Exist in your children's photographs

It doesn’t matter how beautiful we think someone is it’s likely that some will have their own insecurities about the way they look. Naturally this makes them feel self conscious and it puts them off being photographed during my photo shoots. This is particularly true for Mums. New mums especially find it hard to love their post pregnancy bodies and therefore don’t want to be in the photographs with their newborns. I also find that some Mums and Dads feel they look tired and not their best so decide not to have photographs involving them. I always respect the wishes of the parents, if they don’t want to be in the photographs I never make them.  But I always worry that they will regret it later on. 

Eva Newborn-24

Imagine your child in a few years time, looking through the photo albums, reminiscing about all those precious memories created and recorded with photography. Where will you be?   What will you say to your child when they ask why you’re not in any of the photographs. What do you think they will say if you told them it’s because you didn’t like the way you looked. I’m pretty confident that your child loves you just as you are and doesn’t even notice those insecurities you have with your own body. They just want you to be part of their memories. 

What have you got to lose? Taking part in one of the photos doesn’t mean you have to have it printed on the biggest canvas you can and have it on the walls at home to look at everyday. I’m quite confident that you will actually love looking back at those memories of you cradling you new baby or cuddling your child. No one ever regretted having a photograph with them in it. I bet there are plenty of people that do regret not having any photos of themselves though. 

My job as a photographer is to pose my clients in such a way that anything they might feel insecure about is much less noticeable in the photographs. For example most of the mums that come to me for a newborn session haven’t got their pre pregnancy body back just yet. Therefore I always photograph them from the waist up. 

If you can’t do it for you, then do it for your child. They will love looking back through photos of them with their parents. I bet you’ll be glad you did in years to come. 

Don’t be like me, I deeply regret not having photos of my pregnancies for example and I cannot get that time back. Selina, one of my friends is a very talented maternity photographer in Swindon. I love how she has a lovely mix of studio maternity sessions as well as taking her skills outside for her outdoor maternity sessions. Take a look at Selina’s blog here  https://www.minimoostudios.com/blogs/2019/10/2/why-maternity-photography where she talks about the importance of having a maternity session.