Baby memories: capturing those first 400 days – the reason I’ve chosen the first 400 days is I think it’s important to start with, a maternity photograph around month 8 of your pregnancy.
This article addresses:
Capturing those memories start with you… literally
It’s a new chapter in your life & it should be photographed. Ideally. I know it’s a marmite subject, but I’d encourage you to consider it. Baby’s first year, we’ll just fly by, and it’s a great way to start your story.
Simply go with the flow and document life with the baby as it unfolds. This episode of the podcast offers some ideas on how to capture those precious memories.
Listen to the podcast episode:
Or read the episode transcript:
I think one of the best parts of being a new mum is, is getting to know your new baby, and that’s the joy of maternity leave
You’ve got that time to step back from your normal daily working life, albeit into a new working life of being a parent.
The silver lining is you can just enjoy your baby, and also how quickly your baby is changing.
A whirlwind of baby-related busyness
And you may miss the old life when you could leave the house with, with just your handbag & keys. Those days will come back, quicker than you think. In terms of a recording, how your baby is changing, I think it’s fun to see how your baby grows.
My first suggestion would be :
Find something that will give you a visual about how old they are. If you’re gonna do a photograph each month, maybe have a balloon to mark one month old, two balloons for month, two, and so on.
Or use those cards that say today “I’m eight months old” that you can photograph your baby with.
I know it sounds a little bit daft, but it is gonna be helpful when you look back in years to come and you can’t quite remember how old they were in the photo.
My second suggestion:
This is a fun one, buy a baby grow for a 12-month-old baby, and obviously photograph your baby in the same baby grow each month and watch as they gradually fill it up, possibly outgrow it.
Finally don’t forget to capture your baby with other family members is, is good as well. That includes you as parents 🙂
Why you need to exist in photographs
If you are the one that always takes the photographs swap around occasionally, you don’t want to be the invisible parent in 20 years’ time when there’s no photographic record of you.
In the studio, for clients on my Baby’s first-year milestone photography plan, I would be looking to photograph their baby at the key development stages at three separate baby photography sessions, because monthly would be too much of a time commitment for most new parents.
I don’t automatically start with newborn photography session because typically that’s when they’re sleeping. I like babies when they’ve got a little bit more character about them, so starting at 4 months is perfect for parents who weren’t able to have a newborn photo shoot.
For me, the first-year baby photography plan is all about capturing that personality and keeping the photographs quite natural. So with Baby Club, I would typically photograph your baby at four, eight, and 12 months.
It’s the milestones we work to, more than exact ages – I want your baby to be pushing up sitting, and standing.
I’ve actually written a blog post on this. What age is best?, which, I will link to so that you can go and have a look at examples of the photographs that are taken at those ages
In terms of photographing babies, let me just manage some expectations
Baby won’t always look at the camera. What you can do with them in photographs is decided by their development stage. It’s not something you can force it’s best to keep your baby comfy because, you know yourself if you don’t feel comfortable in a photograph, it shows.
I want them to feel and look happy because I don’t want to teach them to hate having their photograph taken either so,
Their first year will go so quickly. It is an absolute blur, and changes all the time, just as you think their routine is nailed It changes again.
So even if your baby, isn’t looking at the camera, I think it’s nice to still capture things like the back of their head, the little curls they might have, their little cheeks, because their face shape will change as teeth arrive.
Hair can change quite dramatically too. My daughter was full of curls up until she was about two and now her hair is so straight. It’s quite surprising actually.
So whilst I know the first year is busy, do try and capture some of the details, you know, their first smile. The first time they enjoy (wear) baby rice or, try a stick of carrot or something like that and, the interaction with other family members as well: siblings, with their grandparents, as well as with yourself.
I hope that gives you an overview of how to approach photographing the first 400 days of a baby’s existence hopefully starting with your baby tucked up in a cosy warm womb, and then throughout the first year.
Drop me your thoughts on social media.
About Your Podcast Host – Sue Kennedy of Sue Kennedy Photography
Sue is a professional portrait photographer based in Harlow, Essex and she specialises in baby, child and family portraiture. Being a parent, she understands just how special your child is to you and her aim is to produce a collection of images that are natural and meaningful to your family. No two moments are ever the same and she wants to perfectly capture those early precious memories and the natural character of your child.
For more information please call 01279 433392, or visit the Sue Kennedy Photography website.
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