Brendan and Molly Parnell — ShutterBuddy™

With the holidays approaching, Brendan Parnell was anxious to get a picture of 5-week old Audrey underneath the Christmas tree. His mother-in-law had mentioned this idea about thousand times, and he was feeling some pressure to get the perfect shot. Audrey, however, was tired and uncooperative. Like a typical newborn, she was not terribly concerned with photography and would not look at the camera.

As the short window between eating and sleeping began to close, Brendan had an “ah-ha” moment. Without a word, he ran into the other room (leaving his wife, Molly, slightly confused and irritated at his disappearance). Within minutes he was back with a piece of blank paper folded into a cone and taped to the camera. On the inside of this paper he had drawn a spiral with thick black magic marker...and magic was what seemed to happen next! At only five weeks old, Audrey was absolutely captivated by the image. She looked right into the lens of the camera, allowing for the perfect shot.

After many hours at the sewing machine and a few design changes later, Brendan and Molly created ShutterBuddy™ (www.shutter-buddy.com),  a revolutionary new product that uses the science of infant vision development and pattern recognition to capture and hold a baby’s attention in order to get a great picture every time. It’s lightweight, easy to use and portable.