Cradled in her mother's arms, her hair in bunches, little Arabella Baxter poses for a family portrait alongside her baby brother and father, smiling directly at the camera.

Behind the lens, Rachael Lynch is carefully capturing the tender moment for the family with sensitivity and respect.

Studio lights are dimmed to avoid a severe epileptic attack. The young girl, who cannot move or sit unaided, is placed next to her brother Korben on soft cushions, who gently holds her hand as their parents look on.

Arabella, who is now five, suffers from Ohtahara Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. Most children with the illness do not live to see their first birthday.

Her mother Veronika says: "Arabella is very severely disabled she can't really do anything for herself.

"She is pack fed, she doesn't feed orally any more. She's registered blind but we know she can see light and things but she can't really focus."

"She is a very, very sweet little girl, she is very smiley," Veronika adds. "You can get her giggling if you tickle her and she is quite happy in herself.

"She's really like a five-year-old newborn, you care for her as a newborn."

The photo shoot was gifted to the Baxter family three years ago by the Butterfly Wishes Network, which supports families with children living with life-limiting illnesses.

The non-profit organisation matches families with volunteer photographers to create lasting memories.

Pregnant with her second child when the family was matched with Edinburgh-based photographer Rachael, Veronika says capturing her whole family together was incredibly important to her.

"Unfortunately Arabella's condition is such most kids don't really get to see their first or second year and we are very, very fortunate that Arabella is still with us," she says.

"So we really wanted to have a picture of our two kids together as soon as my son was born because we didn't know how much time we have."

The organisation emerged four years ago to support families suffering the heartache of a child living with a life-limiting condition.

Founded in 2013, the network of more than 400 photographers, with 25 based in Scotland, supports hundreds of families across the UK.

"They were looking to volunteer to help families with children with life-limiting conditions receive photographs of their family and children to help make lasting memories for them, only to realise such an organisation was not yet available," explains Tracey Inkson, the Scottish administrator for the Butterfly Wishes Network.

"This prompted them into action and Butterfly Wishes was formed.

"In the early days it was unsure if the service would be required or if any photographers would be willing to give their free time to do such a kind gift to the families but as more and more photographers signed up we knew it had a bright future."

Families with children suffering from illnesses and conditions such as heart failure, cystic fibrosis, severe cerebral palsy, certain forms of cancer and muscular dystrophy can apply for a photography session where they are then being matched with a professional photographer.

They discuss a child's needs and abilities to create a safe surrounding in a studio, in the family's home or even in the great outdoors, providing emotive images that are then shared completely free of charge.

For Rachael, who works primarily with newborns and children having previously worked as a primary school teacher and a nanny, joining the network was an "obvious" step.

"When you've got other issues going on within your family, [a photo shoot} can be the last thing on your mind," she says.

"It's certainly not a financial priority for these families who have got a lot of additional expenses involved because of the health of their child so they don't have the means or I guess it doesn't seem like a priority at the time.

"But it's something that as their child's health deteriorates, they will cherish even more and it becomes more important and valuable I guess."

The very nature of the Butterfly Wishes Network means heartbreak is inevitable.

With serious health conditions and low life expectancy high among the children it supports, the organisation's photographers can often find it hard when a very sick child visits, or when they receive the news a child they have worked with has passed away.

Rachael admits volunteering with the organisation is emotional at times, with one Butterfly session focusing on a baby boy who had a short life expectancy.

"He was very poorly so that was a tough one, knowing he didn't have long left, but it made it that much more important to make sure the family had as many lovely photos as possible to remember him by," she says.

"I have definitely gone home and had a little cry afterwards."

For many of the network's photographers, the emotional impact of the organisation can be tough but as Inverness-based volunteer Michelle Sinclair explains, capturing positive memories during a difficult stage in life is worthwhile.

"I think to capture moments in a family, the love and the bond and the connection they have with each other, even if it's a difficult stage in their life they're going through - to capture memories for them that they can look back on in years to come is really important," she says.

Michelle says parents often want their children to be captured in a more natural way, disguising special chairs with fluffy blankets, arranging favourite toys and hiding equipment for the images.

Six-year-old Lily Mae MacKintosh, who lives in Tain with parents Andrew and Fiona and sister Keris, was only diagnosed with CDKL5, a rare X-linked genetic disorder, two years ago.

She was born with a cleft palate, cataracts and required help breathing.

"Since she's been diagnosed with CDKL5, one of the main things is seizures that are hard to control," say her mother Fiona Sutherland.

"We very much take each day as it comes, we're having a good spell just now just in the past month but over the winter months she has a lot of chest problems and respiratory problems and there's a lot of seizures that can make her sick.

"We've had a few ambulance rides and helicopter rides this year alone, her breathing just goes."

Connecting with Michelle for their Butterfly Wishes session around two years ago, Fiona explains while the family didn't know what was causing Lily Mae's condition, they wanted as many natural images with her little sister Keris as possible.

"Even school photographers, it's all very rushed and in and out, but they can't do that the same with Lily," Fiona says.

"So what I found really good with Michelle was that there was that time there to get those moments as and when they come.

"Lily doesn't sit or smile on cue so I think it was just having that time and someone there who understands."

While the family is still unsure of Lily Mae's prognosis, Fiona explains while some children pass away at a young age, other CDKL5 sufferers are living into their teenage years.

She adds that to have the photographs of her two children together is precious to her.

"I've got a few of the photos [Michelle's] done up on our wall, it's just lovely to have that," she says.

"It's hard to get a moment with the two of them together and there's always a wheelchair or pieces of equipment in the way.

"It's just nice that there was none of that in our photos. Michelle was able to crop it all out and it looks a bit more natural really."