I hate admitting regrets, and I don’t harbor many but one that nags at me more than I care to admit is that I didn’t have any video of my wedding day. We have lots of beautiful photos, but I think videos capture the moment in a way pictures just can’t.
I didn’t video any of my births (I’m not sure if I’d want to watch that over and over). But I didn’t want to regret missing video of my big kids meeting their little sister.
Not one, but two cameras went into my hospital bag. I went back and forth trying to decide which ones to bring and ultimately packed my Canon EOS M50 and my Canon Powershot G7X Mark II.
The Powershot G7X Mark II is be easy enough for my husband, or even my daughter to use if need be, by just pushing the “on” button then the “record” button. I also planned to have a friend and photographer come to help document, thankfully because labor didn’t go quite like I’d expected. My friend Paige (who also shoots Canon, whoohoo!) came and captured some of our first moments together as a family. Many of those picture you saw featured in my birth story. Once Paige left I climbed out of bed, got some makeup on, pulled out my cameras to capture a bit more of these first moments together and get it on video.
The smile the burst across my son and daughter’s faces when they walked in pretty much stayed the entire time they were in their baby sister’s presence. (Except for when they took her to get a shot and she started crying.They cried too. It was the saddest/sweetest thing I’ve ever seen).
Each of them held their hands out wide to take a turn holding her. They spoke to her, gave her kisses, and doted over her the entire time.
“You and your sisters were not like this,” my mom said to me. “You didn’t care about holding your little sisters, you had other things to do!”
I knew Lil’ J was ready but I had no idea how excited my son was to be a big brother. Protective from the start, and excited to hold her. He asked me if she’d call me mommy too, and he was really concerned about her not opening her eyes (she was sleeping).
It only took a few minutes to record a video while in the hospital of our first few hours with our new baby girl. I didn’t do this with my others, and I knew creating a video was one thing I wanted to do differently this time. I pulled out my new EOS M50 and was able to create something I know we’ll cherish forever:
Tips for capturing first moments with your new baby:
- -It’s not just about video, but sound too: One of my favorite parts of this video is my oldest whispering “I can’t believe it. She’s my sister!”
- -Zoom in, get the tiny details: hospital wristbands, baby’s name tag, birth weight, and those tiny toes.
- -Autofocus is BAE: Take advantage of your touch screen and auto-focusing to give a beautiful cinematic look to your videos.
- -Flip your screen up: And get yourself in the video. You can prop your camera up on a nearby shelf or send it out
- -Don’t be afraid to pass your camera along: If you can’t or don’t feel up to getting up right away, pass it along to a friendly nurse or your partner. I had my husband take the camera as our baby went over for her first measurements.
The best advice I can give to parents wanting to record and savor these early days is to keep your camera handy. I find when my camera is out and within reach I’m more likely to use it and record great video of our newborn. Try setting it in a place you know you’ll be with your baby. I kept mine on the diaper changer for a few days, recorded that part of our routine, then moved it near a seat where I nurse her. I’ve captured a lot of sweet moments this way.
These first few months with a new baby become so hazy. The days are long but the years are short. A lot of days I can’t wait until it’s bedtime. Yet I can’t believe our little baby has already been alive a month. Years later, I know I’ll be so glad I took some time to record these moments and I’m sure you will be too!
You deserve to have great photos and video to look back on and cherish as your family grows up. I’m teaming up with Canon again to share how we capture special moments as a family and to help you learn how to capture some awesome moments with yours.
The post The Story Behind When My Kids Met for the First Time appeared first on Cherish365.
