At-Home Baby Photos in Tucson | A Year in the Life

Her favorite seat right now? On top of Dad’s head.

At almost seven months old, this little girl was crawling, close to pulling herself up to stand, and finding plenty of reasons to laugh.

When I returned to this family’s Tucson home in September, we had a whole new chapter to photograph: starting solids, playing on the floor, and discovering how much fun it is to splash Dad in the pool.

This was our third session together in their six-session Year in the Life photography experience. Her parents chose activities they currently love doing with her, which gave us a lovely starting point: spend time together doing the things that belong to this stage of her life.

From one week old to almost seven months

I first photographed their daughter when she was just a week old. At our second session, when she was three months old, we captured a bath, nursing with Mom, and time outside on a blanket with her grandmother.

You can see an earlier chapter of this family’s year on the blog.

This time, she had new skills, new interests, and a very enthusiastic relationship with her dad’s head. Held up there, she smiled and laughed, with her little hands resting on him.

Seeing those changes is one of my favorite parts of photographing the same family throughout the year. We can make room for what matters now, while the earlier photographs hold onto what came before.

Floor play and a favorite tissue-box toy

One of her current favorite activities is pulling tissues out of a box. Her parents wanted to remember that, so we brought out a toy version for her to explore.

It’s such a useful starting point when planning baby photos at home: what does your baby keep reaching for? What makes her curious? What gets a laugh?

For this family, time on the floor gave us room for toys, little hands investigating, and face-to-face play with both parents. Alongside the bigger expressions, I photographed details like her hand resting on her leg and the way she reached toward her parents’ faces.

Those details help tell the story of being almost seven months old, right alongside the milestones.

Starting solids, spoonful by spoonful

She had recently started solids, so mealtime was something her parents especially wanted photographed.

We included the high chair, the spoon, her parents helping her, and the food that didn’t quite make it into her mouth. I love the close photograph of her fingers reaching toward the spoon, with a little food still around her lips.

For anyone wondering what to do during an at-home family photography session, this is one possibility:

include a routine you’re already living. Feeding your baby gives you something familiar to do together, and it preserves a stage that will soon look different.

A first splash without her float

Later, we headed to the pool. This was her first time experiencing it without her float, held by her parents in the water.

She discovered that splashing with her hands could get Dad very wet in the face. She enjoyed it. The photographs of her arms up, water moving around her, and her parents laughing are some of my favorites from this session.

We also photographed her in her float, giving this chapter both a familiar activity and a new experience.

What made the pool photographs personal was knowing why we were there:

this family loves spending that time together, and their daughter was discovering another way to enjoy it.

Planning baby photos around your everyday life

You don’t need to invent an elaborate activity for a session like this. Start with what your family currently enjoys.

Before we photograph, think about:

A new skill or routine you want to remember.
A toy, game, or interaction your baby loves.
Something you enjoy doing together at home.

For this family, the answers were floor play, starting solids, being held on Dad’s head, and pool time. Another family’s session might include a bath, a walk, or time with a grandparent.

Your answers help me plan photographs that feel specific to your family.

Another chapter in their Year in the Life

We’re halfway through this family’s six sessions. Already, their photographs span a one-week-old newborn, a three-month-old spending time with her grandmother, and an almost-seven-month-old exploring food, toys, and water.

That’s what I love about Year in the Life photography in Tucson: we get to return to your family’s story as it changes. Each session adds something new, and the photographs come together in a custom photo book at the end of the year.

If you’d love photographs of your baby’s milestones alongside the everyday things you do together, let’s talk about your family. We can start with what life looks like right now.