I thought I knew family photography… then I had my second baby
I thought I knew everything about family photography—until I had my second baby. Suddenly, photography became more than just a way to document life; it became a form of therapy, a tool for connection, and a fresh way to see the world through my child’s eyes. From handing my camera over to my 8-year-old to embracing the surprising power of a phone camera, this journey has reshaped how I capture motherhood. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the chaos of parenting, you might just find that photography can be an unexpected source of comfort and creativity.
Photography as therapy
Until this year, I used photography to document our family life. But the challenges of second-time motherhood opened up a deeper and more powerful use of photography as a way of expressing my inner world.
To say that having another baby after 8 years was challenging would be an understatement. Aside from our long IVF journey and rather traumatic birth, how motherhood shrank my world and confined me physically came as a real shock. Making photographs helped me to express these feelings more accurately than speaking or writing them down.
This photo was made when I was deep in the newborn trenches.
It’s blurry, but so is life with a sleepless baby! This photo was made when I was starting to really enjoy being a mum again.
Let your children be the photographer
There are many things I can do with one hand (roughly chop a carrot, load the dishwasher, fill the kettle) but pushing the shutter on my Fuji X Pro II camera while holding the camera itself is not one of them. My partner was too busy to take photos of me and our baby due to balancing work and keeping the house in some form of order. So I naturally gravitated to our 8-year-old daughter as the next-in-line photographer. Yes, she’s grown up watching me make photos and yes, I have shown her a few ways to improve her photography. But she really did surprise me at how good a photographer she is. Her images feel fresh and vibrant and bring a new perspective - literally, as she is shorter than me, but also in how she sees the world. So, I urge you to try this with your own children too, in a way that of course, keeps your camera/phone safe!
Photo taken by our daughter V (8) showing what life looks and feels like for her. I love the composition, which feels fresh and has a sense of spontaneity.
Another images taken by V. Her shorter height means she can get right up and close.
Phone cameras sometimes do a better job (Oh my goodness, I can’t believe those words left my keyboard!)
Having smashed my iPhone (released in 2020) on the kitchen floor one evening, I got a refurbished iPhone 13. And I must say, its ability to photograph in low light has rather astounded me. Now, technically what the phone camera is doing to achieve this is, in my opinion, outside the realms of actual photography (as powerful image processing software is used at the time the photo is made). But I’m so enjoying the results!
My camera would have struggled in this light but my phone created this sharp image - it’s a different aesthetic that I’m still not sure about but it’s pretty impressive!
So there it is, three ways that being a second-time mum changed my views about how family photography ‘should’ be done. If you have had a major life change that’s affected how you use photography in your life, please tell me about it!
