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former labor and delivery nurse with 13 years of
professional photography experience, Karen
Marie Hourscht understands what it’s like to
work with pregnant women and newborn bab-
ies. She also understands the importance of
creating a good client experience. Hourscht’s
photographer-client relationship is driven by
the experiential focus, which ultimately de-
nes the success of her creative process.
Hourscht, whose professional moniker is
simply Karen Marie, operates Belly Beautiful.
Her Sacramento, California, business features
two side-by-side studios, one for maternity
portraits and one for newborns. A few years
ago, she achieved national recognition with
a series of Disney-princess themed newborn
portraits. Babble Entertainment, owned by
Disney, picked up the images and turned
them into video, which received 17.9 million
Continued on page 54Karen Marie Hourschtformer labor and delivery nurse with 13 years of
professional photography experience, Karen
Marie Hourscht understands what it’s like to
work with pregnant women and newborn bab-