Exotic hats are always a big hit with kids and range
from pointed wizard hats in bright colors to little sailor’s
hats. Stacy Bratton has a collection of ridiculously cute
knitted hats. They are silly, colorful, and pretty goofy in
general—but the kids seem to love to wear them in her
portraits.
Props and Costumes.
Fantasy Costumes.Some children’s portraits involve
dressing the kids up as fairies, mermaids, angels, or other
mythical characters. As a result, the “property depart-
ments” of many studios are brimming over with cos-
tumes, hats, veils, boas, feathers, angel wings, and more.
These need to be loose fitting, so that they can be ad-
justed to fit any size child. Fairies are a popular fantasy, so
items that can enhance a basic costume are always valu-
able. Of course, a wide variety of costumes are also avail-
able commercially from many sources. Small children are
often photographed bare-footed so that the child’s shoes
don’t spoil the illusion.
Fabrics.Many children’s portrait studios maintain an
extensive supply of vibrantly colored fabrics—cotton,
linen, burlap, mesh, gauze, and just about any kind of ex-
otic cloth you can think of! These fabrics can be draped
beneath or around the child to fashion a costume or
loosely pinned to form a smock or gown, depending on
the material.88 CHILDREN’S PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY HANDBOOK
Vicki Taufer specializes in photographing children, families, and
seniors. Her children’s portraits are really special, as she seemingly
has an inexhaustible standing wardrobe department with all the
costumes and accessories a kid could want. In the portraits shown
here, you can see that not only is it important that the child look
wonderful in a Vicki Taufer portrait, but that the image also have
style and even a degree of a fashion edge to it.