Mom Photographs Flying Baby

New York City-based photographer Rachel Hulin got the idea to create shots of her baby Henry flying last summer, when he was six months old. "He was a baby who loved to be lifted up," she tells Shine. "I was always taking pictures of him and I had an epiphany that it would be interesting to try that without another person." Hulin recalls the first images looked a little "spooky." Like many new moms, Hulin was always wondering what was going on in his mysterious baby brain. "It was Henry's world," she says. "The pictures were kind of an allegory for that." Henry is now eighteen months old and it is getting harder to photograph him airborne. "First we investigate and find a good spot that Henry is interested in," she explains. "My husband will lift him really quickly and see what pose he strikes." Mom says that about half the time the picture doesn't work. "But sometimes it's magical!" While she says the photos are "slightly retouched," Hulin won't reveal the exact process. She says she doesn't want them to lose their quality of mystery.

Hulin is compiling the photographs to illustrate a children's book. Flying Henry will be available in April 2013. -Sarah B. Weir, Shine Staff