Milestones Matter…

From Tiny Terror to Full-Blown Autocratic Majesty

As a photographer, I’ve learned one universal truth:
everything small eventually becomes bigger, fluffier, moodier, louder, faster, or—to put it kindly—simply MORE.

If you don’t capture the milestones along the way, you might wake up one day wondering if the creature who stands defiantly in front of you really is the sweet little baby/kitten/puppy/foal you once fawned over to anyone who would listen.

Buckskin foal

My own foal (now a large horse; Zephyr)

Milestone photography is basically a public service. Someone has to document the journey from innocent chaos-nugget to respectable-ish adult.

Let’s break it down.

Kitten → Cat: The Glow-Up (and the Attitude Upgrade)

Kitten

The Baby Bjork

Kittens are tiny clouds of purrs and adoration. They let you hold them like a furry jelly. They are adorable. They are sweetly agreeable. They don’t yet know how to judge your life choices.

Fast-forward a year and boom—your sweet kitten is now a cat with a tax-auditor level of scrutiny. Suddenly every photo session becomes a negotiation.
"You want me to look at the camera? Bold of you to assume I take requests, Karen."
This is why kitten to cat milestones matter.
Capture the innocence while it still exists.

tuxedo cat

Teenaged Bjork

Foal → Horse: From Spindly Legged Innocent to Large Hairy Clown

two day old foal

Zephyr at two days old

A foal is all legs. Just legs. Legs with a head attached as an afterthought.
They bounce, they wobble, they attempt to coordinate themselves and are unintentionally adorable the entire time.

Then one day they’re a full-on horse— clowning around refusing to get up while smiling at you beatifically because he knows it makes you laugh.
(Not looking at any horse in particular…Zephyr)
Milestone sessions are the only proof that your now-despotic equine deity was once a baby noodle who needed help figuring out what to do with his own knees.

Smiling horse

Zephyr the (adult) clown

Puppy → Dog: From Unhinged Gremlin to… Slightly Taller Gremlin

Husky Puppies

Siberian Husky Puppies - what fun this photoshoot was!

Puppies are unfiltered enthusiasm dipped in fluff spiked with teeth. Every photo you take is a motion blur because they believe that standing still is a form of oppression.

Adult dogs are calmer… except when they’re not.
 But they do eventually master the art of sitting for more than 0.2 seconds. Especially when a snack is involved.
Milestone photos show the magical evolution from “tiny tornado with teeth” to “big tornado with slightly better listening skills.”

Adult Siberian Husky

Grown up Siberian husky

Baby → Adult Human: The Ultimate Transformation

Human baby

The photographer as a baby

Let’s be honest: humans start out as potato-shaped scream machines.
Some of them might be cute potatoes… but they are soft potatoes nonetheless.
Milestones document their journey from squishy bundle to small person to teenager (a dramatic era) and finally to fully grown adult who pays taxes and pretends to have it all together.

Without milestone photos, how would anyone prove that the adult who now insists on “not smiling with teeth showing” once smiled with unabandoned glee despite having no teeth while proudly drooling on everything within reach?

The photographer Cathy Dee

A very bad selfie taken the other day - with Bjork, at 61 years old. (Me, not Bjork)

Why All These Milestones Matter

Because time is rude. It zooms by faster than a greyhound spotting an open gate.
One moment you’re photographing a kitten the size of a coffee mug; the next you’re photographing the same cat knocking the mug off the counter while glaring right into your very soul.

Milestones remind us to:

  • Celebrate the tiny phases

  • Admire the big ones

  • Laugh at ourselves later on life when we look back

  • And capture every adorable, awkward, majestic, ridiculous stage in all its glory

Final Thought

Whether you’re raising a child, a cat, a horse, or a creature that is technically a dog but behaves like a coked-up goat—milestones are where the magic happens and having them professionally photographed them means you’ll always have proof that they weren’t always this… suave.

Want to book your own milestone session before your baby/kitten/foal/puppy becomes an entirely different species of chaos?

I’m your girl. Camera ready. Snacks packed. Reflexes trained.
BOOK Your Milestone NOW!

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The Awkward Art of Posing People