'He was still there': Mom includes late husband in maternity pictures
Maternity photos are a popular trend for expecting parents, but tragedy struck a Pennsylvania couple expecting their first child before the couple had a chance to complete their photo shoot.
Amanda Snyder lost her husband, Jesse Snyder, just weeks before their baby was due. Jesse was killed while cutting down a tree on his family's farm.
"She was planning on doing maternity photos with him," , photographer for the maternity shoot, said. "I asked her to send me some images and I would see if I could make it happen. I would do my best to get it done for her."
Shanna Logan did make it happen. She took photos of Jesse and staged Amanda in a way that allowed her to Photoshop the images together.
"The photo shoot, because it was so emotional, I think that was the hardest part," Logan said. "She was crying for some of the session, because we had her pretend like he was there for some of them. It wasn't just feeling that he was there. She also had to pretend."
Amanda described the shoot as overwhelming and emotional, but the final product was worth every emotion.
"I was just blessed to see him standing next to me in those photos," Amanda said. "I just want him (her son, Jamison) to know he's loved."
The photos went viral. Women all over the world were chiming in on Facebook with words of wisdom, comfort and love.
"There's been so many women who were pregnant and lost their significant other," Amanda said. "And the fact that there's just so many kind words and prayers and good help being sent my way is just astonishing to me."
Now that baby Jamison is here, Amanda is confident he will cherish these photos forever.
"I think he's going to know how much his dad loved him," Amanda said. "Even by seeing the pictures, he couldn't be there, but he's still going to know he was still there. And he still loves him so much.