The Covid pandemic has definitely changed a lot of plans this year. While I am thankful that we are all safe and healthy it has been disappointing to miss out on some milestones with Nolan including his first birthday with family and friends. I also wasn’t sure about a cake smash so we decided to do our own. I think it came out really cute so I figured I would share how I did mine and some tips for photographing your own first birthday cake smash at home.
Tips for photographing a first birthday Bee Cake Smash at home:
1. Pick a theme
I saw this My First Bee-Day outfit from Cuddle Sleep Dream and thought it would be a perfect spring/summer theme for a birthday party and cake smash. If you have a baby boy and don’t know about Cuddle Sleep Dream you need to check it out ASAP! I got Aiden a Save the Bees shirt from Riverbabe Threads. You will see that later in the post!
A theme doesn’t have to be elaborate. You could even do something simple like a color or vibe.
Once you have a theme you can figure out the cake you want. You could purchase one or make one yourself. I found a cute honeycomb cake mold so I made my own cake. I made two cakes that way if anything happened to the first I had a backup.
2. Select a Location/Backdrop for your Bee Cake Smash
We decided to do our cake smash outside. I thought our backyard with lots of pollinators in bloom would be the perfect backdrop. I threw a couple of small colorful plants around him for some extra color — and something else for him to interact with if we needed to distract him.
3. Select the best time to shoot for your little one’s mood and lighting
I picked an overcast day so that I didn’t have to worry so much about the time of day I was shooting because the light is generally even and complimentary. I ended up taking the pictures after the little guy’s morning nap. I gave him a few crackers before we started so he wasn’t super hungry, but I didn’t want to fill him up because I wanted him to eat the cake.
If I were to do this again, I would have used a reflector to bounce a bit more light in his face.
If you are shooting inside, pick a time of day where you have a natural light source on your little one — such as next to a window. Just make sure the light is not behind him/her. A curtain or blanket can work well for a blank/neutral background.
For the camera, I used my Canon EOS 6D with 85mm and 50 mm lenses. However, you do not need a fancy camera to take great pictures. You can capture great photos on a cell phone camera! As long as your photos are properly exposed and the lighting is good you shouldn’t need to do a ton of editing.
4. Get a variety of shots
I wanted to make sure to get a variety of shots. Some of the different shots I got include:
- Details: Tiny fingers and toes, the outfit, the cake.
- Angles: Try to get a few different angles, I did some straight on, a few below, and even a few from above.
- Different expressions: My goal is always to get a wide range of expressions (hopefully I am not the only one who thinks a good crying face is hilarious and super cute — I didn’t get one this time!). I had a lot of help from Dad and big brother to get different expressions out of him.
- Different backgrounds: I always like to change up the backgrounds a little bit. You never know how something is going to look once it is off the camera and enlarged. Plus a change of scenery can provide a good break.
One thing I really loved about doing my own bee smash cake was that I could include his big brother in some of the photos. They ended up being some of my favorite shots.
You do not have to be a professional photographer to get great cake smash photos. They can be done at home with some preparation and thought, just like this bee cake smash!
If you liked this post on a fun bee cake smash, check out How to Create a Fun Pumpkin Milk Bath Fall Baby Photo Shoot and Shoot Along A Photography Online Course for Momtographers and DIY Monthly Milestone Photos for Baby
