Dad Photoshops images of premature son to create 'manly pics'

Father of two Matt McMillan has found an unusual way to celebrate his son Ryan, who was born nine weeks premature.

The talented Dad has used photoshop on images of Ryan to make it look like he’s doing ‘manly’ things, such as shaving, skateboarding and using power tools.

During Ryan’s six weeks in the NICU, Matt and his wife decided to look for the positive, according to Bored Panda.

They joked that Ryan wasn’t premature, but ‘advanced.’ This joke gave Ryan the idea to create a photo series with his premature son, showing him doing grown-up, “manly” things to combat the idea that premature babies are somehow weak.

“Each shoot took about 15-20 minutes. Most of the work is in the setup and editing. First, I had to make props and find outfits for most of the pictures,” he explained.

“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,” Matt added.

“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.

“My wife often helped out by holding him so I could put his hands/arms/legs in certain positions, holding things,” he explained.

“After I got the pictures of Ryan, I would take some shots of anything that he couldn’t actually hold, like the ax swinging or the fish on the fishing line.”

Matt’s Instagram page has around 5000 followers and he has these words of wisdom for parents of premmie bubs: “My three pieces of advice for parents of premature babies are to be patient, be positive, and seek support.”