How to Photograph a Cake Smash At Home | Whitney Beth Photography | UT Family Photographer
 

With Fields' 1st birthday yesterday, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show you how I photograph my kids' cake smashes at home! I like to do these sessions for my kids at home because they're really quick shoots that can get pretty messy and I like having the option of throwing them in the tub afterwards. (Plus I'm not stressing about getting a studio floor dirty as well as having my kid eat off the studio floor.) 

The first thing you're going to want to do is find a space with a well lit window. My front room with my big bay windows is what sold me on my house. You'll need to prep the space before the shoot to save you loads of work in post. For me it was moving my plants and cleaning the walls and sweeping. After that it's time to decorate. It's best to get everything completely ready before you go get your kid. If they're like mine, you'll have a short window to do this in and you don't want to waste precious time getting things put together. 

If you don't have wood floor or a floor you want photographed, tape a plastic table cloth down. Make sure to pull it tight so that it doesn't bunch up. If you have a smaller space you could also tape a poster board to the floor too. - these hacks also work if you're not a fan of the wall behind you.

When it comes to decorating, you want to make sure you have different levels and heights. always extend the decor past the frame you're going to shoot in to make the space seem more spacious instead of the tiny four by four shooting space you'll be in. I always like to shoot the details of everything before baby comes.

Here's a quick time lapse of me getting the majority of the shots. You can see all the toys and plants just shoved to the side, but it doesn't matter since they won't be visible. It's best to shoot fast. Fields was about ready to go down for a nap, so he was a little sleepy so I was quick to get all the "must have" shots on my list. Don't forget to try out different angles and have fun with it!

... and then big brother wanted to jump in and "help" Fields out.