DIY 1st Birthday Photos!

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I love seeing all those adorable Cake Smash and First Birthday photos of little ones! We opted to take our own 1st birthday and cake smash photos and they turned out great. I thought I’d share some things if you are thinking about doing your own.

First, doing your own photos isn’t for everyone. Sure, it’ll save some money but keep a couple things in mind like do you have the equipment, the patience and you’re not going to regret it later? Really put some thought into it and decide if taking your own photos is for you and your family. I’m no photographer, the whole photo-shoot took some thought and patience but I’m very happy with the photos I got. Check most of the “good” ones out below.

I’ll share some helpful tips how to do the photos yourself, read below.

One. What do you want baby to wear? Remember for the cake smash they will probably get extremely messy and leave stains. Half of the photo session we used Piper’s birthday party outfit, which was Disney’s Alice & Wonderland and the second half we just had her in a bloomer.

Two. Photo background and props. Keep it simple and go with the outfit theme. You could do the session outdoors on the grass, or use a white sheet for the background. Remember the focus should be on the baby and cake. Balloons work well but the more props you have the more distractions and baby won’t want to look at the camera. We used flowers from Piper’s room, some decorations from her party including a couple balloons. 

Three. Smash cake. This could literally be a little cake you pick up at the store the day of, any cake will do. We borrowed a large cupcake pan from a friend and of course the bottom of it was totally ruined so we went with it and finished frosting the top. Although it wasn’t perfect I didn’t stress about it and went with it, I figured it was going to get all messed up anyway. 

Four. Have help and patience. It really helps when someone is there making the baby at least look at the camera but hopefully give you a smile or two. Having Mason’s help was so very important; he kept her seated, and entertained. She was not having it during the photo-shoot, we got a total of 1 smile and most of the time we were chasing her back to the “studio”.

Five. Expectations. Don’t expect the baby to last very long in front of the camera. Be prepared and snap for too long, because baby won’t last long in “your studio”. Make sure they’re well rested and fed. Don’t expect it to go perfect, nothing does in life. 

Six. Photo equipment. Whether you have a DSLR or a nice cell phone camera, make it work with whatever you have. Just remember to snap away constantly so later you can find the best photos. Also, photograph in natural light if possible. After you’re all done with your photo-shoot do a little editing at home.

Seven. Most importantly have fun, and don’t stress! 

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