I went to see my sister in Tennessee recently and my new baby niece! I knew that there was no way I could possibly visit and not photograph my sweet niece. This posed a small dilemma because normally I drive, but this time we flew. I was only able to bring a few head pieces and one tutu with me. Yes, that is right, no newborn posing bean bag, no blankets, no backdrop stand and no lights. I do not typically use artificial light when photographing newborns anyway, so that wasn't that much of a problem. I have to laugh at how cute these photos turned out because of what I used. Sometimes photographers have to dig really deep to find a way to make photos look good and not cheesy. I ended up photographing sweet Alli on my sisters brown leather ottoman. I put the ottoman about a foot away from her side window in the living room. Next, we grabbed several fluffy blankets and draped them over the ottoman. This was working quite nicely until I discovered you were able to see part of their hutch and window seal in the back ground. A light bulb went off! I used the back of my two year old nieces "Princess" tent (which was pink) and it ended up looking like a pink backdrop. I also took away the blankets on the ottoman and shot straight down over Alli so all you were able to see was the brown leather. What is the moral of this story? Well, you can spend $100's on fancy props & equipment, but if you are creative enough, you don't always need it. For those of you using the excuse that photo equipment is expensive, well, you're right, it is. Try to think out of the box if you cannot afford these things. You may be surprised by your results. Just take your time!
xo- Your Friendly Neighborhood Photographer
KIRA
