4 Ideas for Valentine's Day Themed Images

Valentine's Day is a couple of days away, and I always enjoy being creative when it comes to themed images. There are a ton of creative ideas out there that can be incorporated into Valentine’s Day images, but I do have a few favourites!

1. The Paper Heart Project

The Paper Heart Project is an incredibly important campaign that was started by a fellow photographer friend, Danielle Awwad. Danielle’s son, SJ, was born with ten different Congenital Heart Defects and Heterotaxy. He has undergone significant surgeries and extensive medical procedures. Currently, his heart has only one pumping chamber. 

Danielle explains,

“The Paper Heart Project is a campaign to spread awareness about Congenital Heart Defects, also called CHDs. Congenital Heart Defects are the most common birth defect. The severity of CHDs can range from mild to deadly. One out of nearly 100 babies is born with Congenital Heart Defects yet it is one of the most underfunded childhood illnesses in regards to research.”

Danielle’s campaign aims to bring awareness to Congenital Heart Defects during February. Anyone can participate in this project by taking a photo of a paper heart and then posting that image to any social media outlet and with both the following hashtags: #paperheartproject and #CHDAwareness. You can read more about Danielle, SJ, and the paper heart project here.

^{ISO 200, 35mm, 3.2f, 1/250ss}

 2. Think red and pink

Anything red or pink goes around Valentine’s Day, so brighten up those frames with the beautiful colour of red and pink and make your subject pop. I think Valentine’s Day clothing with cute little festive sayings are adorable to capture and preserve into your Valentine’s Day-themed captures. 

^{ISO 200, 70mm, 3.2f, 1/1600ss}

3. Hearts 

We all know that hearts are associated with love and Valentine’s Day. So take advantage of that. The more hearts, the better I think! Don’t be afraid to get creative here. There are a lot of heart overlays that can be integrated into an image. I love creative editing, so I often have a ton of fun in post-processing integrating hearts into my Valentine’s Day themed images.   

^{ISO 1000, 35mm, 3.2f, 1/500ss}

4. Create heart bokeh

A fun, creative technique that you might want to try is creating your heart bokeh. Cut a circle, a little larger but relatively the same size as the lens you’ll be photographing with, out of black card stock. I use my Sigma 35mm because the edges around the glass are a bit raised.  Using a lens that is a bit deeper than the encasing, I know I won’t accidentally scratch my lens when I place the card stock over the front of the glass. Cut a small (about a half-inch) sized heart into the middle of the card stock.  I happen to have a heart paper punch that I like to use. Now tape around the card stock securing it to the front edges of your lens. Then capture images with lights in the background. I hung out some indoor Christmas lights in the image below. The lights will turn into little heart-shaped bokeh! Make sure you’re shooting fairly wide open here and that your subject is a good distance away from the background lights for the biggest results.

 ^{ISO 2000, 35mm, 1.6f, 1/400ss}

5. Valentine’s Day details

What are some of your favourite Valentine’s Day traditions? Over here, our favourite traditions are writing out cards to our friends and baking cookies. I enjoy documenting those details. Make sure you capture some of those little details this Valentine’s Day!

^{ISO 800, 35mm, 2.8f, 1/160ss}

Have fun this Valentine's Day and don't forget to get creative and infuse a little love into all your images!