Yesterday I booked a brand new client who signed on for FOUR sessions. She’s 34 weeks pregnant, staring down the barrel of labor and delivery, realizing that the clock is ticking and that, if she wants to document this child’s story from pregnancy to first birthday, she’d better get on it! So she booked a maternity session and Baby’s First Year package with me with the intention of watching baby grow.
I can’t explain how trippy it is to welcome a baby as a newborn into the studio and then see them at their sitter session and then their one year session. Watching baby grow is a wild experience. They retain so much of the self they were in their first days all the while growing a personality and learning to smile and sit and then crawl and talk. I literally have a front row seat to all of my babies’ milestones and it’s such a cool, humbling privilege.
I recently welcomed baby Madelyn back into the studio. She was born last September and came to me at seventeen days of life for her newborn session. When she came back for her sitter session in May, I squealed and screamed over her dimple, then looked at her parents and said, “Did I know she had a dimple?? Did we see that at her newborn session??”. They answered, “We don’t know, she slept the entire time!”. And she did. She slept like an exhausted little lamb and I was able to capture all the newborn poses with zero peeps out of Madelyn.
Flash forward to her sitter session and what an adorable little personality she has!! That dimple flashed in and out and she watched me with her curious eyes, first warily – “who is this lady crowing at me??” – and then with humor as dad sang and we clapped and cheered for every smile. It took a bit for her to warm up but then the ham came out. We ended the session with her rolling from front to back and then hiding under the blanket, charmingly peeking out with humor in her beautiful eyes. Watching baby grow is an adorable, fun succession that takes place over a year (or more!) and I love every moment ❤️
Liz Viernes Photography is based near Baltimore, Maryland, and specializes in maternity, fresh 48, posed and lifestyle newborns and first year milestone portraits.
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