He’s HUGE: Dad Creates Uber Manly Photoshoot for Preemie Son, and It’s Too Cute

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Baby photos can be equal parts adorable and hilarious, as parents try to coax their tiny new bundles of joy into sweet poses and keep them from crying until the camera shutter clicks.

For dad of two Matt MacMillan in Delran, New Jersey, though, the photoshoot he had for his new son Ryan absolutely takes the cake!

MacMillan had done a photoshoot with his older child, daughter Ella, who was born over two years ago. He‘d put her in hilarious poses with various types of sports equipment, turning her into an all-star athlete before she’d even uttered her first words or taken her first steps.

As he wrote for Bored Panda, he'd hoped to do the same thing with his son—but when Ryan came a little earlier than expected, he decided to do something a little fun with it!

Amassing a set of hilariously tiny props and arming himself with some pretty spectacular Photoshop skills, MacMillan put Ryan in a series of hysterically impossible poses and set to work. The results were absolutely incredible—and breathed some of Dad’s manliness into their newest little warrior.

“Each shoot took about 15-20 minutes. Most of the work is in the setup and editing,” MacMillan explained.

“First, I had to make props and find outfits for most of the pictures. The next step was setting up the scene, framing the shot, arranging props, and setting up the lighting where appropriate. Some of the setups were elaborate—like for the benchpress photo. For this one, I made a rig that hung from the ceiling. It mounted the camera and also held the barbell above Ryan so all he had to do was grip it rather than hold it up.”

MacMillan gave little Ryan an entire photoshoot of him doing “manly things,” setting up the tiny fighter to do everything from lifting weights to mowing the lawn. It’s absolutely perfect, especially given how tiny Ryan was; born nine full weeks premature, he was less than 3 pounds (approx. 1 kg) at birth.

The photos are both inspiring and hilarious, which might be why they’ve gone absolutely viral. And after reassuring everyone that the proper precautions had been taken to keep baby Ryan safe, MacMillan gave some friendly words of encouragement to the other preemie parents who might have stumbled across the shoot.

“My three pieces of advice for parents of premature babies are to be patient, be positive, and seek support,” he wrote.