Back in India, grandparents visit their son/ daughter and help them in taking care of newborn child and the mother. Because it is overwhelming for the first-time parents to handle this literally full-time job, a little help during sleepless nights and complete control over special meals for the breast feeding mother is usually job of a grandmother.

Amishi is my cousin brother and sister-in-law’s daughter. She was born on June 16th 2016. Due to some unfortunate reasons, my aunt (Amishi’s grandmother) could not come at the time of her birth, so I visited my cousin in San Jose to help them in this beautiful phase of their life. This was my first time taking care of a newborn, so it was overwhelming for all of us (me,my cousin and his wife), but we somehow managed to do everything with advice of our elders over calls and video chats.

While baby sitting Amishi, I sometimes got chance to make images of her daily schedule of crying, sleeping, feeding and trying to see the new world . This was not exactly a day in a life session of a newborn/ family but very similar to it.

What is a “a day in a life photoshoot”?

I am a candid photographer and I love capturing moments in people’s life as naturally as possible. These “a day in a life” sessions are not so common with the families yet, as they don’t realize its importance. But it really captures the essence of how your daily life is. There are none or very few posed photographs in these sessions.

In these sessions, I stay with the family the night before the day of the session, so as to develop a rapport with the family and so that the children or other family members expect me with a camera in hand early in the morning. I spend the day with the family (about 10-12 hrs) and make images of their routine life. For example, mom or dad cooking breakfast for their children, getting them ready for the school, doing house chores, going to workplace, getting back from school/ work, eating meals together, children doing their school homework, playing with their siblings or friends, bedtime stories, going to bed etc. There is no age or family size limit to these sessions. My aim is to make beautiful memories out of the mundane activities and create a means for the family to reflect on their bond.

Now that you know what this is about, give these sessions as a gift to your friends, relatives and loved ones.

I will be in India from October 2016 to January 2017. Book your session now and contact me at info@sonalsukheeja.com for more details.

Here are some of the images of Amishi, which I made when I visited her.