The Importance of Capturing Milestones
I always say it–photographing the same families and watching kiddos grow is one of the biggest honors of my job.
I photographed this family with their cute baby boy in 2020. I still remember the quizzical stares he gave me–he was a pandemic baby and hadn’t spent much time with people other than Mom and Dad.
In 2021 we met up to document him (and his parents) as he hit the milestone of turning 1.
His personality had changed–since he sees more people, he was a bit less wary of me and my camera. It was SO FUN to chat away with him and swoon over how cute he is. There were more smiles to document, more playing to capture, more stubbornness to shape into good photos. I loved it!
And to me, this is the importance of documenting milestones–they highlight the fleeting moments of time, but on a regular basis. They give you a visual history that will help spark the little memories that tell your story.
For example, I have yearly photos of my boys blowing out birthday candles. The photos tell me who was there, what the boys were into at that point in time, when certain teeth grew in (or fell out)…
I hope when this mom and dad look back at the photos of their boy at 1, they will remember how much he smiled, his love of playing catch with rolling balls, his teetering steps, his love of exploring, and his firm opinions on how he should be spending his time.
All images © Susannah Allen 2021
