Maybe it’s just me, but the tiniest things make me remember by son as a newborn. He was born September 1st at 39 weeks, so I spent the entire summer very large and very pregnant. In retrospect I think it was a blessing because I could spent hours upon hours floating in a pool, which was the only time I was comfortable. Four years later, floating in our tiny above ground pool still reminds me of how much he kicked when I was in the water.
The day we came home from the hospital it was 98° and 1000% humidity, I’m sure of it! Ever since my son could walk he’s been running around barefoot as soon as it’s warm enough—which for him is anything above freezing. Summertime is my favorite time of year and I love that it makes me remember being pregnant and having a newborn. Had I been clever enough to have newborn photos done, and had I thought about it, I would have asked for bright summer colors—turquoise, grass green, bright yellow—because that’s how I think about him. Bright and colorful and fun.
Smells are such a strong memory trigger and along with that, I think colors are to a certain degree as well. For instance, cinnamon makes me think of a deep wine red and a rich brown but the smell of rain on the way makes me think of green grass and pale blue. So with that in mind, I try to style my newborn sessions to the season, but still within the parameters of your color choices. I’ve noticed in my work that in the Spring I pull muted and pale tones of the same colors that would be jewel tones in the fall and even paler in the winter. Seasons have always had color palettes in my mind, so I like to stay within certain tones at different times of the year.
When you look at your newborn portraits, I want you to remember how it felt to hold that tiny life in your arms. Remember the smell of the air when you left the hospital, or what the first adorable but impractical outfit you got to dress them in looked like. Chances are you didn’t put your July baby in a Christmas dress at 3 weeks old, but I don’t know your life.
Can you tell which season all these littles were born during?
