So per my IG Story voting, most of you acknowledged that you don't "read" these and it's really all about the photos. BUT if I do write, you like to hear about the DIY stuff, the planning process and working with the subject during the session. So here is goes.

First off, this is my niece. Kaia.  Her birthday actually falls in late November, but with my holiday shooting schedule and her families holiday schedules, we didn't get around to this session until January, but I started planning it November. The only input I got from her family was "she really likes Minnie Mouse".  But to be honest, I had really hoped to do something vintage or boho with her just because of her look SOOO how do I work with Minnie Mouse (a cartoon character) and keep it in style with my vision for the session.

To start, for her portrait session, I wanted to do something new and rich.  For backdrops, you have a lot of options on what works. I have literally used shower curtains before!  BUT most of the time, I use 8'x4' panels that I PAINT.  That way I get the exact color I want and I don't have to mess with wrinkles, waves and tears in the traditional paper backdrop rolls.  I chose this green, mostly because it is my favorite color :) but I knew she would pop on this set with this little dress that I had picked out for her!  This outfit she is wearing is actually from an antique store I love to shop at here in Ramona.  It's called The Mason Jar. I don't know the history or age of this piece, but I loved it when I saw it. It's possible it was actually intended as a layering piece for under a dress or something, but I loved the look on it's own.  

She was super active and we got some great smiles and expressions on this set....but it took a couple of people flanking each side of the set to keep her contained! :)

Time for the cake.  Let me tell you how this set evolved.  

It was early November and my family and I went to Disney Land.  While walking around Downtown Disney, I saw the window display at the Pandora Jewelry Store.  it was a large silver hoop in the Mickey Mouse shape.  It fit perfect in the store and I loved the clean, simple look of it and I knew I wanted it to be the focal point of the background of her set.  Well, not surprisingly, I couldn't find one to purchase anywhere, so DIY, here I come! I bought some metal hoops (I think they are usually used for macrame projects) in the two sizes that would seem to give me the right proportions and I recruited my husband to get them welded together to form the famous mouse shape!  I then spray painted the hoops to rose gold and I made the oversized sequence bow myself by sewing and using batting to stuff it and I simply pinned it to the metal and voila, Minnie Mouse is done!  I choose rose gold to make it soft and feminine AND I had picked up the rose gold sequins Minnie Mouse ears at Disney Land that I wanted her to wear.  

So, on to her outfit.  It is pretty impossible to find rose gold outfits for babies :) so I knew I would have to make it. I found the fabric I wanted to use at Joann's and worked off a pattern I had.   I actually make a lot of outfits (more on that later!). It's awesome when I can "match" everything and so since I made her outfit, I was able to use that material to make the bow on the Minnie Mouse and I used some ribbon on the base of the cake to tie it in and the cake topper I actually got on Amazon.  I wanted a clean, simple yet elegant look to the set so I stopped with just those things.

Now, onto the shooting!  We got her changed into the rose gold outfit and tried to put on the ears - the first photo on that set says it all :) She wanted NOTHING to do with them.  So we gave up on the ears and let her have some cake.  As you will see, she wasn't too interested... We did manage to get a few smiles at the end with the ears....Grandma jumped in behind and popped them on her while we went crazy laughing and clapping to distract her....AND it worked for a few frames anyway :). Once she realized they were on, she ripped them off and lost it - as seen in the last photo.  Session done. :).

Things don't always go the way you want them to during a session. Can't escape that, you just need to be willing to roll with what you get.  I LOVE this session, not just because she is my niece, but because I saw my design vision come to life and the simplicity of it kept her featured front and center!

Feel free to comment with any questions! And check out my website or contact me for more information of booking your own session! Life will return to normal, even if it will be a "new normal" and I hope to help you capture it!
 

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