Inspired By A Clementine - CNY Photoshoot

About two weeks ago, while walking through the grocery store I spotted clementines in the produce section. They looked and smelled so good, so I put a giant bag in my shopping cart.

The next morning, I peeled one and shared it wtih Reagan. The two of us were instantly hooked and we have been devouring them daily.

Late Saturday afternoon, Pat said he was going to do the grocery shopping (don't ya love a man who offers to do the food shopping) so I asked him to put clementines on the list.

About an hour later, Pat walked through the door with all the bags and we began to help him unpack. A few minutes into our unpacking and we turned around only to see that Reagan had made her way to the clementines. She was sitting there with the entire crate and she was trying to eat them.... peel and all!

Seeing her with those clementines made me think about Chinese New Year, which is just around the corner:)

I believe that tangerines and oranges are part of the traditional Chinese New Year celebration. I don't think clementines are, but I figured they were close enough....they are in the same fruit family.

Last year was the first time we officially celebrated. I bit the bullet and tried my hand at homemade dumplings. THEY ROCKED.... but they were a lot of work. We will be celebrating again this year, but I think we might be ordering take out. I don't know if I have it in me to cook like that again this year.

So as I began to think about what we are going to do for CNY, I remembered a few things I bought while in China.

I went into Reagan's closet and brought out a Chinese outfit to make sure it was going to fit and then it just kind of snowballed from there........

The clementines, the adorable outfit, a pair of red chopsticks, a big red bowl, my camera, and of course........sweet baby Reagan!

Together these things made for the perfect Chinese New Year Photoshoot.


"Ummm... Are you going to let me eat the entire bowl?"



"Here Mommy, you can have one too!"




If the clementines were not enough to hold her interest, we added a little fun by giving her a set of chopsticks.


"I've got chopsticks and I'm not afraid to use them!"



After a few minutes she decided to see if she could dump the bowl.


"I have a better idea......"


"I'm just going to throw them!"

All of this..... Inspired by a clementine~

After I downloaded these photos last night, I realized I should have pulled back and taken a shot so you could see my set up. I know when I did her 1st Birthday shoot with the cake, I had a few people ask how I accompished the look. It was done with white foam board in my foyer. I propped the front door open to let in some more natural light.

When I get back from work today I will try to recreate the set up and snap a photo so you can see how easily anyone can turn their home into a little studio.

UPDATE: I took a shot of my little makeshift studio tonight just before dinner. Of course at that hour the sunlight was not good. It was beginning to get dark, but it should give you the general idea.

Foamboard #1 has a white stool behind it to hold it in place.

Foamboards 2&3 are lying on the floor and I usually push them together so that you can't even tell there is a seem between them.

Foamboard #4 is used as a reflector to bounce the light coming in from the doorway on to the subject. I actually had to angle it in a little more than this photo shows in order to bounce the light properly. If you have a child sitting on the foamboard and you point #4 or a reflector towards them, you should see their face illuminate.

I have a round reflector that I usually use on location for shoots, but because it is round, it does not stay in place unless I have someone hold it. In this case, I opted for the foamboard since I could easily manage it and prop it without having that extra set of hands.

Hope this was helpful.
If anyone has any additional questions, let me know:)