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I readily admit that I have a vested interest in convincing people to hire a photographer to document their life with a brand new baby. I love photographing babies. I think that it’s important to have a photographer capture your life with a new baby because you will inevitably forget the miraculous details of those early days together. The first few days, weeks, months (even years) really do go by in a blink of an eye. I guarantee that you really will treasure the memories that a newborn, birth or Fresh 48 photo session help preserve.

Yes, you should absolutely do newborn photos

But even saying all of that with deep sincerity and with a desired goal of helping families remember what they don’t yet know they will forget, I wouldn’t blame you for being a little skeptical of my suggestion that photos of your new baby are super important. After all, I’d love for you to hire me to do those photos! So instead of simply telling you why I think you should make a photo session with your brand new baby a priority, I’d love to show why I know that this is true.

Why I know that newborn photos are meaningful beyond measure

If you know me or follow along with me on social media, you might know that I have two children. When my older daughter was a baby I’d not yet started photographing my family on a regular basis, nor did we hire a photographer to help us remember those first chaotically beautiful months of our life with a new baby. The memories of that time in our lives as a brand new family of three lives in our minds and in the digital cloud, and I freely admit that I am often saddened by the fact that I don’t have better photos of the baby who made me a mother.

By the time I had my second child, I’d begun to photograph my everyday life quite regularly. I am lucky to have had a good camera and enough skill to decently photograph the early days of her life and to preserve the feeling of our family growing by one more.

And our family grew by one…

When I look back at these photos I feel so many things. I feel wonder at the miracle of the existence of these two girls who I am so lucky to call my children. I am grateful that I took the time to preserve these seemingly insignificant moments as now in hindsight they feel so very important. I see the technical flaws and imperfections in these photos and am happy for them because they represent who I was as a photographer at that moment. I remember the poignant mix of emotions that characterized life with little babies for me: joy, anxiety, love, fear, contentment, wonder.

For me, at least, having babies proved to be a complicated and beautiful amalgamation of feeling. And looking at these photos brings it all right back. I can’t say much with certainty about how best to be a parent, but I can say with absolute certainty that photos that tell the story of your journey as a parent starting right at the beginning are invaluable. I feel like I can even promise that this is true.

That age-worn adage about time moving too quickly is so often said because it’s true. I look at the photos below of that tiny baby today and feel amazement at the speed and beauty of her growth and transformation. I would guess that you feel something similar about your own children, too.