DIY: First Birthday Cake Smash Photo Shoot

To mark the occasion of baby girl's first birthday, I decided I wanted to try out a cake smash photo shoot. My baby is growing quickly and I try to take as many photos of her as possible. She's never had cake before and I thought it would be so funny to just put a whole one in front of her and document what she did with it through photos.

Let me just put in a disclaimer that I have recently started enjoying taking photos but in no means do I think my photos are of professional standard. I just thought it would be fun to put together a post detailing how I went about organising this photo shoot for any mummies who love the idea of these photos but don't want to hire a professional photographer.

The setting

Think about how you want your photos to look and then decide on your setting. Outdoor photos can be super cute set up on the grass. You may want a totally plain background and to drape it with white or coloured materials or backdrops. You may just want to find a little corner in the house that has a bit of character.

I picked a corner in my kitchen. I have floorboards so it means that I could make sure it was clean enough to eat off and also easy to clean later. I felt like my cream kitchen cupboards added a bit of character to the pictures whilst still being plain enough that it would make the other photo features really stand out.

The outfit

The less clothes the better I think. You want something that photographs well and that will tie into the colours of your cake, props and background. Showing a bit of skin is super cute and adds to the photos. Think rompers, panties, bow ties, tutus. Don't forget about head attire. A birthday cone hat, tiara, crown or headband. If you want some inspiration just google cake smash outfits. There's places online you can specifically buy outfits, Etsy has a great selection.

I chose a gorgeous floral Holly Willoughby romper that I already owned and paired it with a pearl crown hair clip from Mini and Minnie as well as one of my own pearl necklaces.

Props

It's a good idea to have a few simple props that tie into the look you are going for. Think about matching it with your background or colours of the cake or outfit. Balloons, bunting, garland, chalkboards are a good start with some ideas.

I chose to keep the props really simple. I got some black card and wrote 'ONE' on it with a white chalkboard marker and put it in a frame that I already had.

The cake
Think about the kind of cake you want. A vanilla sponge with buttercream icing will photograph the best however you may wish to provide your little one with some healthier options. Especially if they have never had cake before. Coloured icings work well. Make sure there is lots of it because it will look adorable smudged across your babies face and skin.

I have never given baby girl anything with sugar so I didn't want to overdose her for the sake of some nice photos. I found a great healthier banana cake smash recipe (click on the link to see it). I used a giant cupcake cake tin and adjusted the cooking time to 45 minutes, swapped the conola oil for coconut oil and rather than use the icing with powdered sugar in it I used whipped cream cheese with a bit of vanilla essence and food colouring mixed through it before piping in rose swirls across the cake.

The camera & technicals
The last thing you need is a camera! Obviously the more fancy the camera is, the better the pics will turn out (if you know how to use it). Make sure there is loads of natural light to take the best shots. Once you select the photos that you would like to use you can use something like pic monkey to edit the photos and do simple things like crop, and adjust the lighting and colours.

I just used my iPhone 6, as I do for pretty much all my pictures. I think it takes pretty good photos, it has some simple adjustments and is perfect for a novice like me. I struggle with other photo editing programs but pic monkey is pretty user friendly.

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So without further ado. Here is a selection of photos from our shoot.

The whole shoot only took about 5 minutes before she got bored of it. I'm so happy with the way the pictures turned out. I can't wait to get some framed.

These are special photos that we'll be able to look back on forever and remember the day that baby girl turned one.

I would love to see any first birthday photo shoots you try yourselves!

Kat x

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