“These images are absolutely beautiful,” I said to Sera after receiving our newborn photos from the photoshoot a few weeks ago. It was hard to believe our daughter was so small just a few weeks ago, and yet here she was in these photographs looking so perfect and ethereal. We had truly been given a gift of which we’ll be thankful for a lifetime’s worth.

Yes, I’m talking about Gracelyn, but there was another gift too — the photographs themselves. At some point in our pregnancy, our wedding photographer reached out to us with a gesture of kindness. After hearing about our miscarriage in an earlier pregnancy, she offered to take baby photos of our little girl for us with nothing in return. I have been a fan of Angie Knutson (no relation) and her photography for many years and was thrilled when she agreed to photograph my wedding in 2013. At the time, I simply admired her photos of babies and children and hoped I could convince her to do something that might be a bit out of her scope. She blew my expectations out of the water, and I knew she’d do the same with Gracelyn’s photographs.

Prior to Angie’s email to us, Sera and I had talked about newborn photos and had settled on using my amateur skills to capture these early days in Gracelyn’s life. I’m decent with a camera and have a few weddings and senior photos under my belt. The cost of spending money on taking photographs I was probably skilled enough to do seemed more like a want instead of a need. I can now clearly proclaim my ignorance for all my readers to see. Newborn photography requires a talent I never knew someone could have, and I don’t know what I was thinking when I said I could handle it.

Did you know you have to be good with babies to be a newborn photographer? This seems like common sense, but I didn’t really realize what being good with babies meant. I’d say before having Gracelyn, most babies didn’t cry if I held them, so I considered myself at the good level. I could change a diaper (if absolutely needed) and hold a bottle, so there’s nothing I really couldn’t handle, right? Flash forward to our one-week-old baby girl who refuses to pose in any lady-like position while crying for one of a handful of possible reasons, and I realized maybe I’m not great with babies in the way a photographer needs to be. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve gotten some great photos of my little girl, but they aren’t anywhere near the professional level.

One of the best parts of visiting Angie’s studio in Medford was me being able to see just how she does it. I have zero plans to become a newborn photographer, but watching her work greatly improved how I now take photos of Gracelyn. Angie demonstrated an innate ability to pose our daughter gracefully while ensuring she was safely wrapped and looking picture perfect. Time and time again Gracelyn stretched or cried, ruining what Angie had worked so hard to accomplish, and yet she simply started over again moving little fingers and toes until they were all in the perfect spot. I have never seen this level of patience in a human before. Plus, her precision to detail clearly showcased her inner artist who knew exactly what to do to create her photographic masterpieces.

And now, those masterpieces are mine and Sera’s to treasure for a lifetime. I’ll never think twice about paying for a newborn photographer again. Just looking back on these photographs has shown us how much Gracelyn has progressed in a few short weeks. Was it possible that we were already forgetting a few of those early memories with her? With these images, we’ll forever remember that little baby smile from when she was just a few days old, and what her tiny fingernails looked like in those early days. While Angie certainly has a price for the images she takes, to us, they’re priceless.

What I love about the gift we received was that it came from someone wanting to do something good. We all have the ability to do what Angie did for us in some way. I encourage you to use your skills and talents to help someone else this week. It’s a blessing to be a blessing, and we all know someone who could use a gift.