Dad contacted the studio to inquire about scheduling a First Birthday session for his twin boys, and told us that it would be the family’s first professional portrait session as well. He’s a professional filmmaker here in the Atlanta area, and I love working with others in the imaging industry. He connected us with his wife from there to handle all of the little details (what to wear, cake tips, etc), and we were all set for their session!
When the family arrived, I immediately noticed how different the twins’ personalities were. Hendrick was more outgoing, with Brock being on the quieter side. I approach all shy babies the same way: with very quiet and slow movements. Little ones have every right to feel safe and secure, and I am not going to frighten them by trying to amp up a situation and jump around being loud. I meet your baby exactly where they’re at and we go from there. I have worked with every personality type that I can think of, as well as special needs kids, and treating them with loving respect goes a long, long way. Because the boys were a little unsure, we started the session with family images so they would be in the arms of their parents and see that I was nothing to worry about. After that, I pulled out some of our wooden blocks (sanitized!) for the boys to play with, and they warmed up from there.
Parents are often surprised by how short our First Birthday sessions are and at how quickly their babies tire out. The majority of our babies last 45 minutes at the max, and I move very quickly to keep them interested and engaged. I work efficiently so that I can create all the images needed before moving on to the cake smashing fun. As a note: we have many families opt to skip the cake part, so if you're considering first year portraits, please don’t feel like it's a requirement to have a cake. This family had picked up their smash cakes from Publix - which is a great option here in the Atlanta area. If you want something more custom and don’t want to have to worry about transporting your cake(s) to the studio, we have the perfect baker to refer you to! We exclusively refer her to all our First Birthday portrait clients, and she delivers the cake straight to the studio so it’s waiting here for your session. Her cakes are gorgeous, taste delicious, and she can accommodate vegan cake requests as well!
We moved on to the cake smashing fun and set up some fun balloons that the family had brought along. Mama was hoping they would wear their special birthday hats that she had ordered for them - and she followed my special “trick” to have a better chance of that…. as you can see, it worked! The twins were immediately interested in their cakes and enjoyed exploring and tasting the icing. After they were finished with their cakes, their parents cleaned them up while I took care of cleaning up the studio. We always recommend bringing a couple packs of baby wipes from home (the wipes cut through the buttercream perfectly) as well as some towels and washcloths if your baby requires some more heavy duty cleanup as we have a full bathtub right here in the studio if required!
Enjoy the images from this fun twin birthday session! It’s NEVER too early to get on the books for your baby’s First Birthday - we book up several months in advance, and currently only shoot ONE studio session per day. We highly recommend contacting us as soon as possible ESPECIALLY if you want to schedule for a weekend day!
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.
