I am not talking about balloon hearts, cutesy mugs, sugar goodness or love plants. This is all stuff YOU want to get. Now, ask yourself what would your love REALLY want and you’ll see the answer clear as day. I bet that any man or woman would die to have a fashion picture especially shot for them by their loved one. Say it ain’t true! 

Would it be a retro style shoot or a Victorian setting photo session, it’s up to you and what you have at home. You can make a scrapbook, or a digital picture frame slideshow, or a personalized card, you name it. Whatever it is, it will blow your better half’s mind, I guarantee. So, how do you pull this off? I say, use whatever you have at home. If you are up for spending some extra money on this, sure, go ahead and buy stuff. But you can absolutely make the most awesome photos of yourself without a trip to the store. BE CREATIVE!

If you would like not to spend any money at all, you can always print your pictures at home. There are different kinds of quality photo paper available at Staples and even Walmart, if you don’t have any handy. 

 What you would need for your photo shoot? Yourself and your imagination! You can even draw on your pictures after they are done, just like I did in this photo  or make a photo collage with drawings like this one.

 Here are some things that might help you:

1.Light – get every light you have in the house. It is best if you use daylight but if it is not possible, anything will do. Just remember- you need a lot of it! Make sure that you have a light behind you as well as facing you. It is better to light your face full frontal, since light from above or under will produce shadows that if you are not a professional photographer, you will have a tough time controlling and might not be very flattering at the end.

2. Background- you can honestly use anything- you can use a sheet, a curtain, a piece of paper, a cardboard,  a special photo backdrop if you have one lying around, or a very nicely painted wall. Improvise! If you have a fireplace, attach the top of the sheet/curtain, backdrop to the mantel and take the picture in front of it. You can also use curtain rods to attach your”background”, have in mind though that you should NOT take pictures in front of a window where the light is coming from. That will make your face completely dark.

3. Props– anything you can imagine, depending on the idea you have for the photo shoot- jewelry, hats, blankets,bow ties or regular ties, satin sheets, Halloween costumes, glasses, rose petals, fake mustache, food, lingerie, boxing gloves, whatever you have around the house and inspires you ( and your better half of course). Be creative!

5.  Time– well, I won’t lie, it will take some practice, so plan accordingly.

6. Camera– ANY camera would do. You just need the option to set a timer on it to take the picture, but now even phone cameras can do that, so no worries. If you have a camera remote, even better ( that’s what I use, it is very inexpensive one and it works just fine for me).

And finally, have some fun! That’s all that matters, right?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Annie