In a family, the first birthday of a child is important. The reason why the family would save money for it to be celebrated. We have welcomed a new life into our family with my cousin's daughter, who will turn 1 year old. Dozens of wrapped gifts were given to the birthday princess. Yet there's me, a student, and jobless people who don't have pennies to buy birthday gifts. But it doesn't stop ideas from circulating in my mind just to show that I'm happy to welcome her into our family.
My family already knows that I have an interest in photography, and I often get compliments from them. As I have said nowadays, when it is your day somehow, it is mandatory to post new photos of you, and how much more if it is your first birthday? Actually, they asked me first if I could capture Maxine's first birthday photos, and I agreed right away because I find it exciting and I feel like floating on air because of the trust they have given me. Consider them my first client without payment because it is a gift. When you are the photographer and I am the wannabe, everything is on me as I think about some concept because a shot without a concept is typically just a normal photo. And I don't want to complicate things, so I just think about the possibility that the material is just around the corner without spending some pennies.
Since it is a child's birthday, the photo should indicate the genuineness and the baby's vibe. So, I think of the garden concept, and we should build a tiny cabin for her made of cloth. For the foundation of their tiny tent or cabin, I used our curtain rod. The epic part is that I have to dig it into the soil so that it will remain unbothered by the child's actions. So, since I used the curtain rod, why not use the curtain itself? The curtain is what I spread over the rod to cover it and make it more aesthetic.
It is a birthday shot, so an age should be visible. I have come up with the word "one" as the number. I find the number boring and sad since it is only one. printed the word one, cut it off. The difficult part is that the letter O is more different from the remaining two, N and E. I have also prepared the vine flowers, and my aunt also bought balloons for her. Grab artificial flowers and stuffed toys, as well as inflate the balloon.
And we also have a 1 big balloon, balloons are one of the birthday spirits. I decided to prepare the shot in my aunt's front yard. When the set-up is already done, I have decided to start the photo session. I only used my phone, an Oppo A5s, during that time.
Upon starting the shot, the flow was so smooth; she was happy and excited with our setup. She plays with the balloons; her giggles are everything.
Click here, and here I used the portrait mode of my phone for the subject to be more defined, like those digital cameras. Hence, when she started getting curious about the things she saw and started touching them and destroying the tiny tent, she was happy doing it, but she was the one who prepared it. If you feel so anxious, I am glad her mother started to pamper her, and her mother also got inside our tiny tent because she would throw tantrums. As I reviewed the photos, I got to see some beautiful shots of her, and I decided to call it a day.
Since I already have the raw photos, I enhance them right away using the Lightroom and Snapseed for text application as I enhance the color grading. I know she would appreciate my gift for her when the time comes. I am glad that they like my output. I provided two of the same edited photos, and they chose the latter one, which I chose as well.
Credits to us <3
Thank you so much for being with me in my blogs. Grab our phones and let us capture and cherish our moments.
-J
Adios, Hivers!