I figured I would take today to talk about what the important milestones are to capture in your child's first year of life and a little bit about why. Enjoy! :)
Your little angel has finally arrived and you want to photograph every moment of his or her little life! While it has become super easy for mom and dad to take their own photos of their child, nothing can quite compare to getting your little one's photos done by a professional photographer. However, running to your nearest photographer every week really isn't financially feasible. So here are the best time to take your little bundle of bliss to your favorite photographer.
The Newborn Session
Within your baby's first ten days of life, try to get him or her to a really great newborn photographer. These professionals are amazing with newborn babies. They are incredibly patient and talented at posing your little one just so to create some absolutely phenomenal images. Most of these photographers will require that you come in ten days after baby is born because this is their sleepiest, most moldable, phase. After ten days has passed the newborn phase is really over and they complete change. So bring your little one in to your photographer as soon as possible.
Three to Four Months
Once your child hits three to four months old they have really changed. They look completely different now and have developed a great deal. Now is the perfect time to get some great pictures of your baby's many expressions! At this point in your child's life, he or she will start smiling and interacting. You can get some really awesome pictures of the many phases of your little boy or girl. This is also when they start holding up their head and pushing up when they are laying on their belly. If your child is four months old and isn't able to push up yet, I would recommend you wait. This way you can get as many different shots as possible in your one session.
6 Months
At this age baby is starting to grab for objects, laughing and sitting up! If your baby needs help balancing to sit up, that's perfectly fine, but if they aren't quite there yet - wait until they can. This is also a super fun age to get photographs because your child is fully interacting with people and things. This is also a fun age to add in props, like your child's favorite toy, blanket, or book.
9 Months
At nine months, your child has made as many dramatic changes, so this session isn't absolutely necessary. If however you want some cute pics of baby crawling, by all means set up a session. It's just normally that between six and nine months not as much has changed so your child's photos may not be as diverse. In order to save a little money - a great idea is to combine your 6 & 9 month baby photos and get your child's photos taken at 8 months instead.
One Year & Up
By the time your child turns one, they will be crawling, standing, maybe even walking! Their teeth will have come in. All these things can be captured in your one year old session. This is also a fun opportunity to do a birthday cake session. It has recently become very popular to bring a little mini birthday cake to your one year old session and little your child enjoy mashing, smearing, and eating their cake. These do make for some cute pictures and are great for birthday announcements!
Once you pass your first year marker, it's really up to you how often to come in. I usually recommend to my clients to come in once a year. It's a great way to note the changes in your child each year. And just imagine all the fun things you can do with pictures from your child every year...I'm thinking collages, photo books, or even a video montage. Whatever you decide to do - make the best decision for you and your family.
