My photo buddy Ashley and I did a Christmas shoot with the kiddos a few weeks ago. We checked out Pinterest for ideas and she read some blogs about how to set up a lights backdrop. I don’t have a full shot of it, but she made it with PVC pipe and then put a white sheet and lights over it.
Here are a few of the shots in front of the backdrop. I shot them at ISO 1600 and f-stop 1.8 using my 50mm lens. I also just purchased some Florabella actions for editing, so I’ve been playing around with some of those.
I got the lolly pops at Michael’s. Who knew fake lolly pops would be such a hit?
This is one of my favorites. Someone decided he was done. Although the exposure was weird – this was the best I could do editing.
I brought my favorite rustic chalkboard, of course.
This is an example of what you DON’T do: let kids touch lights. After we did this shoot I read an article about how lights have lead on them. Great. And of course he has his finger in his mouth after he probably touched the lights. Ugh.
He actually wasn’t happy with the lights at all at first. To try to get him excited about the idea, I told him he was going to be a Christmas tree. His response was, “But I don’t want to be a Christmas tree! I want to be a doctor and a fireman!”
It turns out I should have listened and not used them.
They are kind of cute though.
This is one that I will have to bring out for his wedding. I couldn’t resist that hat at the Target dollar spot. He probably won’t be happy with me when he’s older though.
Then we ventured outside and hung some ornaments on a tree using raffia ribbon.
The sun was directly overhead so it tweaked with the exposure a bit. And it would have been smart to switch my camera settings to regular lighting (not ISO 1600, for starters), but it did give me this cool shot.
And it ruined this one, which would have been really cute. I should learn to check the display to see what I’m getting.
We had busted out the candy canes at this point.
This is one I used on our Christmas card. I liked the intensity of the candy cane eating.
Ashley told me to zoom in on his feet and I was glad she did. So cute with his feet crossed. I gave this one a bit of a vintage finish. Just playing around – I have no idea what I’m doing with editing.
I gave this one a vintage finish as well. It was so bright that I wasn’t sure how else to tone down the exposure.
Ashley took these and we decided it was smart to always have a second photographer to shoot from different angles and get different shots.
The wonder of the ornaments.
Love that she got their feet.
And little hands.
And walking away from Mommy!
It was a fun shoot! We had some other ideas and props, but it always takes longer with little ones.
Thanks for stopping by Time to DIY!
Oh, this is so fun! I need to get in on this photo stuff with you two. I love playing around with my camera…I just don't often do it and of course, my subjects are not usually very cooperative…lol.
That would be fun, Amanda! We plan to meet at Starbucks at some point to talk photo. I will let you know!
Adorable photos!!! So creative! Merry Christmas!!
Thank you, Kelly! Happy New Year! 🙂