I’m sharing the latest version of Lucy’s composite photo, taken in the same room at the Two Flat, 1.5 years later.
One of my greatest joys in life is documenting my family. I love photography more than most things – well, only second to how much I love my family. To know me is to know that I look forward to editing photos all day (unpopular opinion: I consider it a perk of our job!). I don’t mind carrying my DSLR around all day, and I’m happiest when looking at life through a viewfinder.
Planning Ahead
I knew with 100% certainty that I wanted to document the Two Flat renovation with our family in it, with the hope that I could one day shoot those same photos and see more than just the evolution of a room, but the evolution of our family, too. 2019 Lucy had wispy hair and a round belly, and she approached the world with caution. 2020 Lucy has longer hair, a little girl’s face (bye, baby chub!) and a laugh that fills an entire room!
But the image I was most excited to recreate was Lucy’s composite photo, taken in the second bedroom of Unit 2. The peachy ceiling, blue trim and floral wallpaper (of which I snagged a strip of before demolition) made my heart sing!
May 2019
October 2020
Spot the Difference
You can see that we kept the blue trim in an updated hue (Sherwin-William’s Magnetic Gray), found original pine floors beneath the laminate and asked our drywallers to keep the subtle curve in the pitched ceiling. And what else? Oh, yeah. Lucy!
The Secret to a Composite Photo
I wanted to recreate as many Lucy’s as I could, and our process was the same as round one. I have just one secret: Scott interacts with Lucy in the room as I control the camera on its tripod. For every situation I wanted to capture, I had Scott talk, play and dance with Lucy. It alleviates Lucy of all pressure, and she just gets to have a play date with Dad!
Note: If you’re interested in the technical side of creating a composite photo after the shoot, here’s a step-by-step tutorial!
7 Lucys!
Since I shared the original tutorial, have you given this a try? This would be fun with pets and even more than one child and/or pet, although more of a challenge. I’ve found it to be such a fun way to capture The Many Sides of Lucy, and I’m so grateful that I set aside the time to do so!
Looking for more photography tutorials? These are the basics of using your DSLR, tips for shooting interiors, how I organize my digital files, and a look inside my camera bag.
This is so fun! And my five year old would love to see one of himself. Maybe a fun birthday present next year.
It would be so worth it to do this to celebrate a milestone such as a birthday!
And all of a sudden she is a lovely little girl! Picture proof that time really does fly! Enjoy your holiday whatever it looks like this year, kids always make it so much more fun!
Thank you, same to you!
Whoa! That is quite a change (sniff)! Where’d your baby go? So cool how you were able to document it!
She’ll always be my little baby, but right now she’s so quick to remind me: ‘I’m a big girl, remember?’
Using Scott to get the poses you want is SO SMART! I love how you documented this, it’s such fun.
so sweet that she can now look out the window when she was struggling to reach her chin to the sill last year
Agreed, it kills me.