There is no other time in your baby's life that has more change in their looks, personality, and abilities than their first year.  They start as the most cuddly little newborn, and then learn to smile, laugh, roll over, crawl, walk, and start saying words.  We are so busy trying to keep them fed, changed, and take care of our families that sometimes the first year flies by in the blink of an eye.  Join us for some tips on capturing that first year in fine art portraits so those memories are not lost in the years to come.

The newborn stage is the most unique and an absolute must for your first year portraits.  There is no other time in their lives that your baby will sleep and tuck into the most adorable poses for portraits.  Bringing siblings and family are a nice addition, just keep in mind that sometimes it can add a little bit of stress if the siblings are on the younger side.  If it doesn't work to bring the family for the newborn portrait, you can always add them into a later portrait session in the first year. 

The old school of thought was to capture your baby every month, or at least every 3 months (3, 6, 9 months) in their portraits.  Now, many folks are moving to an extended timeline to allow for capturing changes all the way through 18 months to the 2 year milestones.  The in between stage (from newborn to one year) has a couple different options that we recommend.  

If you like the idea of more transitions being captured, then a 4 month and an 8 month portrait would be a good fit for you.  At 4 months, we get to see amazing belly poses, naked butts, and some adorable smiles.  At 8 months we may get crawling, tripod sitting, and even some laughter.

The second option if you prefer the idea of extending your portraits to 2 years old, is to go with just a 6 month session during the in between stage.  You will get great smiles, belly poses, sitting poses, and lots of interaction from your baby.  Both options will give you incredible portraits!

We absolutely LOVE these sessions, and our clients do, too!  This is another session that is an absolute must, because like newborn, there is never again another session like it.  We start with capturing 1 year portraits, and then we move to the cake smash portion of the session.  We work closely with our incredible cake maker, Crazy About Cupcakes, for the most one of a kind cakes that match the look and feel of your session.  The kids love digging in, and it is one of the most entertaining sessions from the first year.  

Towards the second year we see your baby's personality really start to shine.  This is when we can incorporate some of their favorite things, like hats, sunglasses, tractors, wagons, etc. and let them really have some fun.  18 months or 2 years are a great time to do this, and this is also a great time to bring family back for another session.  Capturing your baby with mom and dad, siblings, or both are a wonderful way to freeze time to remember those moments forever.  This is also a great jumping off point to move to annual portraits to continue to record their changes through the years and share their growth with friends and family.  Enjoy every moment with your babies, the time goes by much too fast!

Allison Russell is the creative behind the camera at Twisted Wire Design. She grew up in Sonoma County, California and now lives in Mitchell, South Dakota.  Her boutique studio is in downtown Mitchell and she specializes in family, children, senior, and sports photography, and has been internationally recognized for her portraits.

Allison loves to meet amazing families and create gorgeous fine art portraits of their loved ones for them to hang in their homes. She has three kids (joyful chaos!) and loves to be outdoors with her family, traveling, a good book and glass of wine.