Oh, my goodness, this was the BEST smash cake session! If you’re not familiar with smash cake sessions, they’re when a baby turns one year old and they get a small cake that they are thoroughly encouraged to SMASH and eat all for the sole purpose of capturing adorable photos to celebrate baby’s 1st year!

This is Miss J and I took her older sister’s smash cake photos a few years ago. I was worried I wouldn’t get to do Miss J’s because her family moved to Atlanta last year, so I was thrilled with mom texted me and said they wanted to come up for photos!!

Her older sister’s shoot had a lot more color, but this year mom wanted to go with a more neutral palette, which I thought was just lovely. Now that we’re in our new house, I have a room up front for my studio and I finally have a space that has wood floors, so I can do smash cake sessions in my in-home studio now!

We always do at least 2 setups and we start out without the cake - obviously! I loved the way the background I had complimented her little purple paisley outfit. I edited these just a little more softly than I typically do. I tend to alter my editing styles just slightly to match the mood of the shoot and the people in it. I don’t think there’s a one-edit-fits-all!

The last cake smash session I had was a while ago, and she was NOT into her cake, which is more typical then you might think! But Miss J was ALL ABOUT IT. She even tipped over the entire cake stand at one point! It was hilarious and so perfect!

Little girls! Aren’t they the sweetest?! With one toddler girl and one newborn girl, this session was not lacking in sweetness! As all my expectant moms do, this one texted me when baby Madeline had made her entrance into the world and we set up our in-home newborn session. I adore shooting newborns and their families in their homes. It’s the best way to truly document what it was like in those first couple of weeks home as the family has changed, “onlies” and “youngests” become “big sisters” and “big brothers,” and mom and dad are sweetly spent. It’s a time that goes by so quick and can be so hard to easily to recall the details of.

I started off with Olivia, from here on known as the Big Sister. It’s easy and natural for newborn to get most of the attention, so starting our shoot with Olivia showing me around her room - stuffed animals and pillows! - was a great way to make her feel not only included, but important as well. ;) AND, it let mommy finish up her makeup!

Once we got baby Madeline in the shoot, she was happy for only short periods of time without being held. She was a little fussy and, completely heartwarmingly, was calmed quickly by her dad’s hand on her back and his gentle sway and loud hum. They also had grandpa there visiting and he was loving on his granddaughters!

It didn’t take long for Olivia, in her darling blue dress and with her adorable little lips, to get completely comfortable with the camera and try to be in every photo! haha! This happens a ton with older siblings, so we all let her jump in, but daddy took her out of the room for a bit to do some reading together so that I could focus on mama and baby in the soft pink nursery. Finally, everyone got in together and snuggled up as a family of four! It was such a successful shoot, even with baby Madeline not being happy the whole time, and it helped to work with such a loving and gentle family.

Evie and her house were a magical delight!  Her mom had mentioned she had a few vintage items that she wanted to use for the shoot - a dress, a hat box - but, whoa, was I in for an awesome surprise when I got there!  I've written about the treasures I find in other people's homes, and this house was no exception.  EVERYTHING had a vintage look and I wanted all of it in the photos!  She even had an old typewriter that I am kicking myself for not using in a single shot. Her whole house was a nod to the vintage feel, and I immediately knew what kind of post-process look I wanted to give both the color and b&w.  That's one of the main reasons I love shooting in people's homes.  I get a vibe of who they are and their tastes and I can tailor my editing to that - and know that whatever they choose to display on their walls and shelves will go perfectly.

The first look we did was sweet Evie in - get this - her grandmother's Christening gown.  Isn't that so precious?  And once I saw her vintage-looking crib, I knew we needed to start in front of it.  As we were shooting, I noticed one of the ties on the crib was untied, but I didn't want to tie it up just yet.  I mentioned it after we took a few more.  Her mom told me that the older brother comes in all time and unties it!  I loved that!  Now there's just a little hint of her brother in the photos with her. :)

Next we took a little break from all the lace and bows and diaper-covered it out in her oh-so-sweet crib.  These are two of my most favorite shots.  I find them so endearing - and her blue eyes are to die for.

And, yes, I did mention "hat box" up above, and here it is!  Again, her grandmother's hat box and her grandmother's fancy patent leather shoes.  She found them yummy - I don't know a single 6 month old that wouldn't at least try a bite!  Oh, I was so in love with all the little treasures Evie's mommy had for me!

Although this shoot was about Evie turning the big half-year, her mommy wanted some photos of just the two of them.  And, really, what mom doesn't want some nice shots of her and her kids? We're never in photos because, generally, we ARE the memory keepers of our families. Because of that, I never mind when a mommy wants to jump in for a few.  I wanted to capture the special bond between these two - a mommy and her youngest, only daughter.

Ah, and then this sweetness happened.  Perfect ending to a lovely shoot.  Happy 6 Months, Baby Evie!