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I was so touched by the overwhelming response to my post about photo tips on lighting. So many of you have then followed up with me and asked specifically how I manage to work with an uncooperative toddler! This is such a great question because it took me a lot of trial and error in figuring out how best to take photos of someone who absolutely refuses to take directions 🙂

Dannica is almost 21 months old right now and for all the many months before that, she absolutely refused to take directions and could care less about photos. When I told her to sit, she would stand up and walk away. When I told her to walk around, she would sit down and sulk. When I told her to smile, she would cry. You get the idea. Things were going nowhere. The first and most obvious tip is that they really are in control. That being said, you can set yourself up for success!

The second tip is that your toddler will always be your x factor. So make sure that every single little detail outside of your toddler is ready and set to go for your photo. For me that is usually figuring out what angle I want to take the photo and where to position Dannica and Bella with respect to the lighting (see previous post on lighting). So once you have all the details figured out, then all you have to do is have your toddler come over and then you can just take the photo–you have zero time for fiddling and adjusting.

Pick out your location, figure out your lighting, grab some distractions, and go!

The third tip is to keep it fresh and new for your toddler. Put him or her in a new environment, or interact with new people, or reach for new things. You will be amazed by how easy they can be when they are simply exploring their new surroundings.

The fourth tip is that distraction will be your best friend. For me that usually means Bella (our Cavalier King Charles dog), but it can also be his or her favorite toy, or snacks, or flowers, or anything for them to hold, eat or interact with! Sometimes I use all those distractions to my advantage at the same time! You can go through all my Instagram photos and see that Dannica is always holding something, or eating something, or just sleeping.

And finally, be an observer. Let your toddler just be a toddler. I realized that the popular and most favored photos are always the more candid and natural photos where the picture tells a story. It’s more fun to capture a moment than to create one. Once you have your spot picked out, and your lighting just right, and brought your babe’s favorite snack and toy, all you can do is just let them be. And more often than not, it will be just perfect.

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Many of you have asked me about Dannica’s play kitchen in the past few months. Honestly, if you’ve ever wanted to start on a small and simple DIY project, this is the perfect one for any DIY beginners to dip their toes in! It really is fool proof and the result is so worth the extra hour or two in constructing it.

The base of the kitchen is IKEA’s Duktig play kitchen which you can purchase online or at their shop. The kitchen built as is looks like the photo below:

The first step is to lay out all the parts and spray paint all the wooden parts (front and back) white. You can purchase affordable white matte spray paints at your local Home Depot. Make sure that they are completely dry before you flip them over and paint the other side. **If you love the look of a farmer’s sink, then you can purchase a can of glossy white and spray paint the sink.** The second step is to spray paint all the fixtures rose gold (my choice of color was rose gold, but you can choose bronze, copper, anything that suits your fancy!). Don’t forget to spray paint the small tiny hooks as well as the faucet and burner rims. If you keep the plastic covering of the burners on, then you can quickly spray paint the rims without taping anything.

While everything is drying, you can start on the faux marble countertop. I bought mine from Amazon and was so happy with how it looked and turned out. You can cut out the portion where the sink and burners go in and all the other nail holes, I simply nailed through the contact paper and that worked out perfectly well. The final touch is to add the stove and oven knobs to the front. I bought the knobs from Amazon and simply Krazy glued them on after marking a placeholder with a pencil.

I’ve seen so many people do fun back splashes (I am trying to do a subway tile back splash and still on the hunt for the perfect tiles) and paint the insides of the cubby holes as well. If you search IKEA Duktig makeovers on Pinterest, there are hundreds of different hacks that people have done. I personally settled on this one because it was my dream kitchen colors and aesthetics growing up!

It really only took around 1-2 extra hours on top of the time it takes to actually assemble the kitchen. I hope this inspires you to do one as well! You can see below for sources and of course, please feel free to ask me any questions below!

Ikea Duktig Kitchen // Faux Marble Contact Paper // Apron // Kitchen Appliances // Potted Plants // Stove Top Knobs

Washcloth is from Joann’s fabric, all other accessories are from Target, and misshapen cupcakes were baked by yours truly.

Many of you have asked me for tips on how to take photos and more specifically, how I take my photos. This is such a broad question that it is impossible to cover in one post. There are so many aspects to consider when taking a photo–lighting, styling, location scouting, flattering positioning of the subject(s), editing, story telling, and so so soooooo much more. When taking photos of a toddler or a dog (or even BOTH, like I do!!) there are even more factors to consider and little tricks you can pull out of your hat to make things go (somewhat) more smoothly. I promise to eventually go over all of them (you can comment here if you would like to read about a particular topic more so than others).

I am by no means a photographer and I do not pretend to even be one! I have far too much respect for professional photographers and their knowledge of their craft to call myself one. What I can do, is just speak from personal experience on what worked and what didn’t. I also take all of my photos on my iPhone, so everything I am going over here is iPhone specific. And what I learned is that lighting is EVERYTHING.

Natural light is your best friend. I believe that everyone and everything look their best in natural light. With that being said, you want the right kind of sunlight depending on whether you’re inside or outside. When you’re inside, you want maximum sunlight. So if your home is always flooded with light, you’re golden. It’s also nice to know which part of your house gets the most sunlight throughout the day and take photos when you know that area will be at its brightest.

When taking photos outside, it is ironically the reverse! I realized that on those bright, sunny and perfectly blue sky days, taking a good photo is nearly impossible. People are always squinting, their skin looks too shiny, there are sharp and distracting shadows everywhere, and anything in white or subtle colors are completely lost or destroyed. So I found that my favorite days to take photos outside is on a warm, overcast or cloudy day, or even better, right before the sun settles for the day. They call this the “golden hour” for very good reason. The sun casts that perfectly soft golden hue everywhere and all photos just turn out magical and enchanting. It really is the best, best, best time to take photos outside.

Sunny day – lots of sharp shadows, colors are washed out, lots of shiny highlights.

Cloudy day – softer lighting and colors.

Overcast day – minimal shadows and highlights. Soft lighting and colors. Details and colors aren’t washed out.

Photo taken during the “golden hour”.

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