The first birthday is a great time to catch up on your family photos. Your little baby is quite a little person by this age, and has a whole load of new achievements to show off. As well as family cuddles and giggles, a family photo session with a one year old can show off their new walking or standing skills, capture their funniest games and favourite toys, their huge grins and their brand new teeth. For first birthday celebration photos we can include balloons, dressing up and for the brave the potentially messy birthday cake smash. At this age they are often happy indoors or outdoors, so including the local park or your back garden in the session gives your little one chance to let off steam in one of their favourite places.
Read on for ideas to make this photo session extra special!
1) First Birthday Cake!
It’s a staple of birthday celebrations, and a birthday photo that I take every single year with my twins! For a first birthday and baby’s first every birthday cake it can be a focal point of the first birthday photos. A cake smash is the messy version, where the baby is encouraged to play with and smash the cake which gives some hilarious photos! If you are not into that much mess, the look on baby’s face at the first candle or the first taste of cake is also special!
2) Balloons
Another staple of parties and a fantastic treat for baby to play with! Helium balloons are great for little ones to run around with outside – but make sure you tie them on or attach a weight. They can also be used inside as a floating background. Air filled balloons are easier and cheaper to get hold of, and look great in a big pile for little ones to play with.
3) Look at me walk
Whatever is your little one’s newest trick, this is the time to catch it! The look of pride as a one year old staggers and walks across the room clinging on to mummy and daddy’s hands is priceless. Or perhaps they have just learned to pull up to tip toe and get those high up grown up toys!
4) Favourite toy or game
You might be fed up of it now, but one day you will realise that ragged toy that went everywhere in a tiny chubby hand has been forgotten. Or that a game of peekaboo no longer creates peals of giggles. Take this opportunity to capture those fragile memories.
5) Replicate a newborn photo to show how they’ve grown
Every day your baby is just a tiny bit bigger, and you don’t really see the difference. A surefire way to see it is to find a photo from their first weeks and take it again. Try and find one with something in it for scale, for example in your favourite chair or with a special toy.
6) Dressing up
Now that your baby is sitting up straight they look so grown up in their special outfits! Choose carefully though, as one too many changes of clothes and tears are likely, cheering baby up again can be tricky! Favourite ideas can be special outfits sent by family, or clothes proudly proclaiming the grand old age of ‘1’.
7) The whole family first birthday photo
This is the one that the parents try to avoid, but it’s going to be these pictures with mummy and daddy that your baby wants to look at when she is big. So relax, give baby a cuddle and get in that first birthday photo! Your child isn’t expecting to see a supermodel she’ll just want to see how your loving family looked ‘in the olden days’, and perhaps you will all laugh at how everyone’s hair has changed!
I hope this has given you ideas on how to take those special one year photos. And if you’d like to sit back and relax while your memories are captured please get in touch to book a relaxed and artistic photo session for your baby’s special birthday.
