Capturing those special moments on your child’s first birthday is priceless. And one of the most fun parts of a first birthday is the cake smash! Local Nashville family photographer, Jenna Henderson Photography, created this special cake smash shoot for her little guy Oliver on his first birthday! This cake was made specifically for these Nashville baby photos by Jenna’s sister. Oliver’s close-knit family celebration happened at another time, so these photos could focus just on this little guy’s sweet expressions while eating his cake (with no distractions!). Keep reading more of this fun cake shoot!
Tell us all about the planning for Oliver’s birthday party!
Jenna: Because I’m a photographer, I live many of life’s biggest moments behind the camera. I don’t always like doing that when it comes to my own family’s moments! We had a very small gathering of family at our home to celebrate Oliver, at which point I got to watch him smash a cake. Then, later in the week, I brought him into my studio with a second cake so that I could get great photos of him without having to miss out on it in the moment at his party. This is something I recommend for my clients often, especially if they’re not planning on having a photographer at the actual birthday party.
Tell us about the cake smash! What was the cake flavor and what did Oliver do when you presented him with the cake?
Jenna: The cake was chocolate, and the icing was white. There was a simple light green “1” on top. I recommend this combo to my clients when when planning cake smash photos, because chocolate cake shows up better in photos than plain white or yellow cake. Also, white icing is better, not only because it’s classic, but also because chocolate icing can sometimes look like mud. And finally, if there is any decoration to the cake, pastel trim on the cake is better than bright colors, because the dye in the icing can sometimes stain faces and hands, which doesn’t make for great photos! Also, I would recommend avoiding sprinkles, as occasionally babies get distracted with picking the sprinkles off the cake and forget to smash into it.
I’ve photographed many babies smashing cakes over the years … something I’ve noticed with babies eating cake is that often this is their very first experience with sugar. As such, it can be rather shocking, and as a result, they don’t really dig into the cake but rather pick at it slowly. Additionally, if the baby has never had a chance to self feed with messy foods (something that happens often with first babies), then they can get quite distracted by the texture of the icing sticking to their hands. I recommend, if you really want messy, dig-in-there cake smash photos, let your child try self feeding cake and icing once or twice prior to their session. This way, they know EXACTLY how awesome cake is, and will be more likely to dig right in!
Jenna! Thanks so much for sharing these adorable photos of Oliver! He is so cute! You can check out more of Jenna’s amazing Nashville baby photos over on her site: www.jennahendersonportraits.com. And also give her a follow over on Instagram!