Best Ages & Stages To Capture In A Professional Photo Session
Unless you’re a pro photographer yourself, certain ages and stages in your child’s life are worth capturing via a professional photography session. You’ll never regret the investment and the resulting images will have an incomparable level of quality compared to DIY photos at home.
Professional Photo Sessions: 5 Ages, Stages, & Milestones Worth Preserving
As wonderful as digital smartphone cameras are, nothing compares with images captured by a professional photographer who knows how to use artistic lighting, backgrounds, and angles to let the subject’s inner spirit shine through, plus making sure those images are printed to perfection.
Find The Right Photographer For Your Family
Beyond the gallery-quality images we create, professional photographers have individual niches and resonate with specific client demographics. When you’re looking to book a professional photography session specific to your newborn and their evolving ages and stages, you want to find someone specializing in that type of photography to optimize the experience for everyone involved.
For example, as a maternity and newborn photographer - who also offers special milestone sessions - I have a gift for making third-trimester pregnant women feel like goddesses, soothing fussy infants, bringing smiles and giggles to the forefront in shy toddlers, and helping camera-shy partners or family members feel right at ease in front of the lens. This does wonders for the final images!
And, of course, when we’re talking about newborns and toddlers, safety should always be a photographer’s primary concern.
Once you’ve found the right photographer, it’s time to start thinking about which ages and stages are the most worthwhile to capture with beautiful portraiture. Here are five of the most poignant developmental stages you’ll want to capture in a professional photo session.
Maternity photos
Maternity photos are amazing to have for yourself and as a legacy to pass down through your family. They’re also a wonderful way to announce your pregnancy to a larger audience or to include with annual holiday cards.
Typically, we schedule maternity photos during the third trimester, but well ahead of the due date. This is the best way to capture that beautiful baby-filled belly in its fullest bloom. One of the most magical things about maternity sessions is that mothers don’t always feel their best at this stage in the game. The baby is almost fully developed, making for less sleep, more cumbersome movements, and heightened pregnancy discomforts.
However, once you put on a beautiful gown (or your preferred outfit) and we begin setting the stage for powerful and feminine images, you’ll feel empowered, attractive, and even more in love with the little being inside. Another benefit of scheduling maternity photos with me is that you automatically get priority booking for your newborn session and other milestone shots.
A studio newborn session
That newborn stage can feel like forever when you’re in the moment, but it’s a very fleeting window of time in their lives. Once your baby gains a little more weight, opens their eyes more often than not, and has more control over facial expressions - you’ll wonder how it all went so fast.
Scheduling a newborn photo session is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself, your child, and your family. It’s a moment for all of you to relax, bond, and spend time together while a professional photographer captures all of the golden memories. And, of course, there are no words for the final photos of your newborn - swaddled in timeless fabrics - which we alter and edit afterward to create stunning, truly unique art with your baby. (Click Here to learn more about how we create unbelievable images using pro tricks of the trade).
Once they’re sitting on their own
This stage varies from baby to baby. Babies learn to sit independently at different stages, and there’s no need to rush it. Typically, babies sit up and smile that beautiful gummy smile (showing off some brand-new teeth) around six months old, although they may need some support.
Once your baby can keep their balance in the seated position, a studio photo session is a great way to honor this exciting milestone.
During this session, we’ll have the chance to capture:
The aforementioned gummy, toothy, smile and laugh.
The extra layers of fabulous baby chub that disappear quickly once they start to walk and run (those cheeks, those thighs, the rolls in the neck, and the sweet round belly...).
Images of the soft and pillow-like quality in their baby feet and hands (dimples and all) that also fade once they begin to walk, run, and play more outside.
This is also a time when we might capture them in mid-crawl, wave, or giggle.
Their first birthday
If you’re reading this before you’ve had your baby, it can feel like their first birthday is a long way away. However, the busy days of early parenting will fly by, and Year One will be here before you know it.
First birthdays are an amazing milestone, especially when you compare the resulting photos with the original newborn images. Now, your tiny baby has grown enough to begin standing independently and may be taking their first tentative steps, although many babies don’t stand or walk until after this point.
Regardless, during their first birthday photo session, we’ll meet them where they are in their development. This usually means we’ll capture some action shots, and the results will be priceless.
Growing up milestone sessions
Over time, scheduling professional photos continues to provide an endearing visual timeline of your child’s growth. Eventually, these images will focus more on who they are - and who they are growing into - rather than physical developmental milestones.
Ages or stages to think about during the growing-up years include:
4-5 years of age: While you may feel like your baby looks all grown up, there’s still quite a bit of baby left in their features compared to their later childhood years. During this phase, they have all of their baby teeth but haven’t started to lose any yet - which really makes them look more like a “big boy” or “big girl.” During these sessions, we focus on having fun and capturing those expressions that make you wanna hug them and never let them go.
7-8 years of age: This is a really fun session for me because their ability to converse allows me to glean a clearer sense of who they are so their personality can better shine through the images. During this session, we focus on their hobbies, passions, and the clothing they love but are quickly outgrowing.
11 to 12 (the Tween time): This is the last stage of young childhood, right before they transition into full-blown teenagers. These photo sessions are designed to focus on their dreams and what the end of childhood feels like. These are some of the most poignant images you’ll ever have of your child.
Lemonshoots Captures Priceless Newborn & Baby Photos At Every Stage
My name is Marcela Limon, and I’m the owner of Lemonshoots. I specialize in maternity, newborn, and early milestone photos here in the Bay Area. I invite you to take a look at my gallery of artistic portraits and get a feel for my style and approach.
If you like what you see there, I would love to meet you and begin talking about how to capture the most memorable images of you and your family in a way that naturally and instinctively honors who you—and your baby—are. Contact me to schedule a session and begin planning how to capture your beloved baby’s best ages and stages before they flit away.