This year I followed two little gentlemen from birth to their first birthdays. It was quite an experience, and I am very happy I could be a part of their first year. I not only got to know the babies, but became better acquainted with their parents.

At the request of a few families who wanted an affordable way to track their child’s growth with photos, I created a “Baby’s First Year” plan. I had photographed plenty of newborns and a few one-year-olds and two-year-olds, but I hadn’t photographed between newborn to one year. I found each session, generally every three months, to be completely different. Each baby progresses at his own speed, and every session they showed me a different skill set they had learned, from sitting to standing to walking and talking.

The plan was to have 30-minute sessions for $50 each (newborn session is $75 because it generally takes at least 2 hours with feedings and sleep times). The parents can pick however many sessions they want, from monthly to quarterly to every six months.

It has been a learning experience for me as well. Photographing children is no easy task. You never know what sort of mood they’re going to be in, what you’ll need to be prepared for and the little “disasters” that turn out to be photographic events. Both little guys proved to be a challenge, but I was always eager to see them again and capture their facial expressions and the love their parents share with them.

William

Alex