What’s happening here in Sanna Helena Photography
2026 SO FAR: I THINK I FOUND MY PEOPLE
We are somehow already more than halfway through 2026, which feels slightly illegal.
And I’ve been thinking lately about what is actually happening with Sanna Helena Photography.
Because something is happening.
And yes, business has been good. Really good. I’ve been busy, photographed beautiful people, travelled, created things I’m genuinely proud of and had many of those moments where I look at the back of my camera and think YES. THIS.
But that’s not really the thing I’m most excited about.
The thing that feels different this year is the people.
I think I found my people.
Or maybe they found me.
SOMEHOW THIS LITTLE WORLD I’VE BEEN BUILDING IS WORKING
For years I’ve been trying to make my work feel more and more like me.
Which sounds very simple when you write it down.
It has not been simple.
First the move to Finland. How the hell am I gonna build my clientele or does anyone even want me? Can I learn to shoot in this light which is so different from Australia?
And there’s always the temptation to look around. What is everyone else doing? What photographers are people booking? What should a photographer in Finland offer? Should I make things easier? More normal? More sellable?
And every time I’ve moved further away from that noise and closer to myself, something good has happened.
The stranger thing is that the more specific I become, the more the right people seem to appear.
Women who want to run barefoot into the water.
Mothers who don’t want their children to behave for the camera.
Pregnant women who are happy to climb into questionable places with me because trust me, the light is amazing over there.
People who are not looking for perfect.
They want something that feels like them.
A little wild. A little messy. Intimate. Beautiful. Emotional. Sometimes weird.
Basically, my favourite combination.
MY CLIENTS ARE CHANGING. OR MAYBE I AM.
It feels like the gap between what I want to create and what my clients come to me wanting is getting smaller and smaller.
And THAT feels huge.
More clients are coming to me already understanding my work.
They don’t need convincing that kids don’t have to look at the camera. They’re not worried if their hair gets messy. They understand why we might wait for the light, get into the water, lie in the grass or do something that sounds mildly ridiculous when I first suggest it.
There is trust.
And trust changes everything.
That’s when we stop taking photos and start making something together.
Those are the sessions I drive home from slightly high on life.
AND I DON'T TAKE THAT FOR GRANTED
I hope this doesn't sound like one big LOOK HOW GREAT EVERYTHING IS post.
Life is still life.
I still question my work. I still occasionally edit a gallery for far too long because apparently I enjoy making my own life difficult.
I still see someone else’s work and briefly consider throwing my camera into the sea.
Normal artist behaviour.
But underneath all of that, something feels really solid this year.
I know what matters to me.
Motherhood. Women. Freedom. Connection. Bodies exactly as they are. Children being children. Making photographs that feel rather than just look beautiful.
And I think when your values become clearer, people can feel them.
Maybe that’s the whole secret.
THE BEST PART IS WHO KEEPS WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR
I have met so many incredible people through this work.
Women growing babies, raising babies, raising bigger babies who definitely don't consider themselves babies anymore.
Different generations. (my new favourite!!!)
Women rebuilding themselves. Celebrating themselves.
Families who are loud and chaotic and affectionate.
People who care much less about looking perfect and much more about remembering what this life actually felt like.
These are the people I want to photograph.
Not because they fit some imaginary "ideal client" profile.
But because something between us makes sense.
We value the same things.
SO WHAT'S NEXT?
More of this.
That’s actually it.
More shoots that scare me a tiny bit creatively.
More water.
More travelling.
More women taking up space in photographs.
More motherhood exactly as it is.
More strange ideas. More beautiful light. More people saying I trust you, do your thing.
I feel like Sanna Helena Photography is slowly becoming less of something I am trying to build and more of something that simply exists in its own little world now.
Wild, emotional, sometimes chaotic, occasionally underwater and very much mine.
And somehow, you guys keep finding your way into it.
Which is pretty fucking cool.
So thank you.
For trusting me with your babies, your bellies, your bodies, your families, your stories and all the weird little ideas that happen somewhere between my brain and my camera.
2026, you’ve been very good to me so far.
More of this please.
xx Sanna
