WHAT’S A FRESH48 SESSION ANYWAY?

As newborn photographers (and new parents), we’ve come to realise a bittersweet truth about babies. But happily, we think we may have found a way to face it.

It’s a widely accepted fact: Babies do more growing in their first year than at any other point of their lives. That’s a lot of growing up in just 12 short months. A newborn baby changes so rapidly in the days and weeks after birth that if you blinked, you’d probably have missed some adorable little development. Another “fun” fact we learnt was that babies easily double in size and weight in their first 4 or 5 months, before slowing down a little bit after that. 

While all this talk about growing may be music to the ears of new parents who constantly worry whether their baby is drinking or eating enough for his or her age (those upper percentiles may not mean much but can awaken a competitive streak in new parents!), it isn’t great from our point of view as baby photographers.

This bittersweet truth—that babies grow too darn fast—is what inspired us, as newborn photographers, to offer Baby Milestone sessions which allow mummies and daddies to capture their little one’s developmental and growth milestones starting from about 2 months of age. But what about before, like wayyyy before. Do babies not grow and change relentlessly from the moment they are born?

The truth is, they absolutely do change, a lot, in just those first few hours! But there’s no reason not to have some photographs taken while mummy and daddy are just chilling in the hospital ward for a few days. That’s what our Fresh48 Session is for.

What exactly is a Fresh48 session, you may be wondering? Is it a newborn session done at the hospital? And are there props and backdrops and makeup involved? Well, it’s a hospital session where we aim to capture all the joy, tenderness and affection that new mummies and daddies are just brimming with after meeting their little bundle(s) just a few hours ago. We’ve been there, and it is definitely a feeling that’s difficult to describe.

With a Fresh48 Session, we think we’re helping relieve some of the pressure to remember everything, and everyone; the way your brand new baby looked hours after birth, the wrinkly skin, those first few grimaces and smiles babies make as they take in the world around. And of course, there are the new parents: the admiring eyes of daddy, mummy’s instant bond with her new baby, and the way new parents oh-so-gently caress and snuggle their newborn

We also love capturing the unrestraint expressions of glee of older children when they meet their new sibling, and gushing grandparents are a welcomed addition, too!

We’re really maxing out our vocabularies here trying to describe the feelings surrounding a baby’s arrival. Maybe words don’t do enough justice. Photographs really are an easier and more expressive way of remembering those important first few hours with baby at the hospital. As trite as the saying may be, pictures really do paint a thousand words.

Written by Timothy Fernandez © Copyright 2019 Bows and Ribbons Photography