This was one of the last frames I shot at a recent newborn photo session. It was a spur of the moment image – I’d asked Mom if she’d be ok taking baby’s shirt off so I could get a few detail shots of her tiny belly button. It was a total in-between moment which became my absolute favourite image from the session. After I finished editing the session I sat starting at this photo and started tearing up. Tearing up because it brought so many memories flooding back of my own babies.

My babies aren’t babies any more, and although I’m happy to now have little walking, talking tiny humans in my home, looking at this image made me realize how much they’ve changed. They no longer fit across my lap sideways or willingly allow me to take off their shirt without a struggle. The long wrinkly fingers are gone.  That flaky newborn skin has been replaced with tougher skin that is dotted with scratches and bruises from many childhood adventures and tumbles. The fragility has been replaced with personality and spunk.

I realize this isn’t the typical image that probably comes to mind when you think of newborn photography. There’s no perfectly swaddled baby with smooth skin sleeping peacefully on a bed.  Yes, many times my galleries include images of swaddled babies and families snuggled on the bed. There is generally some light posing involved in newborn sessions, always making sure to stay true to the family and ensuring the baby stays a baby – not a prop.  But every newborn gallery also includes those unscripted moments – the ones that help tell the real story.

This image is life.  It’s raw. It’s full of story without having any words. It’s not the image you’re going to hang on your wall this year or the one you’re going to make into your Facebook profile – and that’s ok. There are plenty of other more ‘traditional’ images in your gallery for that.  But this one? This is the one you’re going to gravitate towards 5 years from now. This is the one you’re going to look at, and just like me, sit there tearing up when you realize how much has changed since that fraction of a second years ago. This is the one you’re going to show your daughter when she asks you how small she was as a baby.  And lastly, this is the one that is going to remind you of those first few days of motherhood that completely changed every fibre of your being.

Looking for a  newborn  photographer in Edmonton, Alberta? Fiddle Leaf Photography offers in-home newborn photo sessions in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert and surrounding areas. Please contact me via the ‘let’s chat’ tab or by emailing kelly@fiddle-leaf.com. We’ll talk about life, love, babies and how to best tell your family’s story.