a personal story | {harper's fresh48} | lifestyle newborn photographer

To date, I have taken approximately 7,244 photos of my daughter. She is 142 days old. Of the thousands of photos I’ve taken, my most treasured are the 49 that I snapped in the hospital within her first 48 hours of her tiny little life. The delivery of a baby is no small feat-physically, mentally or emotionally so I know how new mommies feel when they say they’re ‘too tired’ or ‘too busy’ to be bothered with a photo session. ‘Hospital rooms are ugly’ ‘We didn’t bring any outfits’ I’ve heard it all and while all of this may seem true, the beauty of a fresh48 session is the sheer LACK of superficial beauty. The beauty lies within baby’s soft, supple skin, tiny blemishes representing the beautiful journey into the world they just experienced, the glow of a brand new mommy & the protective snuggles of a new daddy. These intimate and organic photos are ones that can only be captured in the hospital room. A baby’s stay in the hospital is so blissfully brief, that if not treasured, is soon forgotten.

You’ll notice that my daughter is sprinkled with baby acne, her hair is oily, my husband is wearing a grungy craft brewery t-shirt & I am hardly more than a zombie wrapped in a robe. But when I look at these photos months later, it’s not any of these imperfections that I notice. Instead, I notice her sleepy furrowed brow, the way her tiny legs curled perfectly together, the curve of her sweet button nose and how squishy and itsy she looks snuggled into my husbands chest. When her newborn session arrived just 14 short days later, she refused to sleep, her acne was gone, and she no longer curled her tiny little legs together so perfectly. She was still a newborn, but she wasn’t as fresh as she was within her first 48 hours of life. This, of course, isn’t to say that I don’t adore her newborn session, because believe me, I do, but my passion for fresh48 sessions has been something I feel the need to share not only as a photographer, but as a new mommy myself.

Now, as my daughter is learning to sit up and eat solid food, I often flip through her fresh48 album and smile at all of the fleeting moments that were captured so tenderly. They are now a memory. A priceless, tangible memory that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I hope that this perhaps enhances your perception of fresh48 sessions and encourages you to re-think your original concerns because there is no shame in capturing the beautiful imperfections. There is only the opportunity to capture the most fragile and fleeting moments of your brand new baby’s brand new life.