Picture Questions

This post is mostly for Becky, but since I thought others might be interested in the answers to her questions about the last post, I thought I'd answer here rather than sending her an email. So here it is...

I used a black blanket that Jim bought at Target. It's just a big fleece one that didn't cost much. We use a similar one when Michelle does her pictures, but hers is much nicer. She got hers at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It doesn't seem to pick up lint quite as easily as my cheaper one. My mom has the same one that Michelle has. I hung mine up in the playroom using those big chip clips (you know, for potato chip bags) to clip one end to the window blinds and the other end to the computer desk we use to hold the TV.

For the standing pictures, I turned a big plastic storage tub upside down and slid it under the blanket. It worked pretty well for the kids who were really bracing against it by pushing down on their hands, and less well with Thomas who just wanted to lean on it, because it kept sliding out from under him.

We first started doing pictures this way back in September when Jodie, Jeff, and Kinley came to visit. Jeff's sister is a professional photographer and let them borrow her camera and a big black drape. She had a professional stand to set up to hold the drape up. The pictures Jodie took turned out great, so Michelle bought a big black blanket to use when she did the kids' monthly pics. Later, she also bought a brown one and a light blue one. Usually we just drape the blanket over the couch or a chair or someone stands behind it and holds it up. If you look back through the blogs, you can see all the pictures we've taken. They were all done at the house. Our kids have never been anywhere professional for any of their pictures.

Hope that helps!