Source: Matt MacMillan
Being a parent is one of the biggest and most fulfilling responsibilities in life; but having a prematurely born baby is even more stressful and nerve wracking than one can imagine. It requires even more patience, positivity and love from the whole family, and thankfully with the advancement in medicine, being born premature is not as serious as it once was.
Matt Mac, husband and father of two, experienced this when his son Ryan was born 9 weeks before his due date at just under 3 lbs. Baby Ryan spent the fist six weeks of his life in NICU until he was allowed to go home.
Source: Matt MacMillan
Keeping up with their family tradition, which started with Mac photoshopping his older daughter playing sports as an infant, Mac decided he would do the same with Ryan, but in another creative manner.
“Although things didn’t go according to plan we didn’t let it slow us down. We joked that he wasn’t premature just “advanced” – so I came up with the idea that we should do a photoshoot of him doing manly adult things,” wrote Mac on Bored Panda.
Source: Matt MacMillan
“Each shoot took about 15-20 minutes. Most of the work is in the setup and editing. First, I had to make props and find outfits for most of the pictures. The next step was setting up the scene, framing the shot, arranging props, and setting up the lighting where appropriate. Some of the setups were elaborate – like for the benchpress photo. For this one, I made a rig that hung from the ceiling. It mounted the camera and also held the barbell above Ryan so all he had to do was grip it rather than hold it up.”
“My three pieces of advice for parents of premature babies are to be patient, be positive, and seek support,” says Matt Macc.
Source: Matt MacMillan
18 years from now, Mac is really curious as to what Ryan will think of all these photos when he’s all grown up.
At 6 months old, happy and healthy Ryan is finally on the growth chart!
Source: Matt MacMillan
Source: Matt MacMillan
Source: Matt MacMillan
Source: Matt MacMillan
Source: Matt MacMillan
Source: Matt MacMillan
