Cute Ideas for 1 Year Old Portrait

Updated on April 21, 2011
K.A. asks from Costa Mesa, CA
12 answers

Hello! I need some fun ideas for how to prepare for my son's pictures at JC Penny next week. He's never had professional portraits in a studio (my friend has taken many) so I just want some ideas for outfits or props that you moms have. He will almost be 1, not standing on his own or walking yet. I have a cute red, blue, and white Hawaiian shirt I wanted to use but the website for the studio said they shouldn't wear busy colors or short sleeves - ??

Any fun tips or ideas? What worked well for you? Thanks!

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N.G.

answers from Dallas on

This may be corny, but I love corny baby photos! I put my baby girl in a metal tub with a rubber ducky, towel, bath brush. She was still pretty bald at 1 year old and she was chunky with those cheeks! She was sitting up, holding onto the side of the tub. It's one of my favorite pics to this day. One of my friends did something similar. Her baby was in a giant stock pot holding a wooden spoon, with a tiny apron, and had a little chef's hat on! So cute! I hate it when people try to make their babies look older than they are, with the fancy uppity outfits and hats. Babies are only babies for a little while, so let them be babies!

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H.N.

answers from Biloxi on

for his 1yr old picture you should take a real handsome mans shirt (like a smal aduld size) and have his picture made in it... keep that shirt and take his picture in it every year for his birthday to keep track of how much he has grown!

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S.Y.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son turned one in December so I went through this recently, we went to JC Penney as well. My son was already standing (he waited til the next day to start walking) but we didn't have him stand in any of the photos. I dressed him in little jeans and a green plaid shirt with a long-sleeved white onesie underneath, and it didn't detract from him so I say go ahead with the Hawaiian shirt.They had him in a crawl position, took a profile shot, had him sit down. I brought along a mylar balloon that said "first birthday" and they sat him in a prop "gift box" with the balloon. They may also have a big '1' for use in photos too. Mostly though, ask for a photographer who is good with very little kids and bring him in fed and well rested. My boy has a very short attention span and gets tired of photos quickly but he did great for his 1 year pics and I give the photographer a lot of credit! I spent way too much money!

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

They say not to use busy clothes because once you see the pictures, the clothes take away from the child in the pics. Also, if light skinned, no white. My daughter is not too pale. her dress for her first was white with pink. It was sleeveless and it worked out great. She got some pictures holding a # 1 and some with a fake wood cake. Also some with pink boxes that were wrapped that made it look like she was opening gifts. I have seen some pics with the child holding his or her favorite toy.

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D.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

For my sons one year pictures we went Kiddy Kandids in the BabiesRus... I took 3 outfits and I love them... one he was sitting in a wagon and holding the handle, another one he was in floral swim shorts and plain T, standing next to a fake log. He had to hold on to the log because he couldnt really stand alone, but they got a great picture of him standing up by himself with a great big smile! and than one of him sitting down in jeans and a plaid shirt... they are my favorite pictures of him.... it all depends on their props I think to know what kind of outfits to bring.... good luck!!

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W.R.

answers from Norfolk on

I was so worried about my daughter's first photos 3 years ago. We did a huge family photo with grandparents, etc. and I tried so hard to get everyone to follow the "rules" and dress in similar solid colors. Of course several people showed up in "don't" outfits but in the final photo it looked just fine. I think especially on kids the no patterns rule doesn't matter. Since then I have just picked favorite outfits and have often taken a 2nd outfit if things are going well so I have more options. The idea is that patterns detract from their face, but I don't think that has been the case in my daughter's photos. They have lots of props at JC Penney and they will have some ideas for the photo, too. They did one of my daughter holding an "O", "N", and "E" that we love and still have out.

C.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

JC Penney's already has cute props at the studio. We did one with my daughter where she was sitting in vintage suitcases and had all these vintage boxes around her. And we did one with my son where he was sitting in a tiny little bathtub with rubber duckies all around him, and we did one where he was wearing an Angels baseball jacket and hat and had a baseball, glove, and bat. My cousin's son had a pic taken of him where he was on top of a little motorcycle and was wearing jean pants and no shirt and they drew a tattoo on his arm that said "Mom" with a heart around it. That was super cute. She also put his hair in a little mohawk. Ask the people at the studio, they usually have great ideas! Good Luck!

B.S.

answers from Lansing on

I love overall pics at this age. Jean overalls with a white shirt underneath. I went to JcPenny and they had a wooden cake with a 1 on the top they used for a prop. It was a cute pic.

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S.H.

answers from St. Louis on

you want this to be QUICK & SIMPLE or you'll have a crying baby on your hands! No wardrobe changouts, please! If he has a fav toy or blankie, take that.

My fav photo of my sons was my younger son's 3yo Spring photo. He wore his brother's hand-me-down, faded OshKosh overalls & no shirt. Barefeet & holding a real live bunny! This was taken at preschool & the rabbit cooperated with my son....only. Not a single other child got to hold the bunny! At the time, my son had a headful of curls.....& he was adorable!

Oh, & as for that "busy color/short sleeve" thing....according to a photographer friend, people photo better with long sleeves & solid colors. It places the focus on the face & not the pattern/print/etc. Her preference is always white, then black, then other solids.

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N.W.

answers from Eugene on

We did Hawaiian one year as a family. Lots of colors, each one of us wore a hawaiian shirt or dress in a different print! It looked great on a white background. My one suggestion for portraits, especially for children is... bare feet. It looks much better than seeing the bottoms of their shoes when they are sitting down and their feet are so cute at this age.

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S.K.

answers from Dallas on

For our sons one year picture we put him in khaki pants, a tan cap, white t shirt and a faux leather bomber jacket. For the props we took my husbands antique wooden propeller and a couple toy airplanes from my son's room decor. He sat on the floor in front of the propeller and held one of the airplanes. It is one of my favorite pictures.

For another picture, we took his red wagon for a prop. It has the wooden rails on the sides. He wore blue jeans, solid color shirt untucked, and was bare footed. Simple but really cute.

Go with something simple, make sure he has eaten and don't go near naptime.
Good luck!

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M.H.

answers from Las Vegas on

We hardly ever do solid colors, the pictures always turn out good.

Cute idea for 1 year old and my jc penny was fine with this, they actually recomended it. Put your baby in a diaper only and have his sit down with a miniature real birthday cake, then just let him have fun with it and eat it. Very cute pics!!

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