Bluffton, SC (WLTX) - A South Carolina photographer's photos are showing that every cloud--or perhaps, hurricane--does have a silver lining.
Cassie Clayshulte, who runs Cassie Clayshulte Photography, has captured images of a group of eight mothers- to-be whose babies were conceived during Hurricane Matthew last October.
Clayshulte's business is in Bluffton, right near Hilton Head, which was an area that was hard hit by the storm.
She takes a lot of pictures of babies for a living, since she's the official photographer for Coastal Carolina Hospital. So in the days following the storm, she took photos of parents who gave birth during the mandatory evacuation that took place.
"I always want to use my talent to make the world a better place one photo at a time but I also hope to show everyone that the world is already full of beauty but you have to CHOOSE to see it," she explains.
After that photo shoot, she began thinking that she always sees a surge in newborns when there are power outages or big storms. Sure enough, she found some parents who conceived during Matthew, and are getting ready to give birth.
She got a group of them together for a series of group shots. The women are all in gowns, posing along the beach.
Some of the women had previously had trouble conceiving, making the fact that this happened even more special.
"Through many attempts for me and my husband to get pregnant and countless doctors appointments we found an amazing doctor in Charleston," Cassie says Savannah, one of the women, told her. "We finally were on our way to finally making a family and Hurricane Matthew hit. We were devastated, worried and pushed back again. Four weeks later we found out we were pregnant."
"This storm destroyed trees and property and our area’s tourism industry took a big hit, but the storm helped these couples create something even more beautiful and these stunning mommies-to-be are living proof," Clayshulte said.
