taking pictures, but photography is my life. If I am not taking pictures, I am learning something new about photography. I am so blessed to be able to do something I adore every day of my life.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Yes. Practice, practice, practice. Study, study, study. There is so much material for free available online, you can learn so much every day.
Being a successful photographer is hard. It’s not just about being a good one. You need to understand “business”.
Having an MBA was the key for me to be successful. I do everything from accounting and taxes to creating and updating my website, marketing, orders and fulfillment, customer service, etc. There is so much that needs to be done besides a photo shoot and editing the pictures and if you are not prepared to handle that, it would be better to pursue photography as a hobby only.

Pricing:

• Newborn Sessions start at $950 for 2 hours including all props and 10 retouched digital images of your choice.
• Maternity Sessions start at $900 for 1 hour including beautiful dresses from my wardrobe and 10 retouched digital images of your choice.
• Cake Smash Sessions start at $500 for 1 hour including all decorations and props and 10 retouched digital images of your choice.
• Standard sessions start at $699
• Mini Sessions (Fall and Spring) are $375

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.milycooperphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milycooperphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/milycooperphotography
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mily-cooper-photography-woodland-hills-2?osq=Mily+Cooper+Photography&override_cta=Get+pricing
• Other: https://vimeo.com/milycooperphotography

Image Credits
All images belong to Mily Cooper Photography