Kelly Fitzsimmons has been photographing children and babies for more than 20 years. This past summer, she began devoting time to fine-art newborn photography, a type of newborn portraiture that involves stylized poses. Her work has proven to be profoundly rewarding. Kelly enjoys every minute of her photo sessions working with tiny babies and their trusting families who hand over their few day-old infants to her so she can work her magic.

Her interest took off after she took a photography workshop in Omaha, Nebraska with sister duo Kelley Ryden and Tracey Raver who have taken fine-art newborn portraiture to a new level. She learned a great deal there and now applies what she learned while still incorporating her own style, creativity and approach. While Kelly has a home studio, she shoots the infant portraits mostly at people's homes as it is more convenient for those with newborns.

Kelly is both artistic stylist and photographer on these jobs. Before each session, she typically interviews the family to get a sense of what they are looking for in the end product. Kelly's collection of props keeps growing. She says, "I love to comb local antique and consignment shops, but I do have some favorites that I use as they photograph beautifully and the babies feel really cozy in them such as the wire baskets. I also look for seasonal props and accents to give timeliness to the photograph."

How does she manage to get these babies to sleep and into these adorable positions? It takes a lot of time and patience to pose the babies. A typical newborn session takes three to four hours and is best done between days five through ten after the baby is born when they are mostly sleepy and amenable to being placed into a posing position. Each set-up or individual pose may take 30-40 minutes to complete. Kelly explains, "It involves settling the baby in until he or she is completely relaxed, then tweaking the toes, fingers, and head position…and then they still might startle, so you're back to square one! I keep the room at 90 degrees and have a space heater. I also have instructions for the baby to have a full belly before we start. There are a lot of details that go into optimizing the sessions. For the trickier poses, like the hanging pose, safety always comes first. I always have an extra set of hands! The baby is not hanging from the ceiling, but rather about two feet above a bean bag, and held by dad from the fabric above the knot. I take about five frames and we're done - the effect is beautiful!"

Photographing newborns is an extension of her vocation and a deeply personal connection to premature birth. Kelly works part-time in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston as a program manager for the NICU's family-centered care programs. She began working there in 2004 to help bring social and emotional support programs to families who go through the challenging and often heartbreaking experience of having a baby born pre-maturely or with complications and illness at birth. This connection began as a result of her own son spending three month in the NICU there, when he was born almost three months too soon and weighing barely 2 pounds. It was a difficult time with a successful outcome and now Kelly is giving back. As part of her work in the NICU, Kelly volunteers to photograph the babies several times a year, many weighing less than one-two pounds while still in incubators and connected to ventilators.

"The NICU is a special place for me. I could never have imagined how my son's early arrival would have shaped the rest of my life as a mother, or even as an artist. After three harrowing months in the NICU, my son came home a few days before Halloween in his Halloween costume. Two years later, I thought it would be fitting to photograph the NICU babies in their Halloween costumes. It has now evolved into an annual event that is looked forward to by the NICU staff and families alike!" This year she photographed twenty seven babies in their costumes. She explains, "For so many families, it brings a sense of normalcy to an experience that is anything but normal. It brings a sense of fun to an experience that is stressful and difficult. It gives them something to do, to go out and shop for or make a costume- - even if it's just a little hat, when they feel utterly helpless. It also gives them a photograph keepsake to share with family and friends."

Kelly's annual Halloween photo days have been described as one of the happiest days in the NICU as families and staff come together to dress the babies and admire their costumes. The days she spends photographing in the NICU, though emotionally exhausting, are especially rewarding for Kelly. She is grateful for the miracle of her son and the opportunity to give back in this way.

It is pretty hard not to break out into a smile looking at her portfolio of portrait photography which includes children of all ages. She is able to capture the pure innocence and natural essence of each child and does so in beautiful settings. Reflecting on her work, Kelly explains, "For me, the joy of photographing children and babies is in capturing precious moments in time that are so fleeting ... the sleeping newborn, a baby's toothless grin, a toddler’s wide eyes, and the smiles (mischievous, uncertain, confident and everywhere in between) that are unique to each baby, child, tween and teen. With each photograph, my hope is to make you feel something."

"The best part about being a photographer, especially one that photographs children, is that I get to be a big kid myself! I love the sessions where I get to play with the kids…even the most shy or stubborn child ends up with a smile that will light up a room. No holds-barred, I bring it all out -- the puppets, candy, funny faces, and even the whoopee cushion! My goal is to bring out a natural smile, not a frozen, fake one. But I'll also try to get the more pensive side of children as well. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge and am usually dirty and exhausted by the end of a session. I also love photographing families, high school seniors and expectant moms."

As the mother of four children ages 13, 10, 8, and 6, she is keenly aware how fast this precious time flies by. "When I look at my photographs of my children, it's not just an image. The imagery is accompanied by a groundswell of feelings and emotions about that single moment in time that I can keep forever. Life is made up of small moments and I love being able to capture these special ones to keep forever."

This month look for Kelly's work in the For Art's Sake Live Gallery upstairs at the general store. You can also see more of Kelly's work or to set up a photography session with her by visiting her website at www.kellyfitzsimmonsphotography.com.