Newborn Tips Part Two!

The last post was deleted due to minor controversy and I thought it would be easiest just to delete it. 


I wanted to finish my tips for newborn shoots with talking about making your own in home studio. Now bear in mind this is for the beginning photographer who is still working with natural light. This is my own little system which may not work for everyone, but when I was starting out and I couldn't sink thousands of dollars on lighting, backdrops etc. it worked out pretty great! First I found an area in my home that received lots of soft natural light for an extended period of time. This then became "my spot" I moved everything out of the space giving myself about a three foot by five foot area to work with. (You can of course work with a smaller space, I was just lucky that this was at a location we never used) I then purchased myself an inexpensive curtain rod from Target, mine was $1.99:

If you know you are going to keep this location for a long time you can go ahead and screw the hardware into the wall. Since we are never anywhere to terribly long I use 3m hooks instead! That way when I am done I simply pull them off the wall and take them with me. 

I place one 3M hook about 3 feet off the ground. Then I use my leveler to place the second hook a little over 2 feet straight across (as long as your curtain rode opens that wide), at the same height as the first.  I then went in search of some good "backdrop" fabric. I perused my favorite back drop website "Drop It Modern" to get an idea of what would look good. 

I have found that the thicker the fabric the better. I usually stick to the home decor section. It is great to find some fabric with dimension such as a damask with a lifted velvet. These look great in pictures. One of my favorites is from Ikea:

Once I have found some great fabric, I purchase at least two yards (the more you have to work with the better) I take it home and wash it per the instructions then iron the heck out of it :) I then sew a hem across the top wide enough for the curtain rod to slide through.  Taddah back drop! 

Now for my favorite part. Since I like an array of poses (some close, some full body etc) and I didn't have super cute wood floor in my apartment I went searching for a solution. I found different sites selling different "barn wood flooring mats" etc. but they were too expensive. Then I was walking through Home Depot and saw a gorgeous, but opened box of white birch wood flooring. 

I hauled it up to the customer service and asked the manager how much he wanted for it (there were two pieces missing). He looked it over and said "five bucks". I almost dropped it on the floor. I bought it and ran to my car before he could change his mind. I set up my backdrop curtain and then snapped together the pieces of wood flooring. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough space but there was PLENTY! I was so excited I made all my kids come over and lay on it for some pictures

Once my backdrop is set up I slide my pieced together flooring up against the wall so it is nice and flush. 

Now if I catch some of the flooring it will look cute! Then if you have these Sugar Snappers actions under your belt and you don't even have to worry about buying another set of flooring: 

I also use the wood flooring covered with pretty fabric for top view pictures. This way the fabric lays nice and flat and the basket rest evenly. 

What is great about this is when I am done I simply unsnap the boards and put them in a closet, take down the curtain rod and fold up the fabric! Easy up, easy down! I hope this helps if you have been toying with the idea of doing studio photography. If nothing else you can do this set up super affordably and take some fun pictures of your kiddos! Happy picture taking!