As a mother and a Columbus family photographer, I understand how important life's most fleeting moments are. A milestone session is a great way to capture your child in the here and now. Document their cute dimples and teeth poking through. From maternity to 12 months and beyond, a session focused on capturing these important life moments is something you'll treasure long after this phase has passed.
Why Should I Book a Milestone Session?
Milestone sessions are made to document this specific time in your child's life so you can remember all of the sweet details that make your child exactly who they are at this specific time in their lives. You can look back at a specific stage and remember everything about your baby in that moment. Parents often book a session for their newborns in the first couple of weeks of life. Fresh babies sleep most of the time and want to remember everything about that sleepless time!
Once you've started taking their photos, it'll be hard to stop, which is precisely where milestone sessions come in. Many families schedule sessions periodically throughout their baby's first year to capture their new tricks, ever-growing personality, and adorable little features.
Maternity Photos
Throughout your pregnancy and planning for a baby, you may be on the fence about booking a maternity session. Consider it the beginning of your child's milestones! These photos are not only for you, but for child to take a peek at what their mom looked like while pregnant. For that child, it's a peek into the past to see the excitement the family shared about their arrival and how loved they were from the beginning.
A maternity session is the start of welcoming your new bundle of joy to the world. It is all about documenting this unique life experience. We create this session together using sentimental items you have for baby or perhaps an ultrasound photo or sign. We offer a complimentary wardrobe of maternity gowns for use so you can choose something that flatters your growing bump and fits the vibe of your session.
We'll start with your maternity photos and discuss when you'd like to bring your baby for their next session! Future sessions are usually booked when the baby is a couple weeks old, six to nine months old, or about a year old (cake smash session).
3 Month Milestone Session
In those first couple of months, many changes will begin to occur. Your baby is starting to notice people, and the world around them is much more enjoyable. Many times, outfits given as gifts at birth simply don't fit during newborn photos. This is a better opportunity to wear those outfits and showcase a little more personality, as babies are more alert at three months than the first few weeks.
Six-Nine Month Milestone Session
This milestone session is often parents' favorite as their babies begin showing more personality and sitting. Not all babies sit at the six-month stage, but they are often close! All children are different and will work on balance throughout their first year. Schedule your session when you feel comfortable that your baby can sit unassisted without falling. As a bonus, babies are typically smiling and reacting more to others, and may even laugh!
Cake Smash Session
Lastly and arguably one of the most fun, the cake smash session. This milestone takes place right around the first birthday and lets your baby dress up and have fun eating cake! These photos can be used for memories, party invitations, and even decorating their nursery. Many families use these photos to decorate at a first birthday party or on thank you notes. A cake smash session is a great way to capture a wide range of emotions and lets your baby get comfortable and explore before diving in. We usually combine some cake smash photos with some non-cake individual pictures of baby and family photos. This is typically the end of the baby's first-year sessions!
What's Next?
You may wonder what's next after completing your baby's milestone sessions. Family photos! Family photographers in Columbus like myself will help capture your entire family's growth for years. After the first year of your baby's life, their growth starts to slow down, and capturing family photos once or twice each year are a great way to capture that growth. With mini sessions, it makes it easy to do more frequent photography sessions of your growing child. It's a great way to keep the family photos in your home updated and give you great pictures for memory books and family updates.
What do you think? Will you book milestone sessions for your little ones?