DIY Newborn Photo Shoot

If you're like me, you want amazing pictures of all the special moments in your life, but are bound by something husbands like to call a budget.  That's where DIY and creativity come into play.

This is where I found myself when it came to baby Aidan's newborn pictures.  Photographers charge a pretty hefty price for their newborn shoot packages, and with good reason.  Babies are fussy, not on schedules, take hours to shoot, and mommies really want that adorable picture.  So, I'm absolutely not knocking on photographers or their prices.  Just saying, that I don't have $400 to drop on a baby photo shoot.

What I do have, is a helpful husband, mom, a cooperative baby, and props.

For Aidan's nursery, we went with an "Around The World In 80 Days" theme.  (Pictures to follow, btw.)  So, our props kind of went with that.  But many of them could be altered to go with whatever you're doing.

*Quick disclaimer, I am not a photographer, I've never taken a photography class, I just love pictures, have an SLR camera, and think I have a good eye for colors, symmetry and angles.

Props/Necessities:

- Large sheet.  (We had an AMAZING airplane sheet from Restoration Hardware.  Mom sewed one queen sized into a baby mattress size for Aidan, and we kept one.  Good call.)

- Boppy, other pillows.

- Blankets - babies get cold easier than adults

- Basket

- Antique suitcases

- Teddy bear

- Metal letters (that are hung on his wall)

- Knitted pilot's hat

- Metal toy plane

- Globe

- Letter wooden blocks

- Our wedding rings

- Passport

Directions:

- Location, location, location.  Choose a space that is well-lit by natural light.  Either by a window, or glass door.

- Plan.  Know when the sun comes through your window, and at what angle.  You don't necessarily want direct sunlight, but you also don't want a bunch of shadows.  Play around with your camera settings, positions and angle beforehand.  Also, photographers suggest doing the pictures before 2 weeks.

- Get baby nice and full, so he'll sleep.  Newborns are easier to take pictures of while they're asleep.

- Set your thermostat to a little warmer than usual.

- Get everything ready, and have a helper on hand.

- Decide not to get frustrated.  That's just a good rule for new parenthood. :)

- Place Boppy pillow on couch, bed, etc.  Cover with sheet, and tack up to wall behind it, to create a backdrop.

- Set up the props you want.  We started with a basket, with a blanket inside it, so it wasn't too rough.

- Next, we stacked the antique suitcases, and laid Aidan in them.  Have I mentioned how adorable he is?

- We also got some shots of Aidan with our wedding rings

- Aidan LOVES his daddy!  As soon as he heard his voice when he was born, he was looking for him.  We got some pretty precious pictures of the two of them.  Also, I love Dan's tattoo of his family crest.  Aidan got his middle name, Judson, from that side of the family.

- And of course, I had to get in on the action.  This little boy is too cute not to get a picture with.

I know I didn't get everything just so (the sheet should've been tighter, and I'm sure my camera settings weren't perfect), but I was really happy with the results, and love that we did them ourselves.

Let me know what you think, if you have any tips for me, for next time, or what you've done that seems to work!