Taking One Year Old Portraits | 6 Easy Ways To Capture Perfect Portraits

Our baby just turned one last week and on her birthday I made sure to schedule time for taking one year old portraits.  I love taking birthday portraits on my girls’ actual birthdays and intentionally schedule the photos for first thing in the morning, before the exciting day gets away from us.  Birthdays can be beautifully exhausting for little ones, as it is a day full of excitement and presents.  Knowing this, I like getting their birthday photos done earlier in the day so their mood is fresh and cooperative.  No matter the age of your child, here are 6 easy ways you can capture portraits of your children.

For a complete guide on how I photograph my baby girl’s first year, be sure to read The First Twelve.  And to learn how I document our everyday moments between milestones, be sure to read The Everyday Photograph.

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Taking One Year Old Portraits | 6 Easy Ways To Capture Perfect Portraits

1. Encourage Neutral Clothing

When taking portraits, the focus should be on the child.  Avoid clothing that is bright in color and/or contains text or animation.  Not only does clothing with writing and characters distract the viewer from the child’s face, but it can make for a messy portrait.  Clothing that is bright in color can also present color casting issues in which the bright color from the clothing reflects off of the child’s skin, creating unnatural skin tones.  When choosing clothing, focus on neutral tones and fun texture to add an element of interest that supports the portrait instead of distracts from it.

For my daughter’s first year portraits, I chose a pale pink dress with a tutu skirt and lace bodice.  The texture adds just enough interest to make the photo interesting, while the color is neutral enough to keep the focus on my child.  For a similar styled outfit, here are some similar options from Target, Carter’s, Old Navy, and Janie and Jack.  I also usually size down for portraits so that their clothes fit well and don’t make the child look like they are being swallowed in fabric, which can easily happen when children are photographed in clothes that are too big.

2. Intentional Schedule Portraits

When taking one year old portraits, or portraits at any age, be sure to schedule them for a time when the child is their best self.  Ensuring they have a full belly and are well rested are two great starting points when trying to decide when to schedule your portraits.  I personally like to schedule their portraits first thing in the morning, after they are well fed and before the gifts begin.  Once the presents start, say goodbye to any cooperation from your child…they will be too excited and distracted to cooperative for a portrait or two.

To be inspired by her winter birthday party, be sure to see my post about her Winter ONEderland themed 1st birthday party!

3. Nail Your Settings Before You Begin

Before I even bring my little ones into the portrait space, I always take the time to set my ISO, aperture and shutter speed.  Preparing my settings before shooting allows me to be completely ready, once I set my child in place for their portraits.  With little ones, you want to reduce any waiting time on their end because they usually only want to cooperate for a short amount of time.  I never want to waste my little one’s patience waiting for me to fumble with my camera settings so I intentionally set up my camera before even bringing my little one in the room.  (Of course, light may shift in the mean time, but those are quick adjustments once my base settings are selected).

For reference, I photograph with my DSLR, my favorite everyday lens, and my portrait lens.  For the portraits within this post, I used my DSLR and my favorite everyday lens to help work within a smaller space.

4. Focus On The Eyes

To ensure your portrait is crisp and in focus, be sure to place your focal point on the subject’s eyes.  No matter what pose your subject is in and what aperture you are using, always make sure you are placing your focal point on your subjects eyes to create beautiful focus and a beautiful final portrait.

5.  Encourage Sitting

Let’s be real, little ones are fast.  To give yourself a fair chance at achieving a good photo when taking one year old portraits, or portraits of younger children, encourage sitting.  For our baby’s first year portraits, I started the short session by having her sit in a large chair and then we moved to a small child sized rocking chair, which was actually her birthday present!  Because this small rocking chair was brand new to her, she was easily excited and distracted enough to allow me time to photograph some sweet portraits.

6. Encourage Personality

Some of the images above have my daughter looking off camera or offering a more serious face, but are equally sentimental images because they capture her current personality.  Remember, portraits are more about the subject and who they truly are.  Don’t stress about creating a portrait of your child with the perfect smile with perfect eye contact with the camera.  While those images are always wonderful, be sure to give equal credit to the images that truly show who the child is.  Each of the 7 portraits I shared within this post are equally meaningful to me because they each capture part of her sweet personality at 12 months old.

As you prepare for taking one year old portraits, or portraits of any child, be sure to keep these tips in mind to ensure an easy portrait process with beautiful final images.  Taking the time to think through clothing, preparing your camera settings beforehand and think through your child’s schedule will all help to streamline the process of photographing young children.  I hope these tips help you create portraits that you enjoy forever, with a little less stress!

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