How a Valentine’s Day photo session looks like with minimal props

It’s finally that time of year where we start planning for Valentine’s Day whether it be gathering gifts or planning a special surprise. Valentine’s Day can be a perfect photo opportunity for couples and for moms who love the holiday and want to photograph their kids in celebration. By now I’m sure we’ve all seen the photographer promotions with a beautiful backdrop with hearts all over it and gorgeous props. Well if you’re anything like me you appreciate the beauty of this style of photography but prefer a more minimal approach with maybe just one prop if (any). 

I want to share with you my approach to a minimal Valentine’s Day photo shoot. Keep reading on if you’re interested in learning if this is something you would perhaps be interested in doing this year for Valentine’s Day. 

For couples bring us to your date

If you want to take the opportunity to hire a photographer to capture a beautiful romantic Valentines date with your partner, I can guarantee you that it will be a memorable experience. As a lifestyle photographer I will make it as if I’m not there. I often tell couples to conversate to each other and pretend as if I’m not there. I work with equipment that is silent so you wont even hear my shutter go off when I’m capturing photos of you both. A pretty cool and creative idea to do would be to take paparazzi style photos of your date. Where the photographer remains hidden for a certain amount of time you both agree to. Just captures you on your date without your date knowing and then later surprise them with amazing photographs of both of you and the amazing day you’ve had. 

For couples, make it a tradition 

If you’re not into the idea of bringing a photographer on a date with you there’s another super cool way you can capture Valentine’s Day with out all the extra props. A way to make it feel like it’s Valentine’s Day without the obvious props is to simplify coordinating wardrobes to fit Valentine’s Day color schemes. I’m not saying wear shirts with hearts all over it, simply choose colors like red , pink or even off-white and a touch of red lipstick will look amazing and translate as Valentine’s Day. If you’re ok with bringing one prop to your photo shoot I will recommend one solid small size heart. Think of something that fits in the palm of your hand. You can hold it up during the photo shoot. If you don’t want to bring props, honestly just by making a heart with your hands would be enough. 

Family/children’s Valentine’s Day prop-less photos 

If you’re wanting to do a family or a children’s photoshoot for Valentine’s Day but want to skip out on the cheesy props, a fun way to make it still feel like Valentine’s Day is by spicing up your wardrobe. For the kiddos you can find the cutest clothes online with little hearts on it that can still be pretty minimal.  This can be so cute for the little ones to wear. You can find a Valentine’s Day top and keep the bottoms plane so it doesn’t look like a costume. For older kiddos and mom and dad you all can stick to Valentine’s Day colors.  Try not to identically match. Absolutely DONT color block!  Stick to a color scheme, for example, if you were deciding to choose the color pink as your wardrobe color for the family look at different shades of pink.  Maybe some peachy pinks or Rosie pinks. Try not to stick to the identical color of pink. This will make you all blend into the background and in my opinion doesn’t make for great photos. 

In conclusion if you set the scene and choose the right wardrobe you can absolutely have a beautiful elegant Valentine’s Day photoshoot and you might not want to go back to a set background and props ever afterwards.