It’s hard to believe we announced our pregnancy to the world a year ago today. It seems like just yesterday, but so much has happened in the past year. Three hundred and sixty five six (leap year!) days of excitement, planning, emotions, & picture-taking. We decided to wait until after the first trimester to share with the social media world that our family was growing. It was SO hard keeping quiet. But, looking back, I’m glad that we had the chance to relish in the excitement quietly for a few months. Plus, this gave me plenty of time to decide on a pregnancy announcement photo.
Of course, when I say “decide”, I use the word very lightly. Because, while yes, I did decide on the single pregnancy announcement photo we would use to announce, I still posted fifteen others just because I loved them all!
Seriously, I am so lucky to have such a patient Hubs. I had picked out all of the photos I wanted to take & felt so prepared. I knew the exact poses, outfits, & locations; that was the easy part! But what should have been a 30-45 minute photo shoot, quickly became a 2 hour session. Somehow, he still put up with it with a smile on his face. (Well, 90% of the time anyway, lol.)
It was much more difficult that I had anticipated to get the correct lighting, to angle the camera correctly with the tripod & to get back in place in the 10 seconds I had before the shutter clicked. But we pushed through the cold & wind of that February day and ended up with some amazing DIY shots that saved us hundreds of dollars.
They turned out even better than I expected & I am so glad we took the time to take them. I love how I can go back through them & instantly be back at that day. I can remember laughing through the struggle of running back to the bike, jumping on the handle bars, scuffing up the paint job with my wedges & doing my best to compose myself before it was too late. We had so many outtakes, but we also had so much fun. Having those moments frozen in time will ensure that I never forget the excitement, fear & love we shared that day
So, of course, I knew I had to reenact them with E. (Not that I really needed a reason, because we all know I’m THAT mom.) But you learn a lot about realistic expectations when you become a parent. There was NO way I was going to be able to retake all of these pictures with a happy baby regardless of what I did. SO I picked my top two and decided that having at least one great pictures would be much better than ten average ones & a screaming babe.
SERIOUSLY IN LOVE WITH THEM. I can’t get over his sweet face and how well they turned out. We might just have to make this an annual picture (just what Hubs wants to hear, lol) because how neat would it be to watch him grow over the years. And really, it is so simple. And free!! Head to a local park with your tripod (or a friend) and you can have beautiful pictures in no time. These literally took us 30 minutes IF you count travel time. Such a small investment that grants you a wonderful pay out.
Have you taken DIY photos lately? Or does your family reenact a picture each year? I would love to see them. I’m always looking for ideas of fun family photos to take!