If digital photography revolutionised the way wedding photography was being done, it has silently stirred a revolution in the niche kids’ photography segment which is growing at a slow, but steady pace. The memory of going to a studio to click a mandatory picture of the newborn or celebrate his first birthday has taken a fashionable turn. Those awkward poses and cheap props have been replaced by glamorous photo shoots and items like cane baskets, flowers, and swings respectively.

When Shipra Chabbra moved back to India two-and-a-half years ago, she observed how, in this segment, no one had proper infrastructure. So she, along with her husband, Amit, started Shipra & Amit Chabbra photography. “We believe in offering a homely environment, so everything is at one place in our work place. It looks more like a home,” Shipra tells Metrolife.

According to her, safety of the child is of utmost importance and hence they follow the strict policy of “no child should be left unattended”.

“We work with newborns (10-12 days old) so sanitisation is of extreme importance. Not everyone is comfortable clicking a child as a lot depends on his mood,” she says, adding that they arrange pre-shoot consultations to ensure that the anxiety, children have on meeting strangers, subsides.

Ankit Chawla always wanted to work around children. So when he started practising with school children and families, he realised he was extremely comfortable with them. Understanding that the market was untapped; he made this his profession, five years back. “You have to be friends with them and let them enter you in their lives. They have a life of their own so that barrier has to be broken,” the 27-year-old tells Metrolife.

“Patience is the key in this profession. At times, you can be friends with them in seconds, but at times, things become so tough that you have to reschedule,” he adds.

From pre-pregnancy to packages like “belly to baby” or “see me grow package”– these agencies have interesting concepts to capture major milestones of the motherhood journey. And it is these concepts that determine their success rate.

“We have created our own props and we work with them. But it is the concepts that define our work. It is not necessary that everything will suit your child, so we create these concepts,” says Shipra.

Neha Goyal, 24, recently became mother of a baby boy. The family decided to get a photo shoot done for Pankit and his sister, Aahana. They got in touch with Shipra and thus came out a beautiful series of images showing an angelic girl sitting and smiling on a white couch in a dream-like sequence, and that of Pankit, sleeping blissfully on a log of wood. “We wanted their memory to be something different.”

According to Chawla, the cost of these shoots varies and can range between Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000, depending on the package.

“I also do coffee-table books, memory boards and keepsake box which is an interesting concept,” he says.

And if Shipra is to be believed, people are becoming bolder and willing to posewith their baby bumps. “People are creating memories and are ready to make it an interesting milestone of their life,” she adds.