Our First Cake Smash ~ Birthday Portraits

Cake smash sessions have been an interest of mine since I started seeing them around. Actually, 9 years ago for my daughters birthday I made her a mini cake to go along with the main cake with the specific purpose of letting her trash it. I just didn't have a portrait business at the time to turn it into special portraits.

(We started with some clean shots so this session wasn't just about messy cake)

So when I had the inquiry I thought how could I refuse. I'm always up for trying new things and I love the challenge of trying new portraits and putting my skills and creativity to the test.

(Mum thought she'd try her in a dress even though dresses aren't really their thing. Her daughter proved her right in that she clearly does not like dresses either)

Luckily my client had some ideas of her own. She supplied the bunting, which she had already purchased. She also supplied the cake and the cloth nappy which together provided great balance in the images. At first I wasn't sure about the bold colours as I don't often use them. But the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea.

I was thrilled with the experience and the results. I'm not sure though if it was down to having an easy baby or an easy setting. She was so lovely to work with. She wasn't always stationary but we were able to hold her attention for a great deal of the session.

And a happier baby we couldn't have asked for, until she accidently got her foot full of icing that is. She wasn't terribly thrilled with this.

Anyway, having never done one of these before, nor having much knowledge of what such a session entails, I decided to start with a few portraits without the cake. I tried to limit this though so that we didn't waste all the good smiles before the cake was introduced. I followed this with a few of the cake on its own.

And then we let her in to do as she pleased with the cake. It was only seconds before her fingers were in the icing and then in her mouth. Without our help though she never would have reached down to the actual cake and I doubt she would have made much of a mess. But that made it more fun and tasty for us. I just love cake. And I truly loved the results of this session. I couldn't have been happier with the final results.

If your child is about to celebrate a birthday and fancy giving this a go please get in touch as I'd love to do this again. And don't think your child needs to be turning 1 to do this as I'm sure a second or third birthday would work just as well.

Ring us on 01455 611069 or send me an email at christina_lauder@btconnect.com.

Comments

G Aunt Peggy said…

LWOW Hadley loves cake just like the rest of us. Very expressive!

13 January 2014 at 01:00

5 Reasons you Should Consider Getting a Professional Headshot

Headshots, or profile pictures are becoming a requirement of so many tools we regularly use or reference today. From Facebook to Linked In, Instagram to Twitter and often any website that represents a company for which you work or own will have a place to include a photograph that is meant to show your audience who you are. And how you present yourself there will tell your audience so much about you. 1. A profile picture is your first opportunity for your audience to see you. Its often the first impression you make and we all know you only have one chance at a first impression. A professional photographer has the skills to show you in the best, most suitable way to give a great first impression. (These headshots were created for recruitment firm Optima UK who asked to have their logo placed behind them. I think it makes these headshots quite eye catching and they should do their job well.) 2. Using a professional to create your headshot will ...

London in Spring, Whats Not to Love?

Well I know there is still a lot not to love but I'm choosing to see the great things about London at the moment. I am having a ball this year visiting London as often as I can. Which is unusual for me since I usually prefer the comfort of my own home, in rural old Leicestershire. Staying home and avoiding people has always been the easy option. But this year, possibly due to the wonderful weather we keep having, has me longing for venturing out. Again, just like my last trip, I headed out with my good friend Panikos Hajistilly . Living in North London he finds it easy to meet up for our shoots. This time though I had more of an idea of the sights I wanted to use as the backdrops for my portraits. With it being spring I was in search of colour, preferably flowers. Admittedly. I didn't quite get what I was looking for. The white fronted terraced houses with pink magnolia trees we did not find unfortunately. But I did make it to Peggy Porchen's which was a must see on m...

Fine Art Portraits of a Beautiful Young Girl

So this is really becoming my thing lately. I am having so much fun working with children individually where I can direct and interact in ways that bring the best out of my subject. This has certainly become a process now of creating rather than taking photographs. And its what I have always wanted to be, a portrait artist rather than a photographer. I cannot put into words fully just how rewarding this is. For each of these shoots (as with nearly all of my shoots) we begin with a consultation where we discuss what we would like to achieve in the shoot. Here we will consider the type of clothing and any possible props. We will look at both the clients clothes and my ever growing collection so we can pick what will work best. In all circumstances we are heavily guided by what the child in the portraits wants to wear as I see this as vitally important. If he or she is uncomfortable its going to show and the portraits won't work. But most are happy to play dressups and wear a com...

Never Work With Children or Animals

Or so the saying goes. But I have to say that working with dogs has been so lovely. They have been almost entirely a dream to work with. I say almost entirely because we have had a few moments where a dog has needed to settle. And one moment where the dog had settled but one of my cats decided to have a look through the glass door which, as you can imagine, rather quickly unsettled the dog. Still, that didn't stop us from creating incredible work. In fact it was during that shoot with the cat instance when I created two of my favourite pieces, shown below. (It was while sitting on the couch here when he noticed the cat peering through the curtain) I don't know if I've just been lucky or all dogs are just easy to work with. I photographed a french bull dog puppy and I thought that would be tough as he hadn't had time to be properly trained yet. But he did everything we wanted in no time at all. And this included the props we used here (below), which to me...

Teen Portraits - Prom Season is Just Around the Corner

If your child is heading to prom in the next couple of months I'd say there is probably no better time than now to have portraits created of your growing teen. With the purchase of a new (and probably expensive) outfit wouldn't it be nice to capture this milestone with a portrait created by a professional. Across the pond this is a hugely popular time to create portraits, and although I am not American (I'm Canadian) I wholeheartedly agree that this is a special moment to record. My prom was a key memory in my teen years and in fact I myself had professional portraits created also. I think I'll go dig them up if I can, though admittedly I think my mother has them back in Canada. I wonder if I can get her to scan one for me. My daughter is currently making plans for college and in the running is one that will move her away from home, as many others are probably experiencing for themselves, particularly those who are 18. This makes it all the more important to ...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog