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Filed under: Activities: Babies, Media
Parents are taking the baby growth chart a giant leap forward. By chronicling their children's growth in more high-tech -- and public -- ways, on blogs and Flickr and YouTube, the whole family can watch junior's expansion phases.
Like this.
"A Year of Lex" is the brainchild of Zachery Bir and Amber Smirnow of Richmond, VA. The couple, both 35, started photographing their son, Alexander, the day he was born, taking one photo each day for an entire year.
"Some friends of ours have a nicely framed set of monthly pictures of their daughter, showing her growth through her first year," Bir told ParentDish via email. "I thought that would be a great project, and I wanted to try my hand at a year's worth of daily shots. We also took weekly shots (every Wednesday) and monthly shots (on the 30th of each month and the 28th of February)."
Bir and Smirnow did minimal staging for the photos; they just let Lex do his infant thing, which included laughing and crying and messing with the props they provided, while the parents focused on the overall quality of the photos.
"We experimented a lot with the proper use of light," Bir said. "You can see early on in the movie that we were using just ambient light, and that forced a lot of post-production to try and bring out an even exposure. What ended up working the best was taking the picture at the same time each day, with only natural light, and using a bounce flash for fill." The charm of the video, of course, is that Lex is never posed; he's a real baby, doing real baby things.
Will they do it again for Lex's second year? Bir said no.
"We've stopped doing daily photos, but are continuing with weekly and monthly. For his third year, we'll be cutting back further to monthly," he said. "He's very mobile now, and doesn't have quite the patience for staying put that he had when newborn."
Bir said that he and Smirnow have been pleasantly surprised by their son's internet fame.
"We're pretty stunned ... overall, we've been really grateful for the reaction it's received," he said.
You can read more about Lex's life at Bir's blog, Urbanape, and at Smirow's blog, Princess Crankypants.
Have you photographed your child's growth?
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 7)
8-11-2009 @ 12:17PM
Juli said...To Lex's parents: What a sweet video! I loved the song you chose, too! No doubt Lex will be glad you did this later on, and his grandparents, aunts and uncles must be enjoying the video now!
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8-11-2009 @ 12:34PM
Moonlady said...Cute idea! I have an 11 month old son and I have been working on a slideshow dvd for our friends and family. When our son was first born, my husband had to be away for a month for work. I video taped him and took pictures everyday and sent them to my husband, so he could watch him grow. This was a very neat project!!!
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8-11-2009 @ 12:22PM
Oliva said...That was awesome I only wish I had done something like that with my son. I take pics all the time, but it would be neat to have pictures from everday and set them up in something like that. What a great idea.
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8-11-2009 @ 12:25PM
kellymarie0215 said...Precious! The year seems to go by in two minutes doesn't it? My oldest son is starting high school this year and I can still picture him perfectly as a little baby just like that!!!
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8-11-2009 @ 12:38PM
Lindsey said...This video is too cute! Wish I would have thought to do this with my girls! Also want to say YAY for cloth! Fluffy butts are so cute!
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8-11-2009 @ 12:43PM
Cat said...There's a joke about a nanny NOT videotaping the baby's first steps for the mother, her excuse "Don't worry, I'll always remember." There is nothing like those memories and they are best shared. No, not shared with millions of people on the internet, shared with the little person who requires the attention of his parents moer then the lighting and exposure. I don't say this in judgement, but in warning. Sure, I took pictures of my first two kids, then i got a video camera with my third. While I got a lot of footage which we've watched very little, I missed out on a lot of "there" time. Not just with the baby but with the other kids too. Chasing them out of the baby shots. Awww, how I wished I had more of my 23 year old in his crazy inventive 12 stage.
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8-11-2009 @ 6:01PM
Misty said...I love it. Such a great idea and loved the music choice too!
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8-11-2009 @ 12:47PM
Patty said...On the 4th of July NO American Star?????
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8-11-2009 @ 12:49PM
G said...ABSOLUTELY CREATIVE AND ADORABLE ... I however would never have the patience to do such an amazing project but I commend those who do ... Wonderful work and such a cutie pie!!
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8-12-2009 @ 12:37AM
jcy110 said...I took 20 seconds of video everyday for the 1st year of my 2 children. It was a 2 1/2 hr tape and the last half hour is their first birthday. It doesn't sound too hard to do but I missed about 5 days for both. Try it, the results are better than stills without sound.
They are now 14 & 16 and still love to watch the VHS, shich will soon be transferred to DVD.
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8-11-2009 @ 12:55PM
Robby Horten said...Thats was nice and great idea, but, why didnt they show him able to crawl & stand up in crib? My youngest daughter was climbing out of crib and walking around at 10 months.
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8-11-2009 @ 1:00PM
Jam said...In my endeavor to take on this same project beginning next May, I'd guess that their aim is the same as mine, which is to document the physical changes and not the developmental changes taking place.
Documenting developmental changes cannot really be captured in daily photographs because they happen slowly over time. The minute changes that take place, like holding a spoon more steadily one day than the day before, isn't really shown through the lens of a camera. Weekly or monthly photos are better geared toward the documentation of developmental changes.
8-23-2009 @ 2:50PM
lisat said...Superchild probably ISN'T walking.
8-11-2009 @ 1:11PM
fknhippie said...i am traveling right now and my babies are with grandma while i do .....this made me cry and miss my boys...what a beautiful video and a great idea
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8-11-2009 @ 12:56PM
Jam said...I've been working in childcare for the past 6 years and have watched countless children grow from tiny little 7 pound bundles into walking, talking first-graders and this video just sums up how I feel about the process so nicely. It's bittersweet, and nothing else could really explain it besides that word.
For a long time now, I've planned on taking on this same project when my child is born, and seeing it in a video makes me even more excited to take on the challenge!
Did anyone else notice the drastic change in Alexander's facial development at the beginning of January? It happens again at the end of the video when the photos hit the end of June, it's so incredible to see the tiny changes happen so quickly! He's a beautiful little baby!
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8-11-2009 @ 2:08PM
Midnight Sun said...This is hardly a new idea that they should be celebrated for!
21 years ago, when my sister was pregnant with her son, I, a graphic designer and serious amateur photographer, approached her husband about an idea about taking a photo on a regular basis until they were 2 or so. And so when Doug was born, the first photo was taken in the delivery room. The first month were daily photos and then they went to weekly photos. When my neice Kim was born almost 2 years later, Dad did the same. Since Dad was also an ardent photographer, all of the photos reflected the season, a holiday, or caught a glimpse of the time. Each photo itself stood alone but once put together in an album, it told an incredible story.
All these years later, it's still gives me goosebumps too look at those albums and watch the subtle changes as the kids grew from photo to photo and the content of the backgrounds told the story of the passage of time. Incedibile. People who, to this day, see the albums, are fascinated with the story that is told by the photos.
And I enjoyed all this 21 years ago. If you are a new parent, it's not too late to start. Your child still has a lot of growing up to do. The hard part is remembering. That's why they went to Sundays, because they were all home on Sunday afternoons after church and everyone was relaxed so it was the perfect opportunity to take just the right photo for the week. It's fun, and in the end, very rewarding, as told by the article.
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8-11-2009 @ 4:28PM
Sylvia said...My son is 30 and my daughter is 26, I took baby pictures of each one every day for the first 30 days after their birth, then once a week for the first year and once a month till they started school. It's amazing how much they change!!!! I am glad I did and so are they.
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8-11-2009 @ 1:09PM
Summerwind said...Just a word of advice for all things precious like these pictures. Make two copies of everything you possibly can. Trust me if there is a divorce this way there is no argument about who gets these treasures.
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8-11-2009 @ 1:06PM
jj said...Cute yes, but I was bored by march
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8-11-2009 @ 1:36PM
KAREN said...THIS IS SOOO ADORABLE !!!!!! I LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!....VERY CREATIVE, AND VERY SWEET !!!!!!.....I WISHED I HAD THOUGHT OF THIS WHEN I HAD MY 2 KIDS 14 & 20 YEARS AGO.......ONE IS IN COLLEGE NOW, AND THE OTHER ONE IS IN HIGH SCHOOL NOW.....SO HARD TO BELIEVE--HOW THE YEARS JUST SLIP AWAY SOOOO QUICKLY......FOR ALL OF YOU NEW PARENTS, OR PARENTS TO BE ---PLEASE , PLEASE TREASURE ALL OF THE MOMENTS THAT YOU HAVE WITH YOUR CHILDREN---BECAUSE, BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THEY ARE OFF TO 1ST GRADE, THEN MIDDLE SCHOOL, THEN BOYS ARE CALLING THEM ON THE PHONE .......OR GIRLS, IF ITS A SON.......THEN, BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THEY ARE OFF TO COLLEGE & YOU JUST CANNOT BELIEVE IT AND THINK : "WOW, MY SON IS A HANDSOME YOUNG MAN NOW, OR MY DAUGHTER IS A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG WOMAN NOW.........THEN, ABOUT 5--10 YRS AFTER COLLEGE, THEY ARE HAVING THEIR OWN KIDS----I HAVENT GOTTEN TO THAT STAGE WITH Y KIDS YET---BUT WHAT IM TRYING TO SAY IS KIDSGROW UP SOOOOOO FAST -IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND --PLEASE, TAKE THE TIME TO HVE SPECIAL OUTINGS, ALOT OF FAMILY VACATIONS AND ENJOY ALL OF YOUR GREAT TIMES TOGETHER AS A FAMILY ---THEN YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE THOSE WONDERFUL MEMORIES AND PICTURES THAT YOU CAN LOOK BACK ON AND REMINISCE ON.......AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS TRULY PRICELESS !!!!!!!!!
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