When I picked up a camera for the first time, I knew I had found where I belonged. I loved the feeling of taking photos. More importantly, I loved how I could make others feel about themselves and their lives.
I enter into each photo session with two main purposes: to capture who the people are and what they are feeling in that moment. I do so with gratitude that they entrusted themselves to me and my camera. In turn, it is my mission to find the beauty in them (I never have to look very far) and show them just how beautiful they are.
I invest my whole heart in every photo session. It is the only way I know how. But sometimes, I walk away from a session profoundly changed and deeply moved.
Last week, I found myself in the NICU, visiting my cousin and his courageous wife, just days after welcoming their son, Ernest into the world six weeks early. My cousin had asked if I would come take photos of Ernie. I asked him if he wanted to wait until they brought him home and he said no, that he would like me to come to the hospital.
Let me start by saying that Baby E and his mama are healthy and doing just fine, but his arrival into the world has certainly shaken them up. In the hour that I was at the hospital, I felt a range of emotions. I can only imagine what the new mom and dad are feeling.
Hospitals always have a certain energy that you can’t find anywhere else, but enter a room in the neo-natal intensive care unit, and you can’t help but step lighter, breathe deeper, and feel a sense of gratitude for this precious life you are living. If I had to describe the energy in the room, I would say that it was tender. Tender, in every sense of the word. The tender love between new parents, as they navigate their way through exhaustion and hope and fear and diaper changes and feedings, all the while Baby E staying cozy in his incubator. The tenderness between a new daddy and his baby as he figures out the best way to hold his child. The tenderness between mother and son as she looks in his eyes and recognizes someone familiar.
Tender laughs. Tender tears. Tender kisses.
This is why photography is important. Moments are fleeting. Time passes quickly. Life will never go according to plan. However, if we are able to slow it down, even just a little bit, we will be able to look back and savor the moment. Baby Ernest will look back and see where it all began. He’ll see how strong and beautiful his parents were. He’ll see how strong and beautiful he was.
And he will know that he is deeply loved.
{Darrah Parker is a family, baby, and portrait photographer, specializing in capturing candid moments and real “slices of life.” She is available for photo sessions in the Seattle area and beyond. For details on how to book your session, contact Darrah.}
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Absolutely beautiful…………
xoxo barbara
So precious, Darrah. Your post has brought me to tears just imagining, as you described, the range of emotions and depth of love. Thank you for sharing this special moment with us. <3
beautiful record for the parents. Glad you shared.
Darrah,
I am happy to know that little Baby E and his family are all ok.
And Darrah, I just want you to know how deeply I admire you–and the incredible work you offer into the world. Thank you.
BIG Hugs.
I cried to see the photos. Blessings to the family
tears here too – this is beautiful… so breakable… blessings to the new parents!
your photos are amazing!
What a beautiful post, and such lovely photographs. What gift you bring to those new parents.
Darrah, these are wonderful photographs. I think it is great that they wanted you to come to the hospital. It's an important documentation of the beginning of his life, no matter how rough it is.
Darrah, So precious!!!!! This session brings a tear to my eye. Your cousins are lucky to have you document this tender beginning to Baby E's life. xoxoxo
Darrah,
These pictures are so touching!
and so are your words!
warm beginnings.
This made me teary as well – you really captured the beauty and joy of birth, along with fragility of the circumstances. Outstanding work, as always.
Oh, Darrah. Those photographs, they are so important. I was born two months premature, my twin and I, and the only photographs of us are showing us hooked up to so many wires, covered with gauze and so small, so fragile. But they show my mom smiling, so big, even after there was only one of us alive, she smiled when she held me, and so did my dad.
These photographs will hold such a special place in each of their hearts, every single person in the photographs, because you captured E's strength, his cute little toes, and I do believe he's smiling in that last photograph! You are showing all the joy and happiness and love for him, and the sacredness of his entrance into this big beautiful world. All of those hands around him, cradling him, protecting him, holding him.
Ha! I'm crying, too. You have an amazing gift. Trust that.
These are so precious Darrah! You captured the moment incredibly!
Yes, as Jenn said, those pictures are so important. My twins were born nearly 2 months premature, and most of their pictures are ones with wires and such. However, I am blessed that they both survived and are in good health. The NICU is like no other place, not like any other part of the hospital. The people, both those who work there and those families receiving care, are remarkable. Tell little E's parents that is gets easier, and in a matter of days they will become experts and holding him, feeding him and knowing his needs — just like any other newborn. Some days it is a bit more frightening than others, but there will be people to hold their hand. Best wishes, and lovely images!
Darrah, I cry each time I look at these photos of my boy. Thank you for being in the moment with us and capturing it with such grace.
Darin and Krista, I appreciate the NICU stories. He is healthy, growing, and out of the incubator. It is an experience I never thought I would have, so I am thankful that the nurses are there teaching us. Today was his first bath with us and there is nothing to compare to the feeling of his little fingers holding one of mine as he gazes into my eyes relaxing. Sigh…
We are working on the bottle and breast feeding, it is a slow process, but then again, he should have had another 4 weeks to develop those skills, so we are learning together.
oops, NICU stories are from Amy and Jenn. Exhausted mom.
Heart wrenching photos. BEAUTIFUL.
As a NICU nurse, I really appreciate these photos. The awesome strength of our little ones is an inspiration to me. My favorite day is the one in which I remove the "tube" that then allows the baby to be held for the first time by his or her parents. It is truly magic.
Jelena, Sam, Darrah, and sweet handsome Ernest,
First I would like to say " WELCOME" to baby Ernest, he certainly was in a hurry to meet his wonderful parents.
Congratulations to you Jelena and Sam, on the birth of your adorable new baby.
And to Darrah, your pictures are priceless…. warm, tender and so meaningful, not just for now, but even more so as time goes by.
Sheril was kind enough to share this with me as she knows how much I like you and would enjoy hearing and seeing all the good news.
Much happiness to you,
Linda
I love these pictures… just beautiful!
I love the pictures and all the comments too!
thanks Darrah
i remember my own family's experience in the NICU like it was yesterday….and the photos we have from that time are absolutely priceless to me. you have given your family a lovely gift.
(ps- i can see the resemblance between you and your cousin! it's striking, actually.)
What a tender gift these photos are to the family. You have a blessing, in your photography.
My grandfather's name was Ernest. It was a lovely thing to see that name here, shared with a new little life.