Classic First Birthday Portraits with a Year of Baby Photos

Now this was a fun session! Baby Ari’s mama reached out and wanted to plan an extra special portrait session to celebrate her baby boy’s first birthday, and she was really excited about creating some truly classic and timeless portraits of her little guy. With all of the beautiful neutrals in my Saratoga Springs portrait studio, it’s easy to pull together simple setups that let your baby shine, and we did just that with Ari’s first birthday portraits!

You see the cute little stool he’s sitting on? It’s actually a custom cake stand his mama ordered for his birthday party, and it worked perfectly as a toddler bench!

Instead of a cake smash we compiled a collection of their favorite portraits from the past year and turned them into a truly one-of-a-kind backdrop to celebrate their birthday boy’s first year. I love how he pops against the black & white photographs!

No first birthday portrait session is complete without family portraits! We went to the nearby Saratoga Spa State Park for family portraits, and this little man was on the go! He was just at the brink of walking when we did his session, and it was so much fun to capture on camera!

Of course, it wouldn’t be 2020 without documenting the reality of our year: masks. For Ari and many babies, masks are just part of their version of “normal” and this will definitely get noted in their baby book. We’re all looking forward to the day when we can see everyone’s WHOLE face when out in public while still feeling safe.

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Family Portraits at SPAC and First Birthday Portraits

Ahhhh, it’s outdoor family portrait season again! I love our outdoor family sessions, and one of my favorite portrait locations in Saratoga Springs is in Spa State Park near SPAC and the Hall of Springs. There are so many gorgeous areas filled with beautiful greenery, pretty textures, and curvy pathways that photograph so beautifully.

I was excited to see this family of five for their portrait session. Their littlest, David, recently turned one and we did a cute little birthday setup at the end with a vintage wooden high chair and a mess-free wooden cake!

This family has been coming to me for years for their portrait sessions (ever since little miss Julia turned one!), and I love seeing how comfortable the kids are with me and the camera now. They had so much fun laughing and running around, and we captured some of their favorite-ever family portraits that I know they are going to enjoy for many, many years!

The wooden cake! How adorable is this?!?!

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Happy Birthday Barratt! A Simple Studio Session

Family portraits during our first birthday sessions are always some of my FAVORITE portraits to take in a baby’s first year. This is when parents have just gotten through their first year of parenthood. There have been so many new and exciting moments, a lot of ups and downs, and plenty of victories as they get to know this tiny human they created.

These sessions are always filled with laughter and awe as they look at their little one’s budding personality, and when Barratt’s parents joined me in the studio for his first birthday session it was no different. They were so in love with their little guy, and these cuddly portraits are some of my favorites this winter!

The cream sofa in the studio is one of my favorite spots for timeless images that really let your family and their personalities shine. I always love placing a one year old on the sofa by himself and letting him sit, laugh, crawl, stand, and explore. These make for the cutest portraits of your baby right on the brink of becoming a toddler!

We did a simple white and rustic cake smash for Barratt, and his mama requested that the only decor be our shiplap backdrop and bottle brush trees on the cake. Done!

Barratt, of course, wanted to make the trees go “timberrrrrr” right away!

Such a fun session with this sweet boy! Click here to see how much he has grown in the past 12 month for a peek into his lifestyle newborn session last winter.

A Pastel Woodland Birthday Session for Karsyn

Karsyn joined me at our Saratoga Springs portrait studio for a magical first birthday session. Her mama asked me to create a floral and rustic woodland scene for the birthday girl, so we used the Lavender Fields backdrop by Heidi Hope Backdrops, along with some birch trees, hanging flowers, and twinkle lights for the perfect scene.

Like most one-year olds, Karsyn was very interested in playing with the pearl beads that we keep in the studio to keep tiny hands busy!

We finished with a bathtub splash, and this sweet birthday girl loved the water! She started splishing and splashing all over the place, and she was especially fascinated in the soap bubbles.

Thinking of a birthday session for your baby? Let’s chat!

After the Cake Smash : 11 Ideas for what to do with your cake smash photos

12 months have flown by, and in the blink of an eye your baby is 365 days old.  You're going to celebrate with a first birthday portrait session, of course.  But what will you do with the images AFTER the session?  

The last thing you want is to let them sit on a USB in a drawer somewhere, to forget about these moments that you captured of your baby's big smile, excitement, and curiosity.  You want to remember the dimples on their finger, their first few teeth poking through, and those tentative first steps.  But maybe you don't want to fill every wall of your home with cake smash pictures.  Read on for 11 ideas on what you can do with your cake smash photos after the session!

1.  Design birthday party invitations.

This is a perfect option for families that plan their cake smash at least 1.5-2 months before the baby's first birthday party.  Most families do a theme for the party, and we can incorporate that theme into the invitations.  From the shoot, to the gallery reveal, to holding your artwork in your hands, the entire turnaround time is typically one month from start to finish.  So plan ahead and get those invites printed with your photographer!

2.  Or, use the images for thank you cards!

Most families plan the cake smash close to the baby's actual birthday, so it's not always possible to send them out on party invitations.  This is where thank you cards are the perfect alternative -- we'll even leave a little blank space on the back for a heartfelt handwritten note!

3.  Hang them up at your party!

Many families like to share a canvas or a fine art album with their family & friends that come to celebrate at their baby's first birthday party.  Bring a little easel and set it up on the gift table, or find a spot on the wall!  After the party, move the canvas into the nursery for a playful pop of color on the walls!

4. Create a keepsake album.

Our fine art albums are my absolute favorite product that we offer, and they are the perfect way to enjoy every single image from your cake smash session.  This will quickly become your child's favorite book, and you'll spend hours curled up on the couch telling the story of their first birthday while they point out "mama", "dada", and "baby".  Bring it out every year on their birthday for a new tradition!

5. Complete your baby's first year book.

No baby book is complete without a first birthday.  Use your cake smash images to end with a celebratory note!

6. Give the grandparents their favorite gift EVER.

Grandparents love photos of their grandbabies.  Print a few 8x10s, or give them a small album from the session.

7.  Enjoy an accordion album!

Speaking of albums, our accordion albums are wonderful grandparent gifts!  These pocket-sized books hold nearly a dozen photos, and they are available in sets of three so that you can give a few away and keep one for yourself!

8. Tell a story with a storyboard collage.

A cake smash is all about the story -- weave 9 images together in a 3x3 grid and share all of the sweetest moments from your baby's session!

9. Hang a gallery wall in the nursery.

These playful images are the perfect addition to your nursery, and they're going to put a big smile on your face every time you see them -- even on the sleepless nights!  Hang them in a spot in your home where you'll enjoy them every single day, and where they'll bring a little bit of joy to your day!

10.  Do a "Smash & Splash", and hang them in the bathroom!

I love finishing our cake smash sessions with a splash in our adorable white clawfoot bathtub that is the perfect size for one-year olds.  Most babies love water, and they have so much fun splashing around.  We capture so many smiles and excited laughs during this portion of the session!  This makes great wall art for your bathroom, and it's definitely a talking piece that all of your houseguests will ask you about, sure to put a smile on everyone's face!
 

11.  Create a keepsake you'll add to every year with mementoes and letters for your child.

Next to our fine art albums, the wooden keepsake box is my favorite interactive product and the perfect way for you to enjoy your child's birthday memories.  Frame the photos, or display them in the little wooden easels that are tucked inside of the box.  Keep the box, and every year add little mementoes from your child's birthday -- a photo of them blowing out their candles, their birthday party invitation, a special card that they received.  Or, have friends and family write them a letter each year on their birthday and tuck them away inside of the box for an extra sweet surprise to gift them with when they turn 18!

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Let's get real for a minute here -- who has time for all of this?  

Time to design albums, party invites, thank you cards, and keepsake boxes?  That's where hiring a professional photographer comes in.  Let me do all the work for you, and you can sit back and enjoy your baby's birthday celebration, knowing that I will create the wall art, the heirlooms, and the thank you cards so that you don't have to worry about a thing!