The Model Dreamer

Kenton’s official birth announcements went out recently. Is almost two months too late? Oh well.

Speaking of two months… check out his new photo here.

Now that I’ve had the newborn experience, I am amazed by every birth announcement I’ve ever received. It’s a miracle that they ever get out. It truly is! Here is the front of Kenton’s announcement:

front

To save some $$$, we took Kenton’s pictures ourselves. We thought we’d share some of them and how we captured them. Keep in mind – we have no idea really what we’re doing and when we get a good shot, it’s mostly just luck.

inside

Isn’t he precious?! I know… I know… I’m biased. But SERIOUSLY. CUTE.

To be honest, I wanted to copy some of those trendy new newborn shots where they’re all sleepy and curled up in little balls – in wraps or so tiny they fit inside a hat. Apparently, those shots are taken when the babes are just a few days old. I did not come out of emergency-c-section-first-time-momma-new-baby-sleep-wha??-la-la-land for about ten days. So… by the time I got around to taking his photos, he was already too big for those types of shots. (Note to self, snap out of it sooner with babe #2!) If you’re paying close attention, you’ll note it took 10 days to two-weeks to take the photos another four or five weeks to actually get around to designing and ordering the announcements – then another week or two to get them addressed and out the door. Whew!

Anywho, back to the photos. I took ’em, Mr. Dreamer was my assistant. We took them in our living room, which gets the most natural light. We waited until late afternoon/early evening when the light was just right and not too bright (kind of a problem at times out here in sunny AZ). We used the faux sheepskin rug from the nursery and some fantastic swaddle cloths as the props. I simply positioned the little man in the rug, which was in his dad’s arms and took about 300 shots. Yep. For three – or, actually, four – keepers. We used one for the canvas portrait in his nursery… Which turned out amazing and we’ll share with you soon!

Here’s a sampling of some that didn’t make the cut:

The same rug/location/lighting comes in handy for Kenton’s monthly shots. Here are some outakes from his month 2 session:

We’ve been humbled by many sweet comments from people about the announcement photos. Really, we were blessed with a gorgeous model who’s also super mellow and willing to put up with his mom and dad’s shenanigans!

Are we the only parents crazy enough to take newborn portraits ourselves? Anyone else do this and have some tips to give us for next time?

About Michelle Fortin

Michelle Fortin is a follower of Jesus, a wife and a mom. She's also an award winning broadcast journalist and public relations professional. Michelle spent nearly a decade working in television newsrooms across the country, both behind and in front of the camera. Training future broadcast journalists in her faculty associate roles at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and at Arizona Christian University was a cherished focus of her post-TV career. Today, she maintains a roster of public relations clients focused on empowering fellow “momprenuers.” She also serves as a speaker for various women's and mom's events. Michelle received her bachelor’s degree from Biola University and Master of Mass Communication (MMC) from Arizona State University. She and her husband, two young kids and English bulldog call Scottsdale, Arizona, home.

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