One Year Pictures

See if they have a panel where you can display 9 pictures in a frame. We had a shot of our daughter naked full view, just the butt, belly button, profile, close up of face, then the hands and feet.

How about having him hold a singe red rose. Bring an extra for back up

I found that all white outfits with no socks and shoes are adorable

Favorite toy or blanket to capture the moment

Birthday cake to dig into with only a diaper on

I've been a photographer for about 4 different companies over 10 years, and may start my own buisness and am a complete nut when it comes to pictures of my daughter.

I would so something extremely plain, as well as festive or creative. A plain picture with and adorable facial expression from your little guy is a must. When you get decorative backgrounds or props it takes away from the child and you just look at the cute things in the picture.

Although I do like props as well and what they symbolize. So if you do both you will get the perfect 1 year pics.

I've seen some really cute pictures where mom brought in helium balloons like all the primary colors, or they brought in a actual small cake and let the baby put his face in it or tear it apart just absolutely adorable.

If your son is into something like Elmo or Thomas the train have his toys in a photo.

Other props from home like his blanky, or teddybear, etc.

A favorite of mine when they are just learning how to stand or walk is to take a picture of mom or dad in jeans barefoot with baby in jeans barefoot. You stand and face your child and your child hugs your legs or holds your hands facing you the . Then the photographer just takes your picture waist down like your the background and you see the baby from behind. It's really cute but hard to describe. Basically all you see is mom or dad's legs and baby holding on.

You could do the baby block thing where you spell his name out in blocks and add it in the photo.

Another cute idea is bathtub scene where they're naked or in a diaper in a tub.

Or put overalls on your little guy with no teeshirt and then have him barefoot and do a fishing scene.

I've seen parents bring in their childs tricycle and do a shot with that.

You can try and match backgrounds to your son's skin tone or eye color. I know blue or green eyes look awesome on close ups with a similar color background. If your son has more of a tan complextion or brown eyes do some browns or oranges.

I love black backgrounds it really grabs the child's features and pull the child out of the photograph. My daughter is fair skinned with brownish blonde hair and it just grabs her.

My daughter and I did mother/daughter pics last year and we did black background with black shirts and or bodies blended into the background with our face's and hair really standing out.

Another cute idea is to put your child in a huge pile of teddy bears and hide his body with just his face sticking out and you have to kinda do the Where's Waldo thing to find his face blending in with teddy's.

I've seen people more at Christmas time but you could do it anytime wrap their kids messy in colored xmas lights, then plug it in. It's really cute. I did this at home before.

Dear S.,

I don't remember now where I got the idea, but we had a picture taken of my husband and I holding our daughter's hands as she stood, where only our hands were in the picture. They took it on a really simple black background, and it turned out amazing. It's one of my favorites ever.

A little about me: I'm a mother of one, Aizlynn 2 1/2 years, and full time veterinary and public health student. I also have the great opportunity to work from home with the mom team, www.themomteam.com/harkleroadaj.

We put our sons when they were 9 months old naked in an old-fashioned metal washtub for their photos. The props we used were towels hanging over the washtub and bottles of baby wash and lotion sitting nearby. They were very cute photos and still hang in our living room even though the boys are now 8 and 11.

Cindy

Hey there S., I was a childrens photorgapher before I had my son. I typically tell my clients that props are just to much for pictures with small children. They tend to take over the picture. I do however recommend taking in a small personal birthday cake. TAke your baby down to the diaper....and let him have fun with the cake. You'll get some of the cutest pictures. Good Luck and have fun.

Get a really big cake with lots of color and take pictures of your son in just a diaper easting the cake and playing in it. Do like stages pictures.