I first worked with Deepa & Sumesh when they were expecting their daughter. You can view their maternity session images taken at the park location by clicking here. Deepa called the studio to schedule a First Birthday session for their little one, and I was so excited to see them again and meet their little girl!
FIRST BIRTHDAY SESSIONS AREN’T ALL ABOUT CAKE
We LOVE First Birthday portrait sessions around here, and each one is tailored to each clients’ vision. We’ll start your baby’s session with photographs of just them that highlight their personalities and their skills. Some one year olds are crawling and pulling up, while others are walking confidently (or not so much) all over the place. Their First Birthday portraits are meant to capture exactly who they are at this special milestone. We STRONGLY encourage parents to also participate in these sessions too!
Maybe your vision for your baby’s first birthday photos includes a smash cake. Or maybe you want a platter of donuts or a pie instead. Or perhaps you don’t want to have cake be a part of the session at all. There is no right or wrong way to do it, it’s all about your personal preference.
FIRST BIRTHDAY SESSION FLOW
I don’t start every First Birthday session the same way - it comes down to your baby and their personality. Sia wasn’t a shy little girl, so I was able to start with solo portraits of just her. Deepa asked if she could try putting a hairbow on her head, and I replied, “You can try!” Some one year olds just won’t keep bows on their heads, and if yours is one of them - I suggest letting it go. It’s not a battle worth fighting and will lead to frustration on your part…and your baby will be gleefully gloating about it. If you have a bow-hater, your best chance is to try slipping it on during the fun and games portion of the whole family session or RIGHT before you present them with their cake. They’re often so distracted they forget about the bow (which you will see from the image gallery is exactly what happened with Sia during her session).
What you can’t see is her daddy hovering just out of the camera frame ready to catch her if she decided to try to crawl off the bed. I take baby safety very seriously and will always have a parent spotter at the ready during solo photos of babies. Sia was lots of fun and very curious. I photographed a wide range of expressions from her, and then had mom and dad jump in with her. It’s always so wonderful to see my previous maternity clients as parents - and it’s pretty clear that Deepa and Sumesh are loving their new roles as mom and dad!
After a few whole family images, I photographed Sia with just her mom and then with just her dad, and brought the whole family back together again. My sessions are very much baby led, and I roll with whatever baby is giving me. Babies are easily distracted and they also change their minds frequently during sessions. I see this most often in who they want to be held by! Mom! No, dad! No, mom! This leads to a game I like to call “pass the baby”, and I direct parents to keep looking at their baby and smiling, and this honestly creates the most genuine and loving images. My favorite images are almost always of things that you would naturally do with your baby at home as a family without a camera there. I love being able to give my families photographs to show them how they all love each other so well and how their baby or spouse really looks at them. (hint: it’s with pure adoration) I think we so often miss that in the busyness of our daily lives.
CAKE DETAILS
I won’t go into tons of detail here about cakes, but just know that if you’re choosing to include a cake with your session that we will send you a cake tips sheet! It outlines the best type of icing, best icing colors, the optimal size and height, and some other important things that come into play. We have a preferred baker that we exclusively (and highly!) recommend to all of our clients. You can also choose to order from your local grocer’s bakery department (Publix, Whole Foods, Kroger), or even make it yourself which I think is super meaningful and special. One of my favorite cake smashes to this day is the one where DAD made the cake, and you can see that session here. (Fun fact: this family is actually the one who referred Deepa & Sumesh to me for their maternity session!)
Parents incorporating a cake should also be sure to bring a towel and a dedicated pack of baby wipes to the session. We have a bathtub here in the studio if things get crazy messy, but usually your pack of baby wipes is more than sufficient to clean up your child afterwards. We’ll be working as a team for cake cleanup so you don't end up covered in icing too!
THE CAKE SMASH
Most parents bring a different outfit for their child to wear during the cake smash. Remember how babies tend to hate bows? This is also true for party hats and bowties - so keep that in mind if you’re hoping to incorporate these into the smash. Your baby may keep them on and be totally fine with it, or they may rip them off and fling them to the floor. No matter what they choose to do, I promise they will look absolutely adorable regardless, so don’t stress out about it too much!
The majority of our babies sit in our studio high chair for their sessions, but some babies just won’t have it. Don’t worry if your baby isn’t feeling the high chair, because we have other options. We’ll try the floor, or pulled to a stand with the cake on a crate. As a last resort, we’ll have one parent hold the cake and the other parent hold baby while standing up. Whatever your baby is most comfortable with is what we’ll do - and it will be totally unique to them.
My clients report that their favorite part of the whole experience was being able to truly watch their child explore their cake and not worry about the reactions of guests or trying to videotape it or take photos of it because I’m handling that for them! I know there have been so many times with my own children where I’m frantically trying to document it so their grandparents can enjoy seeing a video of it that I realize I wasn’t fully present and actually ended up missing out on TRULY enjoying those moments as a parent.
Some parents aren’t sure that they want to do a cake because their baby didn’t have a great reaction at their party. I’ve found that at first birthday parties, a lot of babies are so overstimulated and tired by the time the cake rolls around that they want nothing to do with it and melt down instead. In the studio, it’s a low pressure environment with zero expectations and plenty of time to warm up if they’re unsure about it at first. No matter how your child reacts, it will be an organic process of them seeing their cake, and then deciding what to do with it. If your baby isn’t sure about it, get in on the fun WITH them! That’s what Deepa and Sumesh did, and they all had a blast. I love that Sia will always be able to look at these images to see her parents’ love for her and how much fun they had with her at her First Birthday session!
Enjoy a few of my favorites!
If you're expecting a baby or already a parent and looking for a newborn, maternity, or family photographer, I would love to work with you to create images that you will love for a lifetime. Watch this video to hear about my philosophy and see how I work in the studio so you can determine if I'm the right fit for you. I can't wait to meet you!
Lily Sophia Photography specializes in newborn, baby, maternity, and family photography in Atlanta, Georgia and surrounding areas.
