I am not a professional photographer. I’m just a mom who loves photographing her daughter. I wanted to share a post with some photos from the first year of my daughter’s life. All of these ideas are ones you can easily re-create yourself. Feel free to take the ideas and put your own twist on them.

Some tips:
~ Make sure your little one is in a good mood when you try to take their photos. Make sure they have a clean diaper on and are not hungry. Also make sure they are at a comfortable temperature.
~ Make sure you are not feeling rushed. Sometimes you may need to try at a different time of day or another day. Be patient.
~ If my photos required set up, I would do set up at nap time. I found that having the set-up ready whenever my daughter seemed ready for photos was helpful. Then I wasn’t trying to set it up when she was needing me, or as she got bigger then she wasn’t taking apart what I was setting up as I was setting it up!
~ Taking photos should be fun! For you and for your little one. Feel free to be silly. I sing, make funny noises and faces, hold toys, play peek-a-boo, anything I can think of to make my little one smile.
~ I only have my daughter so far, so I was able to take the pictures with just her and I present. It helps to have her looking at me because there aren’t any other distractions. If you have one-on-one time with your baby I highly recommend you try to use that time to take pictures, so that other little ones aren’t needing you or taking your little one’s attention away from you and the camera.
~ Pay attention to what is in the background. Try to have plain backgrounds if possible. Busy/cluttered backgrounds take attention away from the subject of your photos – your little one!

Newborn Photo Ideas ~ If using props, don’t go overboard. I like one main prop plus the subject of the photo. It’s a bonus if your props have special meaning. In the first photo our daughter is snuggled in a basket that my mother-in-law made for her baby shower. The second picture is my take on a classic with our wedding rings.

3 Month Photo Ideas ~ You don’t need to buy expensive photo props. Use household items you already have. The basket in both of these photos is our laundry basket! It has a comfy blanket in the bottom for both pictures. The second picture features all of her stuffed animals, the background is just a large pink blanket thrown over the couch.

6 Month Photo Ideas ~ For these photos I used a long string of pearls and a large mirror. At six months old my daughter loved looking at herself in the mirror which made these pictures super easy to take. I got a bunch of adorable ones from this fun shoot.

9 Month Photo Ideas ~ I added warm water and baby soap to a wash tub. I submerged a towel on the bottom to make sure it was soft for her to sit on. I love the timelessness of these photos.

Fall Photo Ideas ~ All of these photos were taken in our yard last fall. If you don’t have apple trees yourself you could take pictures at an apple orchard. For the pictures on the right I pulled together decorations from our yard and set them up as a fun fall backdrop. In the bottom left picture, I just raked a clear path in the shape of a heart in the leaves in the yard then set her in the middle of it. I got that picture by standing on a ladder to get a top view. Remember to take a mixture of close up and further back pictures, and you can move your props around for different shots, like I did with the pumpkins. 

Fun Photos For a Baby Girl ~ Almost all of the photos above can be tweaked and work perfectly well for a baby boy or girl. The two photos below are perfect for your little princess. Set her in your wedding dress and snap some memorable shots. I do this with my daughter each year on our anniversary. I love butterflies so that’s why I made a chalk butterfly for the second photo (I have a towel under her so she’s not laying on the hard cement), but you could make your little one into any creature your heart desires!

What do you think? Which photo idea is your favorite? Do you think you could reproduce some of these with your little one(s)? Do you have any questions for me?

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I did putting it together! Feel free to pin this post to Pinterest so you’ll have the ideas for future!

Asha

Hi, my name is Asha. I am 34-years-old and am a nurse by profession. Right now I am battling Breast Cancer. My husband and I have been married for 8 years and together we have a sweet seven-year-old daughter, a fun four-year-old son, and a lovable bunny named Caramel. I enjoy spending time with family, taking photographs, scrapbooking, hunting, fishing, cooking and gardening.

www.emilyreviews.com/category/asha