Emma's Winter Birthday Portraits

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My favorite part about being a portrait photographer is

styling the photos.

 

That means I pull together the entire scene right down

to the clothing.  I buy all my props and clothing at thrift stores, but I did

splurge on this amazing children's table and chair set last summer on E-bay.

 

I also DREAM a lot of my ideas!

The idea for Emma's 2nd birthday shoot came in a dream.

 

 

I saw Emma sitting at the table with a SNOW WOMAN!

The day before, I was trying to think of a wintry stuffed

animal to put in that chair.

 

But after I had the dream, I HAD to create a snow woman!

 

 

The long green dress is simply a larger size...in this case size 6.

On a two year old that is long.

 

I found the big flower at a thrift store and pinned it to

the thrift store hat.  All the tableware is from thrift stores

and my friend made the fake cake.

 

Read this blog post to learn how to make a fake cake.

 

 

The snow woman was a challenge!

We have a ton of snow, but it's light and fluffy and won't pack.

 

So I had my son shovel some into buckets.

 

 

I kept it in our 40-degree garage overnight.

 

 

The next morning, it was perfect packing snow...Yahooo!

 

 

I made Ms. Snow Woman right in the garage.

 

 

Then she chilled on my back porch for a week waiting

for the shoot.

 

Nobody turn on the grill!!!

 

 

The day of the shoot, I snazzied her up with eyes I saw in my dream.

Really odd, but I had randomly bought the pink buttons at

a thrift store a few days BEFORE I saw them as eyes in my dream!!!

 

Isn't she a GLAM birthday guest?

 

 

Before Emma arrived, I set up my scene.

 

Here, I was trying to figure out how I could

stab the stick arms into the ice hard body.

 

I ended up carving holes with my car key.

 

 

I always take test shots before the child

arrives.  This is how I realized, Emma's chair

needed to be on the other side of the table

for a better background.

 

Especially in the winter, when it was only 21 degrees,

I wanted everything in place and ready to shoot so

Emma did not get cold or lose interest.

 

 

Emma's mom Grace helped make her comfortable.

 

She LOVED what she called Missus Frosty!

 

 

With all the preparation, the actual shoot lasted only ten minutes.

 

Emma pretty much forgot she was at a photo shoot, and

Grace says she is still talking about Mrs. Frosty.

 

If you have an idea...pay attention to the details

and PREPARE everything ahead...

You will LOVE the results!