Photographer Creates Epic Portrait Backdrops Made Specifically For Babies With Special Needs

"This is full of symbolism for Down syndrome. From the mismatching socks, to the 321, to the yellow and blue colors."

"This is a perfect example of how I take baby's condition into consideration and try to incorporate it into the scene. This baby girl has Spina Bifida and bilateral clubbed feet, which makes her body naturally bend in a 'V,' so I tried to think of something that would work with her body bent. Flying into the air from a seesaw was the perfect scene for her!"

"Since this is the motto for rare disease awareness, I thought it would be fun to have this adorable baby boy with Trisomy 18 and two bear friends, all wearing jeans and flying away with some balloons made out of jeans that spell out hope. I also created a 'gene tree' made out of jean material and shaped to look like genes."

"This scene is especially sad and beautiful. Her parents contacted me saying they were told their baby might only have six to 12 months left to live. It was important to me to create a scene that would help them remember her life. Her name is Ellis Rose, so I incorporated roses. She is such a blessing to her family — who chose to adopt her specifically because she has special needs! — so I thought it would be special to have her watering love wherever she goes. And of course, she is a Forget-Me-Not Fairy, because — even though she may be leaving them soon — she will never be forgotten."

"My most challenging session was this scene. This baby's medical condition is so complex that I had no idea how I could incorporate all of his tubes and wires. It finally came to me to place them down his body and have them come back up, forming the letter 'V.' What I thought would be too simple of a scene ended up being by far the most popular scene I have ever created. Grown men have been moved to tears when they have seen that image."

"As he grows up and sees that photo, I hope that he will believe that anything is possible for him. I incorporated his trach as his oxygen line as well as his helmet."

"The baby boy had undergone one heart procedure and was getting ready for his first open heart surgery. I wanted to include a lot of symbolism for Congenital Heart Disease, so I incorporated the colors red and blue throughout the scene as well as a CHD tree with the awareness ribbon. Since this baby's heart is still in the process of being mended, I decided to add a bear sewing his heart with love, with the stitching not yet complete."