Tucker, custom newborn session

This session was full of emotion. Baby’s grandfather had passed away, and mom wished to incorporate some details from his life into the session. She described him as a politician, but said that he’d also been a logger prior to that. Dad also had some requests for the session, as he works on cars, and brought quite a few props into the studio to see what we could do with them.

I honestly never thought about putting a baby in a tire before, but these turned out to be some of my favorite images! They worked perfectly with the brick wall of my studio and some dramatic lighting. Dad plans on hanging up a large print in his garage. The tire and toolbox that he brought also belonged to baby’s grandfather, so it was another way to honor him as well.

Mom brought in some of her dad’s shirts, which I draped over a chair, and added some birch logs to represent grandpa’s life as a logger. After my grandmother passed away, it was a great comfort to have some of her shirts – it felt like getting a hug from her. So I loved the idea of baby crawling up into a chair to fall asleep, with grandpa’s arms wrapped around him.

I always take inspiration from babies falling asleep in different places – probably because that’s exactly what my son would do. He never really liked sleeping in his crib, but you could always find him tucked into a cabinet, under a desk, in a shopping cart, or in the middle of the living room floor, sound asleep. I picture these little newborns as they get older, crawling around and exploring, and the safe little nooks they might find themselves sleeping in.