Baby R’s first birthday shoot was so colorful and creative! How beautiful are these traditional clothes? Mom and dad hadn’t worn their Korean hanbok since their wedding, and wanted to incorporate it into their family photos. I love the colors and patterns, and R seemed to love his new outfit, too! The day we had our session was his actual birthday, so it was a perfect time to bring out clothing traditionally worn for special occasions.

Mom also requested a suitcase shot, but had the idea to use an airplane above the suitcases for an adorable ‘travel’ look. I love how it came out! R’s cloud shirt completed the look. He was also pretty proud to be standing by himself with our chair, and kept trying to scoot it around the studio like he does at home.

Happy birthday, baby R!

~ Mariah

If there were such a thing as a Cakesmash Model, little M would be a serious contender for the job. Even though she hadn’t touched anything with frosting before, she dove right into the cake- literally! She expertly smashed, all while smiling the entire time. I loved her girly set, too…we added a touch of lime green to our ribbon curtain to match her custom-made outfit and butterfly cake.

Between those blue eyes and her adorable smile, she made my job pretty easy! Happy Birthday, baby M!

~ Mariah

These two were unbelievably cute together. All I had to do was make one laugh, and they’d both dissolve into fits of giggles and look at each other laughing, then laugh even more. Big brother A sweetly held K’s hand, kissed her cheek, and shared blocks with her. I hardly had to ask him to put his arm around her!

K watched everything A did, and loved following his lead. At 1.5 and 3.5 years old, it’s already clear that they’re best friends and perfect partners in crime. This connection will be so fun to watch as they grow, and I’m so glad I got to capture it for them and their mom!

~ Mariah

Baby D has been with the studio since his birth, but it was the first time I got to photograph him. It was great to work with a family that’s been with Heidi Hope for so long!

For the cakesmash, we decided to match the set to the theme of his bedroom- vintage race cars! Sweet Indulgence did a fantastic job with the cake, and I had some fun putting checkered flags together for the background. The complete look was so ‘boy’, and something we hadn’t done at the studio yet. D was delicate with the cake, but luckily his big brother was there to show him how to eat all that frosting. 

H family, it was great to meet you. Enjoy your preview!

~ Mariah

1-year-old Baby C brought some sun to the studio on a cloudy, rainy day! She didn’t stop laughing, clapping, and blowing kisses to the camera for her entire session. You might recognize her last outfit from one of our blog sponsors…The Measure! Love that little sundress.

One of the toys we have at the studio is a Tickle-Me-Elmo, and it never fails to make babies laugh, even if they haven’t been introduced to Elmo yet. “Well, I guess we need to get an Elmo now!” mom said at the end of the session, and it’s probably true- C was smitten. We apologize in advance to any parents who need to get an Elmo after sessions with us.

It was great to meet you, W family! Enjoy your preview!

~Mariah

This was teeny newborn N just a little less than a year ago:

And look how much he has grown!  N was back again to celebrate his first birthday in style with a cake smash session.  Mom brought in a favorite toy during her planning session and we used those colors to design a fun and colorful set that perfect for N’s upcoming party.  We had a dark and rainy day in the studio, but all of these colors and N’s adorable smile certainly brightened up our day!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

I’ve been photographing this adorable family for the past three years, starting when big sister D was just days old.  Last week it was time to celebrate little brother W’s first birthday with a colorful cake smash!  Both little ones have birthdays close together and their party this year is a little buckaroo theme.  How adorable!  We planned a fun cake smash outdoors to match and Sweet Indulgence made us the perfect little cowboy cake to match.  W enjoyed his cake like no other.  He couldn’t get enough, as you can see below, and between each bite he just kept saying “mmmmmmmmm,  mmmmmmmmm”   I’m laughing just recalling how adorable he was.  It was so hard picking favorites for this preview because I honestly wanted to share them all!  Can’t wait to show you the rest mom and dad :0)

Gorgeous little M visited the studio last week to celebrate her first birthday and let me tell you, this baby was born to model!  M smiled from the second she walked in the door until the second she left.  She looked straight into the camera and settled into the perfect pose in every set!  Her big brown eyes and long lashes totally stole my heart.  We had a session full of color; capturing family portraits, some classics of M, and an adorable Minnie Mouse cake smash!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Another one of my adorable baby planners is already celebrating his first birthday!  When planning for his session, mom and I went back and forth about whether we wanted to go with a cookie monster theme or something a little more classic.  While I love working with a theme, I think it’s also important to keep a timeless appeal in our sets and mom totally agreed.  We were torn.  We decided to go for cookie monster, but keep it classic with bright baby boy colors in the background and turquoise to compliment B’s nursery.  I love the way the set turned out!  Sweet Indulgence not only made the perfect cookie monster cake, but they also shared one of the backgrounds from a recent dessert table they catered.  We combined it with our own to make the perfect cookie monster color scheme!  B loved his cake and didn’t mind getting messy.  He was super fast but that cake sure had him sitting in one place.  I love that last shot because he had his little feet crossed like that the whole time.  Just chillin, eatin his cake!  Enjoy your sneak peek Y family.

I was so excited to see these two little princesses again for our portrait session last week.  We celebrated their first birthday in style with an adorable cake smash for two!  K and S were so much fun to photograph and it was great catching up with mom and dad.  The girls loved all of the attention as we sang and played during the first half of the session.  Typical girly girls, they didn’t love getting messy, so our cake smash portion of the session was short and sweet.  Thankfully, K and S look adorable no matter what they do, so we have the perfect birthday keepsakes even if they didn’t dig right in to those cakes!  I’m so excited to show mom and dad the rest.  Enjoy your sneak peek and happy birthday girls!