DIY way of photographing your Infant's Milestones....

  Wow!  It's been almost 3 months since I've blogged..... well, today my youngest Ansel is 3 months old.  Being a Mom of 3 is no joke.  Also, being a Mom who owns a business with 3 kids (one being a newborn) is insanity.  No sleep, no time, trying to juggle attention is exhausting!

I love the DIY monthly milestones I see on facebook and instagram.  Some use the blanket, blocks, a chalkboard, a stuffed animal.  I knew all of that would somehow get lost or become a possession of one of my daughters.  

We named Ansel after Ansel Adams, who I have looked up to since I became a photographer 26 years ago.  When pregnant with him, I got a wooden toy camera and a camera swaddle and decided they would in be his monthly milestone photos to see how much he changes with a constant that is present in every shot.  It's going to be fun to compare these as he grows... I never did that with his sisters, since he's the last kid, I figured why not.

​My goal was to shoot these at my studio, as I would for one of my clients.  But... I have 3 kids, a business, am exhausted and realize the day before or on the day of that he is hitting a milestone.  (I am grateful I have kept one of my lights at home and that my camera is always here).  So, I grab whatever I can for the backdrop.  It's been either a sheet, a comforter, or a bath mat (as pictured in the photos below).

You do what speaks to you, what is on hand and works for you.... not many people will know (or need to know) what you used to get the shot.  Your kids will appreciate you even more as adults when they revisit the photos that embarrassed them in their youth.

Here are Ansel's 24 hour (shot with natural light, the flash was not his friend), 1, 2 and 3 month milestone shots:

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