What do you need to rock a Finding Nemo or Dory Session?

I don’t know about you, but me and my kids LOVE Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. My 7yo also loves to watch Ellen on YouTube, of course, I can’t blame her, Ellen has such a bubbly personality that just draws you in. She’s got that family friendly sense of humor that rolls out of her mouth and you just wish you were as funny as her or that she was your aunt at family gatherings!

Anyways, I ramble, lol, I’ve done a couple of Finding Dory and Nemo sets for newborns and as a cake smash session. I wanted to share with you if you are a photographer or a mom looking for help for your own photography session or for your little one’s birthday party.

Backdrops

Sometimes you have to think out of the box for a backdrop. And with Nemo & Dory, you kind of need to buy licensed to get the right look.

These would be great for a photo booth or behind the birthday child at their birthday party or behind the cake or decorations.

Here’s something you could use that has both of them large on it.

This one has the shark on it.

This looks like the one I have in my photos.

For the best results, you don’t want a plastic backdrop or anything that has a shine as that will create a glare. It takes a lot of work, but I usually put a town on the table and then the backdrop face down and then iron it to get the wrinkles out. A steam iron works best.

Our blue ONE sign was made by Design Elements by Erin. She also made the blue and white circles garland.

This is an awesome sign and high chair decoration from Etsy.

Clothing

I use cloth diapers a lot, they look nicer than a traditional diaper and you can color match them. I keep about 10 different colors in studio. They are made to fit most any size. This one from Etsy would be perfect for a Nemo or Dory theme.

This would be good for a little boy, however, I find that most kids HATE hats.

This shark tutu outfit by Pampered Paisley would be cute for a girl.

Nemo Tutu outfit on Tu2Cute1 on Etsy.

Dory tutu by Copper Arrowz is sweet.

This ONE shirt from Best Birthday Ever. would be great for a boy or girl. With a boy you could pair with Nemo or shark swim trunks. For a girl, pair it with a tutu.

If your little girl will wear a hat/headband this Nemo/Dory Mickey ear set would be cute as well.

Cake & Toppers

Our gorgeous cake was made by Bold City Confections. She is no longer in Florida, but we know some other great cake people if you need help.

Also, if you wanted something for the birthday party, this is a cute cake topper sign.

Nemo chocolate pops from And Chocolate for All.
Decorations

You could use paper puffs to add some dimension. I keep big Disney characters in my studio like Nemo.

If you have a newborn and you want something for them to hold, something like this would fit a little better.

We have one of these large plastic Dory’s that talks.

About our Model

Joey, was a special model for us in many ways. He has Costello Syndrome. He did his session when he was about 18 months old. He had only recently started eating food by mouth. Costello syndrome is a very rare disease and he is the only child in our city of nearly 1 million to have it. 15% of these children will develop childhood cancer. To learn more, visit Costello Kids.