I’m here today to break through the perfect-photo myth – I just want to give you a glimpse into the big picture. The photos you see on my blog may look great, but the background is messy just like any other house – keeping it real.
Let’s start with my helper, Ironman, ever present in the background. Sometimes he’s morphed into other various super heros, but you get the jist. Here he is taking photos with the tablet (obviously a blogger’s kid) and you can tell that the photo set up is just a blanket on the floor:
But the picture looks awesome and professional:
So let’s go on a behind-the-scenes of photos tour…..you won’t want to miss this…
How about some of the step-by-step pictures – I painted my craft desk white on purpose so that I could use it as a photo background — so you get this basic photo:
But what you don’t see is what’s really going on – – can you find the pliers in their little cleaned-off area??
This may look like I spent time to get out a light box, but I was too lazy and just taped a piece of random posterboard to the chair – done and done. (Who can find the cat, watching my every move??)
The baby shoes pictures turned out awesome:
And to achieve that I just propped up a couple pieces of colored paper onto the corner of my kitchen table and pointed them at the natural light coming in the window – note the table isn’t even cleared off:
A slipper silhouette is really just her standing on a posterboard – you can even see the puppet show going on in the background:
How about the picture of my cake I’ll be blogging about tomorrow:
It’s just sitting on a green tshirt on the floor of my kitchen (cause that’s where the light was coming in)
So there you have it – – the insider’s information. The behind-the-scenes reveal. Enjoy π
And an unrelated behind-the-scenes note, if you are a blogger needing anything blog-design related, I HIGHLY recommend Kim at 733Designs – – she’s amazing and can fix all of my (blog) problems. You’ll love working with her.

I love this behind the scenes! It’s pretty much what I do while trying to take photos with natural light.
I come to your link party every week and I would be so happy if you visited my blog sometime.
Have fabulous weekend,
Angela
You are one of my favorite bloggers. I’m always in awe of you and your blog. I just assumed that you must have an elaborate studio to do all your shots in. I’m so excited to see that are less costly ways to get the perfect shots. You are such an inspiration!
Thanks for keeping it real Mandy!
I love this!
This is so great! I have been asking myself how I can make my pictures more appealing on my blog, and you have provided the answers for me!
Thank you, thank you!
xox Sam
DIY Huntress
This is such a relief that there is some sort of mess going on behind the scenes.
Thanks for sharing!
Joanne @ Creative Mess
jmacreativemess.blogspot.com
great information! I find it often hard to photograph in an apartment that doesn’t always have great lighting. Or rather, it doesn’t have great lighting when I WANT to or HAVE THE TIME to photograph. But I like your creative ideas. My cat likes to watch everything I do, and is often inspired to become part of my shoot.
Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer @ gingerbugZ
[email protected]
looking for some ideas on photographing children’s clothing without a live model. Any suggestions? (I have a child’s dress form, but without arms, so the dresses sort of hang flat. Also looking for a way to photograph pants, since the dress form is just the torso and doesn’t have any legs.
too funny! I have these set all over the house too! I wonder what are kids think about the crazy mom taking pictures of EVERYTHING??? π I also have a bit set up on our covered porch since it’s so gloomy and dark and wet in Seattle most of the year! It’s the best place to get light. outside!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing– great tips! π
I loved this post! I, too, usually have huge messes going on behind the scenes during photo shoots. It’s nice to know I’m not alone…and also, I love the idea of using a blanket or t-shirt as a backdrop for photos. Brilliant!
Love it! That’s pretty much just how I do it too. I love these kinds of keeping-it-real posts!
What a fun post! Makes me feel a little better about the mess I have going over here. : ) now if I could just crop out the house when neighbors pop by like a photograph…
Ha! That’s exactly how I take my photos, and my husband always thinks it’s weird that I put food on the floor before we eat it, if that’s where the light is. Thanks for sharing your behind-the-scenes!!
Haha. Those antics look very familiar. π And it also looks like it would be a lot of fun to be a kid at your house. π
I really needed this!
Great post! Kim IS the best!!! She does business cards too π
Haha. My craft/dining table is a mess all the time. Just shove everything out of the way to take a picture! Funny, I just took a photo of the mess yesterday. Maybe I will post it on my blog. π Love your blog! Jessica (cutesycrafts.com)
I love this! Also proves you are a awesome mom!!!
I can SO relate!
I love it! Great to see what’s really going on. Looks like what happens her.
I love this post because I always wonder if other people o the same crazy crap that I do… turns out that they do… or at least you do π
Loving this post Mandy! My kids are always taking pics of random objects… and the minute we finish a project they automatically start to pose with it. Definitely blogger kids! haha.
AND THANK YOU for the shout out. You’re too sweet. π
This is pretty much what I do, except we have practically no natural light in our apartment! Thank goodness for the 2 little tabletop daylight lamps my husband got me for Christmas. I absolutely love that I can use them at night once the kids have gone to bed!
Ha ha. That’s a good one. I especially like the cake on the floor! I was moving recipes around on my blog and could see my glasses and cell phone in the corner of a pic! Hmm didn’t notice that before.
Thanks for a behind the scenes look at your perfect life with perfect light and expensive set ups… NOT! how cool! I can do some pics like yours if I want now π I also passed this on to a non blogging friend because she takes terrible pics of her work to share with me and when I see it I am amazed at what I missed out on cuz she can’t get the shots π Kathi
Great post, thanks for the honesty! Sometimes I do wonder if other blogger’s homes are perfectly tidy- since mine is definitely not! I’m also learning to stage shots and just got a new camera… so this helps too. π
I love the wAY YOUr daughter is smiling for the picture, of her feet. π
I love this post! The area around my pictures is always quite a mess. In fact, occasionally, a toe or something creeps in that I just can’t quite crop out π
The natural light is best in three places in our house {depending on what time of day} so you will find photo backdrops set up in those three almost constantly.
This is what keeps me coming back, Mandy! You are so REAL and I love that! Keep up the great work!