Dove & Lioness Doula

04/07/2026

Wow. You guys, I don’t even know where to start.

On March 20th, the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers (IAPBP) announced the winners of their 2026 competition for images captured in 2025.

This was my second year entering, my second year being utterly shocked to have been recognized, and my second year ever of birth photography… and somehow, both years, I have been recognized internationally, globally, worldwide, literally whichever word you want to use, little me was recognized.

This year, before winners were even announced, I decided that I would submit to the local papers in hoped of starting a conversation. Maybe they would find it neat that I had gotten Top 20% in 2025, maybe they would find what I do interesting, maybe… just maybe… it would start to change the narrative on birth for those who live in the same little geographical area that I do.

Come March 20th, at 8am, I laid in bed scrolling through the awardees on the website, “Oh! I voted for that one! Oh!! I love that one!! Wow!! Oh my goodness I LOVEEE that one! …wait… that’s mine???” Right there in it’s little display…

“‘Held’ Honorable Mention – Amie Bogart – United States”

Surely it wasn’t real, so I refreshed the screen, yet still there it was, staring back at me. My name, my image’s title, my country I am representing, the image that literally was a once in a lifetime shot, with one candle for light, some dim salt lamps backlighting everyone, and me… standing on the corner of the tub, balancing on one leg, supporting my second camera body for video, and watching this family grow through the screen on my camera.

It was my image.

My art.

Honorable Mention means something to me, especially with my second year of birth photography. It’s confirmation. Confirmation that my passion has a purpose, confirmation that these images influence people, confirmation that I am still learning, still growing.

A few Fridays ago when I checked my email, I had an email from the lovely Liz Caples with The Gettysburg Times. She wanted to do a story. Little did I know it would be a front page story, and pretty much the longest article in that edition of the paper.

And then, after an initial delay on Thursday, on Good Friday, (:’)) my feature came out, and her story was phenomenal. She shared the change that I hope to see around birth culture, the ways that we need to bring the conversation to those around us. She gave platform to my dream.��That same morning, I had a lovely woman reach out to me, simply congratulating me, cheering me on, telling me “thank you” for the work I do with mothers and women. She was 79, and just wanted to thank me, for me.

I was anxious to see my faith be represented in the article. I hoped it was included, I hoped it came across how I wanted it to be portrayed–as this gift is literally only through Him. Liz did an amazing job. I truly cannot sing her praises enough.��This is how it changes.

This is how a conversation starts.

This is how we change the narrative around birth.

And time and time again I’ll say, Jesus be the center of it all.

04/06/2026

Mother’s Day Minis!!
$75.00 to book, $75.00 due day of!��

It’s April, which means its times I start advertising for the Mother’s Day minis!!��These sessions will be 45ish minutes, in your home (because sometimes traveling is just not the move), and will have high quality, edited images delivered to you via online gallery. You will receive approximately 50 images.

Here’s the fun part. Because motherhood is absolutely chaotic and we are busy humans, you can book these sessions and schedule for whenever you like. So, if baby isn’t born yet, you can take advantage of this offer and stuff it away in your back pocket until it is time!��

My motherhood and newborn sessions typically run at more than double this Mother’s Day special, so I would say it’s a steal of a deal, especially because it doesn’t expire!��My editing style is candid storytelling, warm, cinematic, nostalgic, and really just works to capture and express the feelings of motherhood and newborn days.��I am happy to answer any questions you may have!��

Amie Bogart
Dove & Lioness Doula Services
Hanover, PA

04/03/2026

I am so excited to share more about this soon!!!

When Amie Bogart photographed a mother cradling her newborn in the water moments after birth, the Adams County native captured more than an intimate family milestone: she captured an image

03/27/2026

To the Dad, because home is you…

Something that I feel is constantly being asked or misunderstood about doula support is where the dads fall into the role if someone is there to “take over”. About 90% of the families I serve are married, and with that, obviously Dad wants to be involved and has concerns about his role when a doula is hired. 

I will be the first to tell you, and the first to shout it from the rooftops… I. Do. Not. Replace. Him. I can’t. Even if I wanted to (which I don’t), you two are the ones that created that baby and this is YOUR child that is being brought into the world.

And for the dads… you do not have to know everything. Of course, education and being informed is going to be your biggest help, sometimes all your wife is going to need is for you to sit there, and simply be.

Hold her.
Hold her hands.
Hold the space.
Hold her when it feels like everything is overwhelming.

Amie Bogart
Dove & Lioness Doula Services
9104039792
dovelionessdoula.com
Serving Hanover, PA and surrounding areas.

03/22/2026

World Doula Week & World Doula Day

Man what a busy few days it has been for all of us birth photographers and birth workers!! And then today, the kick off of World Doula Week is World Doula Day.

As a doula, I’m often fighting the uphill battle again what we can and cannot do, my own expectations, others opinions, and ultimately, continuing to better myself and educate myself to serve the families that choose me to walk along side them.

The environment around birth is 2026 is honestly sad. Women are still so deeply afraid, terrified, doubtful, and distrusting of themselves and the design of their body. While sometimes, birth does need support, more often than not, we can trust that design. We can lean whole heartedly into labor and trust that our babies are working hard to meet us too.

Birth belongs to women. It always has. Somewhere along the lines things got skewed. Labor was no longer sacred and intimate, it was bright lights, legs splayed open, and constant distrust in oneself and “trust” in someone who does not know your body like you do.

In honor of this week, those who book a birth photography package before the end of March (woot woot an extension) will receive complimentary doula support, and those who book doula support will receive a full birth gallery.

Available months: August*, September, October, November, and December. The rest are completely booked.

If you are not pregnant or searching for a doula or birth photographer, share this with someone who is.

The tide is changing.

03/22/2026

2026 | IAPBP Judges’ Choice “Honorable Mention” – “Held”

You guys, I don’t even know what to say... This was my second full (but also not) year of birth photography. In 2025, I served clients, placed Top 20% (“Emotions”) Internationally in this very contest, had my own baby (2 days later), moved from Kansas to Pennsylvania, supported and captured 4 different families as they welcomed their babies, and made connections along the way.

I had a goal for this year’s image competition. I wanted to place, and I wanted to place better than my Top 20% with “Emotions” than last year. While I image-wise did not fall into that Top 20% of submissions, I feel like I almost did better (even if it’s not the statistical case).

This year, this image, “Held” from my very last birth of 2025 received a Judges’ recognition for Honorable Mention. It was PICKED. BY A JUDGE. TO BE INCLUDED. Out of HUNDREDS of submissions, for two years in a row, I have been awarded and recognized. That is so mind-boggling, I truly cannot wrap my head around it. Thank you, God, for the gift and the vision and for placing me in this phenomal work that I can call my job. It’s the best one ever. And not only all of that, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only one within PA that was recognized. Most of the awarded were overseas!! Which is also super neat.

Thank you to the family for sharing their birth story. You will ultimately be the reason that someone begins to question the narrative around birth, maybe the reason they switch from hospital to home birth, or maybe they tell someone about the image, and two lives change.

You trust to share images from your birth is the first little drop in the water that begins to cause the ripples... may they reach far and wide.

Thank you to everyone who supported me. Thank you to the Judges who gave amazing feedback on the images I submitted.

See you next year IAPBP, thank you for helping me grow.

03/20/2026

A few from this recent maternity session (let’s be honest, it was big sister’s session) that just embodies what I wish and hope every maternity session I do feels like.

If you are wanting to create the memories of what your pregnancy feels like for an hour or two instead of the posing, I may be your girl :')

I am still offering discounted maternity sessions for the remainder of March & April. You can schedule it for later, but the deposit is due at booking to keep the discount!

Stay tuned for more from this session 🤍

03/17/2026

By now, this birth has been plastered all over my page, my website, my socials, and basically anywhere else I can. Why? Because it was just ✨one of those births✨

Birth photography has always been my main passion. The thing I will 100% choose before any other choice ever. But after having my daughter and only having one video of labor, and basically none afterwards… I realized I missed that a lot more than I would have anticipated.

While these films are still in their early stages of development and I’m still learning and adapting, I hope to one day offer a much more polished look back at the birth experience—and I have some big shoes to fill to get to where I’d like to be. This is the third one I have finished, with a few more to work on!

I himhalled around posting this for a while because it’s out of my confidence zone. It’s something that I am still learning and I know will take refinement. But this one turned out better than I could have imagined. It gave the home video feel I was going for. Even now, while posting, I have those nervous butterflies. 🤣

I am forever indebted to this family for being so generous with their gallery and the birth of their baby.

(You should have seen me flamingo 🦩 on the corner of the tub, video camera around my neck balancing on my leg to record and still taking photos with my other two hands on the main body—you can hear it🤓)

🤍🤍🤍 This film has been adapted for privacy and the family’s preferences, so blurs and cuts have been added.

03/07/2026

This is why Dad should not be your personal photographer. If I had a nickel for every time someone turned down a newborn session because “oh, I’ll just have my husband take pictures”, I would have a couple nickels. 🤓

I’m going to hold your hand when I say this, if you do not invest in the first two weeks that they are little, you are going to regret it. I hear all the time “I wish I would have (had this with my firstborn, done this when she was little, known how much I would need this)”. No amount of selfies or spouse pictures will compare to a session where you and your family is the focus. If this family would have relied on their iPhones, they would never have these images where their memories are captured. Not just as an image, but as a core memory from the day they had their session.

Newborn sessions are more than just pictures, they show you what it felt like years later. They create memories, they build relationships, they help with healing.

If you needed to be called out, I hope this calls you out.

Whether you book your newborn session with me or your other favorite photographer, invest in it. Invest in the fleeting time that they are this small.



Hanover, Pennsylvania

03/02/2026

It’s timeeeeee!!!!

Voting is officially open for the Member’s Choice (that’s me) & the People’s Choice (that’s you!!) for 16th Annual Image of the Year Birth Competition!!

To cast your vote (which is for 1 image btw), you will go to their website, make a free account with your email (for tracking), and then thumbs up the image you love the most (it would mean the world to me if it was mine—but truly pick the one you love).

That’s it!! That’s all you have to do!! Oh, and share this post if you would!!

Birth photography is still in its itty bitty baby stages here in the US. People either haven’t heard of it, or have heard of it wrongly (that it’s just for THAT moment). These galleries I deliver are often overflowing with love, memories they would have forgotten, triumph, hardship, and ultimately memories that they will hold on to for the rest of their lives.

Spending thousands and thousands on a wedding photographer, for a wedding that you could redo, but not investing in the moment you met your baby is something I will never understand (and that’s okay if you don’t want those images public, they don’t ever have to be)—you NEVER get that day back, you can never meet them again, you will never give birth to that baby ever again.

If you’re one of the many people unsure about birth photography, I urge you to talk with an experienced photographer and learn about it—maybe before you’re ever even expecting a baby.

I for one, would be happy to share my passion with you.

Let’s get to voting!!
Let’s get to removing the taboo from birth! 😉

https://www.birthphotographers.com/iapbp-birth-photography-image-competition/public-vote/