If a well-photoshopped photo makes you laugh, then prepare for a few laughs. Matt MacMillan has used his talents as a photo editor to create some works of art with his premature son. Her first foray into baby Photoshopping occurred when her daughter, Ella, was one month old. He created a series of images showing the newborn playing sports and the results were hilarious. Matt wanted to do the same when his son, Ryan, was born. As Matt explained in Bored Panda , Ryan was born nine weeks early. It weighed just under 3 pounds. During his six weeks in the NICU, Matt and his wife decided to look for the positive. They joked that Ryan was not premature, but “advanced.” The joke gave Ryan the idea for a series of photos with his premature son, showing him doing “manly” adult things to combat the notion that premature babies are somehow weak. The photos took a little effort, but the results are just fun and absolutely worth every minute Matt and his wife spent on the project.
Matt and Alyssa MacMillan have two beautiful children. At the time of Matt’s positively inspired foray into creative children’s photography and Photoshop, Ella was just 6 months old and absolutely adorable.
Matt started playing with editing his kids’ photos even more once his premature son Ryan turned 6 months old. I was coming up with some pretty fun ideas, like this photo of a cool kid skating.
Baby Ryan was born nine weeks early. She spent the first six weeks of her little life in the NICU before she was able to go home. What a scary and difficult time for Matt and Alyssa that must have been.
During their time in the NICU, Matt and Alyssa joked that the preemie wasn’t premature, but “advanced.” That prank inspired the photos Matt later created, using Ryan as his adorable model baby.
Matt wrote about his experience creating the fun images in a post for Bored Panda . He explained his process to people in simple terms. Some shots were obviously more difficult to put together than others.
“Each session took around 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 images,” she explained. This picture of the card table is so fun!
“The next step was setting the scene, framing the shot, arranging the props and setting up the lighting accordingly. Some of the setups were elaborate, like the bench press photo,” Matt wrote. “For this one, I made a platform that hung from the ceiling. He set up the camera and also held the bar above Ryan, so all he had to do was grab it, instead of holding it.”
Of course, handling a newborn and a camera is a very difficult, if not impossible, feat. Luckily, he had a lot of help from his wife, Alyssa, who was a great coach to Ryan throughout the creative photo shoots.
“My wife would often help me by holding him so I could put his hands/arms/legs in certain positions, holding things,” he explained. “After I got Ryan’s photos, I would take a few photos of anything he couldn’t hold, like the ax swinging or the fish on the fishing line.”
Matt would then pore over the many photographs he took for usable components. He collected these elements and made composite images, which amounted to the stunning finished photos.
People have absolutely fallen in love with the sweet and oh-so-creative images of little baby Ryan. Of course, because the Internet is full of opinions, some people expressed concern for little Ryan’s safety.
Matt has assured everyone that Ryan was never in any real danger. All the crazy and fun elements included are simply the work of photo editing magic! You don’t really think someone stuffed this beautiful baby into the body of a cooked turkey, do you?
Having a premature baby can be a very stressful experience for parents, but Matt and Alyssa made the most of it and now have these beautiful pictures to prove it. Matt even offered advice for other parents: “My three tips for parents of premature babies are to be patient, positive and seek support.”
