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Our DIY Newborn Photos

You guys have asked some questions about taking our own newborn photos, making Teddy’s birth announcement, taking Clara’s four year photo & making her annual video, and what I got for Mother’s Day (spoiler alert: it’s a super sentimental photo book of kid quotes from Clara), so this post is a smorgasbord of all that documentation. As I wrote this I thought “maybe John and I are more ‘document-happy’ than most people” – you know, to take so many photos and make a yearly video, etc. But then I realized that most people with a blog probably lean towards a love of capturing things, and a ton of our non-blogging friends and relatives have phones and computers full of videos and photos of their kids. So I think it’s just easier than ever thanks to cell phones, and maybe we’re not that unusual after all.

We did stash our phones and break out the good camera to snap some casual newborn photos when Teddy was just a week old though, so here’s our favorite one on the cover of his birth announcement. We just used a template from TinyPrints, added the picture, and bought a few dozen.

As is the case with most photoshoots, it gets a lot less glamorous when you zoom out. Yup, we snapped the photo above while John stood between a giant box and a plant in the office.

Teddy was just seven days old when we did this, because we wanted to capture his sweet squishy newborn stage. Our amazing brother-in-law Todd (who’s a professional photographer) also offered to take some family & baby photos for us, so it was nice to know that the pictures we took wouldn’t be the only ones. It took the pressure way down, and made it nice and fun. John and I both got in on the shooting action, and we even got some sweet pictures of Clara and Teddy together.

As for the tools we used for our casual little shoot (professionals we’re not, so these really came in handy), we used the diffuser I got John for Christmas, a soft surface that we created with a pile of blankets and a Boppy on our office desk, and a step stool to help us take some shots from above.

The difference of the diffuser was pretty dramatic. The shot on the left is one we took without it – and then we held up the diffuser to even out the light and took another picture. These baby-in-a-basket shots make us laugh because he straight-up looks like he’s in the womb. I think good pro photographers can pull off setups like these, but after snapping a few we moved on to simpler shots of him sleeping, John holding him, Clara looking at him, etc.

We took these photos with our Nikon D3200 and our nifty fifty lens (it’s an AF-S Nikkor 50mm lens that we’ve had for a few years now). It’s great for shooting detail shots and creating that blurred background, but we never use it for full room shots (we use the stock lens that came with our camera for those).

We also tried to include things with meaning to us in the photos…

… like this sweet blanket that my brother’s wife Ali knitted for us (it was the first one she ever made – and it came out awesome!).

Baby foot intermission. I still contend there is nothing cuter.

I love this photo that captures Teddy’s cute hair and John’s wedding ring with a simple light background. I still can’t believe how much hair he had at birth since Clara had hardly any for a while.

Here’s one with eyes, was a total coup for us since he was still pretty sleepy and squinty at seven days old.

We also wanted to get some shots of Clara with him, so we used our bed as a casual background.

This one melts my heart. This girl LOVES her brother.

We liked these shots so much that we used a series of them on the back of Teddy’s announcement.

These photos were taken the next day, just randomly when they were laying in our bed.

They’re a pretty hilarious pair, these two.

Which leads us to Clara’s latest photo project picture. A bunch of you started asking where her four year shot was after we shared her birthday party (thanks for the reminders! It had completely slipped our mind between party stuff and general newborn happenings).

 

It’s pretty crazy to see how much she has grown since we started the project. One of our favorite things to do now is to take Teddy’s weekly photo and then look back at Clara’s photo from that same week. She loves studying his photos next to hers, and it’s fun for us to pick out a few similarities and differences.

We also got some pretty great outtakes from Clara’s four year photo. The one on the right kills me. She saw it and said “I look like a flamingo!”

And here’s her annual video (you can see the other three here, here, and here). Makes me all mushy and weepy. Sometimes I just want to freeze time.

And now for my mother’s day gift. It made me full on ugly-cry. John secretly put together a little photobook full of Clara Conversations for me.

Every page had me doing that smiling-with-tears-running-down-my-face thing. It’s one of my favorite things ever. And such a huge surprise. I have no idea when he snuck the time in to make it.

John even thought to leave the last page blank so Clara could draw our family. Look at us, all holding hands. I also like how Daddy is smaller than Teddy. And the Easter stickers are a nice touch too.

Update: John made/bought the book through MyPublisher, which is also where we order our family yearbooks (although this book is smaller and thinner than those).

How are you guys documenting things these days? Is your phone full of photos? Have you make any videos with clips and pictures set to music (here’s a post about how we make ours). Is anyone else sending out birth announcements? Is it weird that I keep them? I have dozens of them, from every friend and relative who has ever sent them to us, and I keep them in a big stack next to the cookbooks in a kitchen cabinet.

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Comments

  3. That is the sweetest Mother’s Day gift ever! This pregnant girl is ugly-crying with you :-) And if I know you Petersik’s at all, John’s Father’s Day gift will be just as sweet.

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  4. Sherry & John,

    You are great parents and your family is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing everything – I look forward to reading it each day!

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  5. ah! hormones making me cry while i’m at work! cube-mates giving me weird looks! so lovely! i can only hope our daughter loves her little brother as much as Clara loves Teddy (we have to wait until September to see).

    and i don’t think you’re overly documenting; i think you’re lighting a fire under some of us and letting the rest of us live vicariously through your awesome photography/copy skills. seriously, my photo books never turn out that awesome!

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  6. So precious!!! Enjoy those amazing babies! I am so impressed with the difference the diffuser made… I think I want one now. Great job John on the Mother’s day gift. With two babies you’ll have to get her one every year with both kid’s conversations.

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  7. What sweet photos of Teddy – made me cry and I am at work!!! That Clara convos book is the sweetest-thing-ever My ex just sent me a huge box of photos from when my son Jonathan was little (birth thru age 3) and I went thru them during a drive to the Eastern shore last weekend (while my husband was driving). I literally cried the entire way to Ocean City (he passed away in March 2012 at age 24). Some of these pics I had not ever seen before! I really want to use the link you gave us last week to make a photo book of these shots. You will be so happy to have the books you’ve made many years down the road (I can totally see Clara taking one with her when she goes off to college – ha ha!).

    Thanks so much for sharing – the moments you captured are priceless!

    xxoo – dt

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  8. I literally just did a search on your site for what camera you use. Excellent timing with this post!!

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  10. My heart just melted at all of these beautiful photos – thanks for sharing them with us! And that second photo with John holding Teddy is awesome!

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  11. So not weird! I have a stack like that too…it also has wedding invites and save the dates! Every once in awhile I glue them onto a few scrapbook pages and I love to look back on them. I prefer photobooks for pictures, but there’s nothing like a few scrapbook pages for all the “stuff” I just can’t throw away!

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  12. I hope you will add some Teddy Talks posts to go with the Clara Conversations down the road. That book John made is amazing! So sweet.

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  13. So cute that four square of Clara and Teddy together

    In the top left one especially, Clara is looking more and more like her Mama!

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  15. Where is that lovely gold fabric from? Would love to use it for a DIY photo booth at my upcoming wedding!

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  17. Love it all! Definitely validates my desire to want to document everything. I take pictures upon pictures yet still don’t feel it’s enough. I do find that I take too many with my phone and want to take more with my camera.

    Thanks for sharing. The video is awesome!

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  20. And the award for the most teary face at work on a Tuesday due to this sweet family goes to…..ME! Love you guys and love that you capture so many moments! We are a family that does the same now that we have our daughter and it’s priceless!! Cannot wait until we can have a book filled with Zoe’s comments. We can tell from her constant jabber (she’s 15 months) that she’s going to be a talker!

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  21. Great post! Question, how do you guys make the yearly videos? Do you have some software you use? I’m not very technologically savy at all!! However, I love her videos and would love to do that for my little guy (he’s almost 2!) thanks in advance!

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  23. I’m not pregnant not overly hormonal today so I don’t have an excuse, but that video made me cry. So wonderful.

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  25. Though I read every post, I seldom comment. But boy, (and girl!), I sure had to tell you after watching the video that you are so doing it right! Thanks for sharing.

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  27. I am DYING over that picture of him with his eyes open. It looks like he’s posing. And the pictures of the two of them! I just can’t handle the adorable.

    No pictures or videos of families here as I’m currently still single. But since I’m a first time homeowner there’s lots of pics of flowers I’ve grown and meals I’ve cooked, things I’ve baked.

    Although I do have a plethora of pics of my baby cousin. Actually, she’s 6 so I guess she’s not a baby. In any event, I love her like my own so when I see her I do fill up with pics.

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  28. So cute! I just sent my husband a link to this post and told him to bookmark it for a couple reason:

    1. Remind me to document Kiddo Conversations for our future, unborn children.
    2. To remember that a book like that will be a great Mother’s Day gift.

    Thank you for all the continued inspiration!

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  30. This is beautiful. You have the cutest kids.

    I actually took some beginner photography classes because I’m determined to be the person in the family who can take good pictures (our family photos can be a hit or miss lol). This is more encouragement to keep working on it and to actually take the time to do something with the photos. That book with Clara was the PERFECT gift. I’m assuming John got some major brownie points? Haha.

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  37. I love the Clara videos. She’s adorable and what a great big sister she is to Teddy. Congrats on your beautiful family. It’s been a joy read this blog since before Clara was born and I always will. :-)

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  38. Most adorable baby in the world! Besides my own, of course :)

    What photo book service did John use for the book….totally inspired to make one!!

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  40. You guys are too cute!! All of you, yes even you John, because that Mother’s Day gift was just so adorable beyond words!! I need to remember to take more pictures and videos of my girl and write down what she says since she’s starting to say a few words now. So stinking cute!! Love you guys, you’re awesome.

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  42. I love the pictures of Clara and Teddy together:) My son is Clara’s age and is so in love with his 4 month-old brother:) His relationship with his 2.5 year-old sister is a bit more tumultuous, of course! But capturing those sweet moments on film is as close as you can get to reliving them over and over again… Beautiful.

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  43. Hi guys! Long time reader and fan! Just a quick question. I love how your Instagram pictures look so sweet and not posed. Any tips on how to capture those moments with kids and loved ones without them feeling staged? What filter do you use and how do you not have to crop some? They transition very nice in those books you create. Anyways, you both are such an inspiration! Keep up the good work! PS, i’m a new mom and these tips will help me create books for my baby boy in the future!

    Reply

    • Thanks Rita! My tip for Instagram is just to snap a few different shots (some are terrible, and some magically get something great) and to try to shoot in vertical mode. That way when you make it a square you just lose top and bottom (when I shoot horizontally, I often hate to crop them into a square because I lose more of the “content” part of the pic if that makes sense). We usually don’t use any filters, but occasionally use Sierra to lighten something or make it more vintage/faded. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  44. Well that video just made me ugly cry from thinking about my girl getting that big (she’s just over two now). The book John made (OMG – well played sir) has inspired me to start keep track of her conversations! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  45. Love this post so much! Bravo for documenting your lives, these things will inevitably (if not already) be priceless to your family.

    I need to get a move on it in putting together our own family albums!!!

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  46. I love this! My daughter was born a week before Teddy and my son (named Teddy!) is three now, so I’ll be stealing some of these ideas for photo shoots!
    Did you use a website like shutterfly/tiny prints to make the Clara conversations book? I like that setup!

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  48. The Clara Conversations book is amazing! What a sweet, thoughtful gift. What website did he use to make it? I have written down my daughter’s conversations, too. Would love to create a book!

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  49. Everything about this is adorable! (The drawing in the book is amazing, such a nice touch) I aspire to make little books like that and take yearly photos when I have kids. It’s so cute to see them grow :)

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  50. My husband did a one-second-a-day video of our 2013 year and it was so awesome. I had no idea how much it would really sum up our family and that time. We are doing it again this year. The one second format seems crazy, but what you end up with are memory-like snippets. He’s also done videos like this for our vacations specifically, and it’s the same result. Admittedly audio is tough, so he kept the original audio but layered music in the back to keep things consistent. See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPBgEH2F4jY&list=UUx0Bd8fw9J9gFOpvyea047A

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    • Love this. What did you use to take one second videos (video camera? regular camera? Is there a 1 second setting?) Did you take several a day and narrow it down, or just randomly take one? I think I am going to have to try this when baby arrives :)

    • He/we used our iphones almost exclusively to capture video, taking as much at a time and per day as we wanted. It was sometimes hard to decide what to use, especially if several interesting or important things happened on the same day. My husband used Final Cut Pro to edit, but that’s only because he works in the television industry and is used to using that tool. iMovie should work just as well. There are apps out there that will help you do this, but we didn’t use them. A great place to start is a vacation. Take a bunch of video and try to make a 45 second result. Super fun to share!

    • OMG i NEEED to have my sister do this! she’s in tv production and would be SO good at it! or maybe i’ll just make her compile mine. SO awesome, thanks for sharing!

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