DIY Father’s Day Photo Shoot

When my husband returned to work shortly after my son was born, one of his coworkers asked to see a picture of our new bundle of joy. To his chagrine, he didn’t have one. The thought had not occurred to him that he should take a picture of our new baby, much less have one to show others.

You see, in our marriage, I’m the one who is always behind the camera. I have a habit of documenting every trip, every vacation, every moment. My mother-in-law jokes that my son has to be the most photographed child on the face of the planet. I bet she’s right.

So last year, for his first Father’s Day, I gave my hubby framed photos of our son for his desk at work. This year, I decided to give him photos again, but I wanted to do something a little different.

With Father’s Day just over two weeks away, I thought I’d share a simple set up that you can do at home to take studio-style photos of your kids.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 roll of craft paper (You can find this at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. Wrapping paper also works, but it won’t be as wide.)
• Painter’s Tape
• 1 30 in x 36 in acrylic sheet (You can find this at Home Depot.)
• Colored foam craft sheets, one with a sticky back
• Glue

Use this template to cut out a neck tie from the foam craft sheets. You can use different colors for the stripes and glue them onto the tie. I stuck the finished neck tie to the front of a white shirt on my son. It kind of looks like he’s playing dress up. Every little boy wants to be like his Daddy, right?

If you don’t have a little boy, it would be cute to put a tiara on your daughter, with costume jewelry and a frilly dress. Think Daddy’s Princess.

Here’s how you’ll set up the photo shoot:

I used our garage door because it was easy to tape the craft paper up as a backdrop and it is a shaded area. If you do this inside, make sure you’re near a window — filtered natural light is best for photography. Don’t use a flash! And if you do this outside, make sure you’re not in direct sunlight.

Use the acrylic sheet as the floor. It adds a nice shine to the photos and gives your kiddo something to stand on. Don’t worry if the paper rips or wrinkles…you can usually crop that out with free software.

Here are our finished photos:

I used PicMonkey.com to add fun text to the images. It’s free and has all sorts of overlays that you can use to decorate your photos.

If your kiddo gets upset during the photo shoot — just roll with it. We literally had about five minutes of good, peaceful, smile-for-the-camera cooperation. And then the tears started. The key is to be ready to take the photos right when you bring your kid out. Once he realized the acrylic would slide and the paper would tear, photos were a lost cause.

Don’t be afraid to use bribery, either. If you can get one really good photo, that’s all you need.

And sometimes, meltdown pictures actually work to your advantage:

Do you ever plan photo shoots with your kids?