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Inside Chinese Culture - Baby's 100 Days Celebration

MuSen
Jan 22, 2017
2 min read

In Chinese culture, 100 Days is an important milestone for the baby because 100 days birth celebration represents the wish that the baby will live 100 years and reaches longevity. Usually, relatives and friends will get together for a big banquet and send gifts for the baby, similar to the baby showers in Western culture. Traditionally, the baby will wear a Longevity Lock on the neck and wear something red for this special occasion. Some also wear special hats, bracelets, and anklets. However, in modern days, many parents choose not to go with the traditional looks. 100 Days portraits have been widely westernized in styles.

(An example of the Longevity Lock)

Eggs are associated with birth of babies in Chinese culture. It is therefore quite popular to create composite images for baby to stay in an egg shell.

(An example of baby in an egg shell)

The age stage of 100 days presents some level of challenges for the photographers. Babies are very alert so they are not as easy to be posed as newborns. Their attention spans are very short, get tired easily, might reflux, and could be very grumpy at times. They cannot sit yet and their neck bones are still very soft. Some might be able to do brief moments of belly time but some still cannot. So the posing choices are very limited.

I always try to create several themes for the babies and provide different outfits, along with various shooting angles, details shoots, etc. to help make the session fuller and richer in contents. I also always encourage parents and siblings to take pictures with the babies as well. Below are two galleries of a typical 100 Days portrait session, one on a baby girl and one on a baby boy. Note that the baby boy session is my very first 100 Days session and the baby girl session is my most recent 100 Days session. I am so proud how much I have improved over time. Love seeing my own then-and-now. Enjoy!