Hellobee

I can’t believe that our 1 year shoot is finally here! After preparing for many weeks, I decided to compile all the factors of a photo shoot so I can share my tips. 

Picking a photographer

I’ve had a lot of random people help babysit here and there, and one happened to be a photographer! Once I saw her work (Katee Grace Photography in Los Angeles), I knew right away that she would do our family shoot. I loved that she actually took care of Baby Pencil when he was a wee baby, and she loves babies so she was a perfect fit. I think picking a photographer whose vibe you really like is so important. I loved her usage of light and the ability to really make the pictures look really innocent and pure. My favorite type of photos are the clean and classic styles, something that wouldn’t feel dated 50 years from now.

Picking a location

I think the best thing you can do is first ask your photographer for their opinion. If the photographer has good spots that they are comfortable shooting in, they may work best since they’ve had the experience. I definitely wanted it to be outdoors and I was lucky enough to choose the day when daylight savings happened, so we got an extra hour of sunlight! We chose a beautiful field that our photographer had already been to, and I’m really happy with our location! I wanted the vibe to be carefree, light and free. I felt like the green fields and the sunlight gave that vibe perfectly.

Picking the outfit

I’ve never had so much headache picking out colors! I didn’t want our colors to be too matchy-matchy. I couldn’t decide whether I should go with something bright and colorful or just wear white so that I could allow the landscape to be the highlight of the shoot. In the end, we chose light colors and let Baby Pencil have the brightest colors so he could be the focus. I can’t help but lean towards the color blue because he’s a boy, but it turned out well because the green in the background really made it pop.

Outfit for Daddy

I knew that the hubs is very simple and all I asked of him was to shave and do his hair. Instead of going crazy with any type of trendy outfit that he would be uncomfortable in, I chose a shirt from Banana Republic that he already had. I really love the slim-fit non-iron shirts! We grabbed this last minute choice out of his closet and didn’t even have time to iron it.

Outfit for Mommy

I was so stressed about this! I asked countless friends to borrow jewelry, shoes, clothes and literally went to all the stores. My fashion forward friends told me that I really should be comfortable, or else it would read on my face and body. The hubs pointed out that the spotlight should be on the baby, not myself, and I agreed. My style is very conservative, simple and girly so I went with a simple light blue dress from Gap which fit me very well. I was supposed to wear heels but honestly, walking around in the dirt of the fields made me stick to my ballet flats. In the end I just didn’t care! Plus, balancing heels in the dirt with a baby may be a recipe for disaster.

Does anyone else love “hiding” their bellies behind their babies? Love having that option!

Outfit for Baby

If I had to do it all over again, I would have chosen something that bunched up less. Half of our time at the shoot was spent trying to straighten his shirt and sweater because it kept getting scrunched. We had cute hats, beanies and shoes but they all kept falling off. In the end, we just took everything off and he just had his bare feet. It actually turned out well with his outfit! His sweater was from Gap and his stretchy “jegging” pants are from H&M. His shoes (that he wore for 2 hot seconds) were also from H&M.

As far as getting ready, my photographer advised that we make sure the baby had a full belly and slept well. We were running around like crazy during his last nap and once he woke up, we dressed him and got ready to go. I didn’t realize how exhausting it would be to try making a baby laugh for an hour, and by the end he was super cranky and wanted to sleep. Poor little guy. I realize what a miracle it is to even get one shot when everyone is smiling and looking at the camera all at the same time!

Next up, I’ll discuss my hair and makeup preparation for this! (Plus more photos.)