I have written about simplicity before. I talk about it in my photography classes and with all of my clients as we prepare for sessions. In all of the sessions that I do, the one that (in my humble opinion) requires the most simplicity is the newborn session. My favorite newborn images are simple, quiet and connected. I love having parent's involved in the shots too. Even only an arm, hand or chest can contribute so much in terms of scale as well as a feeling of connectedness. I also think that when you keep your background and wardrobe clean and uncluttered it allows the baby to really shine. This lovely little guy is named Aleksander.

This is the storyboard that Aleksander's parents ordered for their home. I love the simplicity of it. In the final print, each image is 5x5 and we are finishing it off with a wide, white, single mat and a simple black frame.

If you are photographing your own children at home, think about ways to simplify your background. You might take a simple black blanket or sheet and lay it on a bed as your background. A white rug makes a nice simple place to photograph. If you can drag the white rug over to a window you will be even better off. In terms of clothing, avoid any logos, words or characters and look for the most basic solid or simply lose the clothes altogether for a little newborn. Newborns tend to swim in their clothes anyway because they are still so small. Baggy clothes make a tiny newborn look skinny rather than just small. I like solid blankets with a little bit of texture. You can even drape your bouncy seat in something and move it over to a nearby window and see how that works for you.

The main thing to remember is that they are only this little once. You won't care very much about the cute outfit years later but you will want to remember the little rolls, the balled up fists, the swirls of hair and the curled up toes. You'll fight to remember exactly how their entire head fit into your cupped hands and how they looked before all their hair grew in. Grab those little moments while you can because it is gone so quickly. The next thing you know they'll be starting kindergarten. I know this because my first son just finished kindergarten and I can't figure out how that happened when it seems like he was only born yesterday.

Yes, I know it's Tuesday...the holiday weekend just got away from me so our Monday Lesson this week is here on Tuesday. Last week I talked about creating wall displays in your home. People always ask me what I have in my house. I think it's like when you are an interior designer everyone probably assumes that your house is amazing. Well, I am not an interior decorator but I am pretty good at creating wall displays. This collection is in our main family room.

The two center images are 16x24's (that's the actual image size). On either side you see all black and white images in various black frames (all different). Sorry about the glare but we have big glass doors on the opposite wall and there's no avoiding the glare. This is a good time to mention that if you have this issue, just request non-glare glass when you frame your pieces. I know that I will be doing that in the future.

So, starting on the left, you have 2 8x12's, an 8x10 and below that you have a triptych of 3 5x7's and another frame with 4 5x7's. On the right side, there is a grouping of 6 5x5's and under that there are 2 8x10's. There is one framed 5x7 and a series of 6 4x5's and lastly an 11x14.

Normally, I wouldn't recommend a wall full of 8x10's because I think it starts to look like a grid. The thing that helps this wall not feel like that are the 2 large pieces in the center and the collage frames. The variety of sizes is what helps it break up and be easy to look at. The other key concepts here is the idea of a unifying element. Here there are two main ones: the black frames and the all black and white images on the sides. The large frames in the center anchor the wall and give it impact and a focal point.

Here's another image from the side, which has little less glare.

This is my main gallery wall in the house. I have images in the boys' rooms as well and on a few other walls around the house. One of the big fears/questions that my clients have is the idea of filling their whole house with images of their kids and what to do when you run out of space.

On the first issue, the "shrine" to the kids: I can't really say much to that because our house is a shrine to our kids in so many ways. The toys are everywhere, our furniture is "kid friendly", and there are pictures of them all over the place. They are our life - our family is what we're all about right now. We collect some art too and we have it on display in the formal areas and in our bedroom and study. For us, our family images are our favorite art. We love these images so much more than our other art collection. That being said, collecting amazing images of your family doesn't mean that you can't collect art too. We just have our two art collections in separate places - the family art lives in our family spaces and the other art is in the more formal areas. Also, if you create a really nice family wall, it can look even better than your other art! Plus, I think it sends our kids a great message when they see their shining faces up on our walls. It says that we care about you and that we are so proud of you.

The second issue, filling up the walls: Our walls are full and our kids are 4 and 6. Our walls will change every few years because it is what I do. Your walls may change less often but they will change. You will move or your family will change (another baby, older kids) and your style and furniture will change too. As your family changes so will your walls. It is not unusual for us to re-frame a client's older images (i.e. not one of mine) in a new style to match their new frames. I tell my clients that I am happy to update an older frame with a newer image (if it will work). We also try and create really cohesive sets of frames so that the client can move them around and have some flexibility with where they are placed. I love helping people plan their walls. Clients will bring me pictures of their walls and I really enjoy helping them plan out a great display. Basically, what I am saying is that your walls will change, don't worry about it too much. Change is good and if you also incorporate some sound planning in your process it will make your changes easier.

I hope this is helping you guys and inspiring you to create some cool display walls in your house. Do you have some great walls already? I'd love to see them (send me pics or links). Do you have any questions that you'd like to ask or ideas to share? Please leave me a comment.