A first birthday is a very special milestone for any family. It is one of the most popular requests I get for photos and rightfully so. Babies are so adorable at this age. They have so much personality and it is a great stage to finally capture those photos of your child to preserve this special moment.

A great way to do so is through a first birthday portrait and cake smash photo session. Although I have access to a studio, when weather permits, outdoor locations are ideal for these sessions. Children tend to be most at ease outdoors and I prefer a natural backdrop to a fabricated studio set. An outdoor location allows the focus to rest upon the child and not ornate props.

A typical birthday session involves first birthday portraits and then the cake smash portion. I always suggest two outfits to my clients for diversity in their images and for two different looks. I always want the entire process to be simple for my clients, so once I know your theme or color preferences, I send a complete wardrobe guide with links to outfits and accessories that will work well for your session. I usually send over outfits in a variety of price points and from more well known vendors. For example, my client wanted a Fall look for her session, so I sent her some outfits with earth tones. I was thrilled to see that she selected outfits the outfits from Amazon and H&M that I sent over to her.

This sweet baby was a delight to work with. She has such a calm and mellow disposition, but was so happy and bubbly too. We started the session first birthday portraits in her brown floral romper and in front of the wild flower patch at the park. The flowers add just the right amount of color to the images, while still maintaining a Fall vibe for the session. Next, I tried to incorporate some foliage into the session. Here on Long Island, the foliage is only just starting to change, so I had to find a spot that had just a little bit of foliage. I always love photographing on paths, so when I saw this particular one had some leaves, I opted to shoot there.

When it was finally time for the cake smash, mom changed the birthday girl into an adorable velour tan colored dress. I just love the neutral earth tone she selected. We went back to the wild flowers for the smash. Mom selected a naked iced cake, which looked so beautiful. I always thing less is more in any photo session and so does my client. The adorable wood “one” sign from Etsy was the perfect finishing touch to the cake.

Sometimes babies don’t like the texture of cake, but Miss A dug right in and loved it. I just love to capture photos of the inquisitive nature of children during this portion of the session. They always look at the cake with such wonder and curiosity before they dig in. Also, let’s face it, there is nothing more adorable than a baby covered in icing.

This session is timeless and classic and I just love the collection of images. Here are a few of my favorites.