This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my Disclosure and Privacy policies here
Sharing 1 Year Old Photoshoot Tips through an Ultimate Guide to Cake Smash Photos. Learn Cake Smash photography camera settings along with my cake smash setup.
One of my absolute favorite things to do is plan and shoot for aone year old cake smash photos.Babies, decorating, and cake, what could be better!?! Okay, so we all know you’ve been planning this day since the day you found out what your wee little one was inside your womb, right ( oh no,just me? hahaha)?
The First Birthday is such an enormous occasion to celebrate! I know we all do things a little different for the party, some of us go HUGE and others celebrate in a smaller fashion, but one thing we can all get on board with is capturing precious memories of our sweet One year olds with a SMASH photoshoot! Let’s get on with our Ultimate Guide to Cake Smash Photos!
Now days there are tons of varieties of things to smash!Cake obviously is still number one, but a few other options are:
cookies and milk
avacodo
ice cream
donuts
hamburgers and fries
tacos
fruit
BBQ
mac-n-cheese
and so much more.
1 Year Old Photography Tips
Really the possibilities are endless! To start your planning…
Pick a food your little one LOVES and go with it!
You can center the decorating around your choice of food or the party theme!
Here are a few suggestions and tips for you to do your own DIY cake smash photos.
Don’t get too much stuff! Yes, many of the professionals have tons of “stuff” in the background, well those pros also have pro lighting equipment OR it’s a backdrop they’ve purchased. As for much in life I suggest keeping with the “KISS” method. If you’re not familiar with that please look it up! haha. Balloons, pompoms, and a banner go A LONG way!
Time of Day: I suggest doing it fairly early in the day or just after a good nap.
Empty Bellies: Also don’t get them full from a meal or snack pre cake Smash, they need to be somewhat hungry, but also not an empty stomach if doing cake because of all the sugar!
Find a good window with a lot of light coming in to set up beside!
Try to place the cake and child about 4-5 foot away from your background. You can find good inexpensive background (Backdrop photography hack here!) and floor paper from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s! Be sure to use the coupon! You can tape this to a wall and to the floor and it’s much easier to clean up than if you just set up on your floor!
Also, remember to keep your decorations (banners, balloons, etc.) fairly low or else you won’t be able to get them in the shot!
Cake Smash Photos Outside
If you are doing a cake smash outdoors…
Find the –> Best time of Day to Take Outdoor Pictures
I suggest finding a good open shade!
I like to use a blanket or something under the cake or food to catch it so It doesn’t get dirty, because MOST of the time the cake does fall OR the child eats the crumbs that fall.I’m ALL good with a little dirt don’t hurt, BUT… Let’s just put something under the food.
Also, if you want to include one of those GINORMOUS number 1 balloons ( I suggest just not, LOL) but if you MUST, put it about 4-5 foot in the background to either side of your child, not directly behind or else you’ll just be looking at the strings. As for how to keep the thing from turning backwards, I hope you have some suggestions for me, because I’m at a loss! The only thing I can think of is to tape it to a stick and maybe put a bunch of curling ribbon strings around it.
1 Year Old Photoshoot Tips
If you’re doing a cake smash and the child does not want to SMASH their cake, you can sneak a few small snack items that they like into the icing on the backside of the cake or just hand them a small food you know they’ll eat and this way it looks as if they are actually eating the cake.
Be prepared with a spoon! Often times the child does not like the feel of cake or food on their hands, so they won’thave anything to do with it, but more often than not they will start eating it when offered a spoon!
Have a sippy-cup or something for them to drink. Sometimes the icing can be a little much and they will be thirsty!
Cake Smash Photo Shoot
So say you’ve spent all this money and time on this super cute setup, outfit, and cake and the child does not want anything to do with this, will not eat the cake, and will not even sit still in front of your set up to get a couple pictures.
What do you do?
Well first let’s try MUSIC, have a couple favorite songs ready just incase.
Maybe try BUBBLES, have a cheap bubble wand on stand by!
Take a little break if needed and come back to it later!
You cantry a bath instead (also cute for after the Smash).
A small tub, bowl, bucket, or whatever you have that can hold a little water, set it right where you would set the cake and let them play!
I promise it will be worth the mess. Just make sure to have a few towels ready! haha!
MOST IMPORTANTLY to wrap up our Ultimate Guide to Cake Smash Photos is to remember they are your beautiful and unique ONE year olds and they don’t always live up to the expectations Pinterest has set, keep it simple! So, just let them be little and have fun!
Hello, I am Carmen Reid from Moselle, MS. I am the daughter of the One True King, God! A wife to an amazing husband of 12 years and mother to 4 Awesome Kids! 3 Beautiful and talented girls and 1 Spoiled Rotten Sweet baby boy! I have been a full time professional photographer for a little over a year. I specialize in First birthday, Seniors, and Family photography. I truly enjoy getting creative! Before I finish up my little into I would like to tell you all that without God I would not be here today! Last April I fell from the top of a section of Red Bluff in Columbia, MS. I fell between 60 and 100 foot down the side of the cliff breaking my neck. Not only did I survive but I can walk and talk and do everything the same as I always could! My God totally saved me and allowed me to continue a wonderful beautiful life with my family. I am so very thankful. If you do not know God, I ask you to please get with me and you can get to know Him! He loves you!
Cake smash attire is typically a diaper cover, bloomers, cloth diaper or tutu. 3. Decor You are welcome to bring along first birthday party decorations to the photo shoot, such as a banner, balloons, etc. You are welcome to use any items you like from the studio.
When shooting in studio, you don't need that depth of field that a prime or high end zoom will give you – so, as mentioned before, you can shoot a studio cake smash session with a kit lens or a lens that has an aperture like 4-5.6, and you won't need to worry!
I would like to use my Baby's Cake Smash photos for the First Birthday invitations, when should I schedule the session? In this case, I recommend to do the Cake Smash sessions when they just turned 11 months old so you can have the photos ready by then. The usual turnaround time is 4 weeks after the session.
The hilarious shoots typically feature a pretty cake, a picnic blanket on the grass, and a chalkboard sign with stats you'd typically see on a birth announcement or 1st birthday card: height, weight, age, likes, and dislikes. In the next shot, someone's face is covered in cake.
It's entirely up to you whether you choose to book your cake smash session to coincide with your baby's exact birthday (availability permitting). Or, you can have the session either a few days or weeks – or even months – before or after the actual day. There are no hard and fast rules here at KW Photography.
You're going to want to take off her clothes after the smash and clean her up before putting her in the car to go home. It's hard to wipe frosting off with baby wipes (lesson learned), so I recommend bringing a towel and some water to get it wet with so you can wipe her off after the smash.
The craze started in the US, and over the past few years, parents across the UK have been joining in. A cake smash is where a one-year-old gets very messy with a cake and a professional photographer captures the moment. After that, there is often a bubble bath, which is also caught on camera for posterity.
Ink and Elm's vinyl backdrops are ideal for cake smash sessions because they wipe clean with a damp cloth. Other backdrops like paper, canvas, or polypaper do not wipe clean and cannot get wet. Vinyl backdrops can be used over and over again for different cake smash sessions.
Wood or tile would be preferable for easy cake clean up. If you have carpet throughout your home, you could also purchase a large piece of plexi-glass at the hardware store that would cover the floor that the baby and cake sit on.
For cake smash and toddler photos we suggest at least 5x5ft for floor and 5x5ft for wall, or a 5x10ft all in one size. For product and food photography, we suggest 2x2ft for small items like jewellery, and 3x3ft is usually sufficient for most other items like cakes, handbags, etc.
A smash cake is a small cake about 4 inches in diameter that is just for baby to enjoy with their hands to celebrate a first birthday. Smash cakes actually have a long history and date all the way back to the Ancient Egyptians.
Sessions last between 1 and 2 hours, with a lovely outfit for their portrait session followed by either an outfit of your choice or one of my themed outfits if appropriate. We begin the session with a mini-portrait session, followed by the cake smash and ending with the clean up in the tub with some bubbles.
Truly sugar-free cakes usually contain artificial sweeteners like sucralose (Splenda) or aspartame, which we don't recommend for kids. Many babies do not touch their smash cakes anyway. Parents oftentimes go overboard ensuring that their baby's cake is beautiful (or healthy, tasty, themed)…and baby won't even eat it.
It's basically just a small cake that's made specifically for a baby's first birthday to do whatever they want with it (which usually ends up being a lot of pounding, smooshing and eating). Mostly a fun photo opp, smash cakes can also be an entertaining way to introduce babies to their first real taste of sugar.
The second act of the traditional cake cutting ceremony is when the bride and groom feed each other a small bite of cake. This can be romantic and sweet, symbolizing a commitment to provide for one another and a show of love and affection.
Typically, the cake smash photography session is done around the baby's first Birthday, and the photos are then used to adorn party invitations or let family and friends know about important developmental milestones (not to mention the hilariously embarrassing opportunities for when the kid grows up).
In ancient Rome, brides were expected to end the wedding festivities by having a barley cake smashed on their heads. Most people are probably ignorant of the ancient tradition and its role as a reminder of the male dominance in the relationship (I didn't learn until just recently!).
However, it is thought the smashing cake craze in the US probably originated from a Mexican tradition. The tradition, known as 'La Mordida', involves shoving the birthday boy or girl's face into the birthday cake to take the first bite – mordida is the Spanish word for bribe, but in Mexican slang it means bite.
Yes, your baby can safely enjoy cake (healthy or nonhealthy) on their first birthday. Babies are encouraged to start eating solid foods starting at around 6 months of age and by the time that they turn a year old they should have some mobility and idea of how to feed themselves with their own hands.
9' x 10' Backdrop: A 9′ wide by 10′ long backdrop is what can be found in most professional studios because of its versatility for shooting full-length portraits, family portraits, and larger product shots.
In addition to backdrops and floor drops or mats, many photographers rely on seamless paper as well. Seamless paper is basically a backdrop, but it is not made from wood, vinyl, or some other material.
This healthy smash cake is made with almond flour and bananas. It's the perfect option if you're looking for a no added sugar cake for your little ones first birthday.
Hobby: Web surfing, Rafting, Dowsing, Stand-up comedy, Ghost hunting, Swimming, Amateur radio
Introduction: My name is Virgilio Hermann JD, I am a fine, gifted, beautiful, encouraging, kind, talented, zealous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
Follow Carmen on FACEBOOK