Why You Should Get Newborn Photos Taken
Smartphones are kind of crazy these days right? I mean, the pictures they are capable of taking are pretty impressive. At the Grammys this year Miley Cyrus even remarked that some of the paparazzi had ditched the professional camera equipment and were touting iPhones instead. So if the little rectangle you carry around all day every day is that impressive, do you really need to drop a good chunk of money on getting professional newborn photos taken? In my humble opinion- yes.
“But you just said I could take them myself… soooo?”. You can- and you should. Take as many photos and videos of your tiny creation as you can. But there are three reasons you should also have professional newborn photos taken: For you. For your child. For your other loved ones. Let me explain.
For you
There is a saying that the days are long but the years are short. When you’re in the thick of new parenthood it might feel like it will never end. The sleepless nights will go on forever, the piles of laundry will continue to grow. But then one day you turn around and your tiny six pound baby is three times that size and sitting on their own. “When did this happen?!” you think to yourself and then that little pit in your stomach forms as you realize that everything is moving so much faster than you realized.
Newborn photos stop the clock. They are tiny mementos to those long days and endless nights. Crystal clear odes to the tiny fingers and itty bitty toes. You have enough going on- you created a whole entire human. Preserving the memories doesn’t need to be added onto your plate too. A professional photographer knows how to capture their tiny toes curled around your thumbs. They will capture the swirls in their hair and the details of the flaky skin on their fingers. You want to be able to see how tiny they were cradled in your arms or snuggled onto your chest.
But still- though the clarity and detail may be less- you could capture these details on your own with a bit of effort and knowledge. A professional photographer will also capture you. I know right now you may not see that as a positive (who wants to be reminded of how hormonal and sleep deprived you are, right?).
But one day you are going to look back on these photos and see yourself for who you truly are in this moment- brave, strong, deeply in love, and you are going to feel so deeply proud and connected to the person that you became when that tiny little human became yours. You owe it to yourself to feel that pride and self-love.
For them
For me this one is the biggy. The most important reason you can book a newborn photographer.
Cute, right?
It might be hard to see it now before your child is even born or when they are so brand new; but one day the photos that you take or have taken are going to tell them a story. You can take as many pictures as you want of your baby but until you get out from behind the camera your images are going to be missing one very important thing: you.
Bear with me here for a minute…
I was born in 1992, in the prime box-store photoshoot era. The newborn photo my grandfather had hanging on his wall was a shot of me on a fake backdrop in a frilly dress. I’m sure that my family loved this picture and probably still do. It’s a preservation to how small I was. But to me? The picture is really only good for a laugh. Sure, it shows me I was a baby, but here is what it doesn’t show me:
What my nursery looked like
What my parents looked like when I was born
The love they felt for me
The love they felt for each other
How small I was in my father’s hands
These are the things that your children are going to want to be able to see when they look back on family photo albums. Having professional photos taken is about more than just documenting a tiny human- they are about documenting the love and connection that your family shares. In order to capture that love you need to be in the frame.
For others
Last (and I mean, maybe least)- professional newborn photos are a gift for others. I don’t mean like literally you give them as a gift. Although, they do make amazing gifts. One year all I gave for Christmas was canvas prints of my nephew’s newborn photos… Anyway, back to what I was saying.
Your loved ones are thrilled for you and love your little bundle of joy with all their hearts. Newborn photos are important to them just as they are to you. Include grandma and grandpa in the session and you’ve taken it to a whole new level. Those photos will become absolute gold to your family one day.
And There You Have It
In the end newborn photography is absolutely an investment and it can seem so much easier to just put it off or take photos of your baby on your phone and call it a day. But there is no getting this time back. You have only this opportunity, there is no turning back the clock if you change your mind. You worked hard for this- its worth remembering.
