Demarest and Conway

There is one thing that Demerest and Conway's Mom said that really stuck with me. "I am so glad we did this photo session when we did." And what she meant was, I'm glad we waited until they were a little older.

The truth is, we had this session scheduled for December, but didn't end up doing it until mid-January. The babies got sick, they had their immunization shots and weren't feeling well, there were snow storms.. and we had to reschedule a few times (rescheduling, btw, is not a big deal, because kids get sick.. all.. the.. time).

Doing a photoshoot with older babies, instead of a newborn, is a totally different experience.

The biggest distinction is the eye contact. Babies are mature enough at 1 month old to look around, to interact with their parents, and to showcase a wider range of personality. They look at the camera. They smile. And they are starting to understand the world around them. 

The sessions are also fairly quick, about an hour or so.. mostly because we can schedule based on an emerging routine, but also because babies start to get cranky right around that time. With a newborn who's a week or two old, we usually have to break for a feeding, or wait until he's settled into a nap before we can photograph (so those session can take up to 3 hours).

And then there's recovery time. We think so much about babies and what they need that we forget about Moms. Some women are able to "bounce back" fairly quickly (I've heard stories that I still don't quite believe).. but a lot of Moms need a few weeks to start feeling like themselves again. Recovering from a C-section or a difficult delivery is so important, and no photoshoot is worth a potential complication.

After giving birth to my second son, it took me three full weeks to recover. I had to regain my strength (which is hard to do when you're also caring for a baby) and really prioritize my health during that time. And because of that, the first photograph I have of Elliot is when he was 3 weeks old. My favorite photograph of him, however, is from when he was almost 2 months old. I don't feel like I missed out or lost in any way. In fact, I love that image so much more because he looks like the person he's growing into. 

And that's exactly how Demarest and Conway's Mom felt!

These photographs will be cherished for many many years because of what they show. And because they're printed on beautiful Hahnemühle fine art paper, they will look just as beautiful in 20, 30, 50+ years as they do today.