Simple Cake Smash Photography

My Cake Smash Style

If you had asked me about cake smash photography years ago, I would have said “The busier, the better!”  The idea of simple cake smash photography was boring.  I went all out on cake smashes.  Balloons, banners, Pom Poms, streamers, letters, wooden 1’s, and more… Every cake smash had to have a theme.  Then, I would have a session where we spent 45 minutes setting up, and the baby wouldn’t touch the cake.  Mom was heartbroken, and we had wasted all that time setting up for a picture we never got.

As my style evolved and I found my way in the studio photography world, I realized that I was focusing on the setup and not the baby.  I look back at those pictures and realize that my eye doesn’t know where to look.  Do I look at the baby or the background?  My goal in all of my pictures is to have the baby as the focus, so why was I losing that with my cake smashes?  Yes, I use props.  I love props.  But I want them to add a certain feel to my photos, not take away from the baby.  This is when I started offering simple cake smash photography.  Just baby and cake.  That’s where the focus should be, and that’s what I want you to see and remember.  I threw away all of my Pom poms.  I told parents to stop bringing balloons and banners.  Parents bring the cake.  I supply the cake stand and even the outfit if you want to use one of mine.  That’s it!  When I did my first simple cake smash, I knew I had found my cake smash style.

Simple Cake Smashes

Not only do simple cake smashes keep the focus on your baby, but they also make gorgeous collages.  Many of my clients purchase a wooden cake smash story board to display their pictures.  It is one of my favorite products that I offer.  I wanted to share a few of my recent simple cake smashes so that you can see that simple is beautiful and not boring.

Meet Ellis.  She decided that simple really is better.  So much so that she ditched the berries and greenery just a few seconds into her cake smash!

Is simple really better?

Don’t get me wrong.  There is nothing wrong with themed cake smashes.  I follow some amazing photographers who build the most beautiful cake smash sets.  I just realized that those sets are not my style.  Give me a baby and a cake, and I could photograph it all day long!

Including a Cake Smash into your One Year Photos

Many clients ask me if they should include a cake smash into their baby’s birthday session.  I LOVE cake smash of course, so I’d say yes every time!  But if you are debating on a cake or you don’t think your baby would like the cake, there are SO many other ways to incorporate a similar concept into your one year photos.  I have done several fruit smashes like this one year old watermelon fruit smash.  You can do milk and cookies, donuts, pancakes, waffles, or your baby’s favorite food.  The sky really is the limit.

Simple Cake Smash Photography

Meet Landree.  The last time I saw her was at her newborn photo session.  She was actually a model that I found to test out my new lighting equipment.  She was a dream to photograph back then was SO MUCH FUN for her cake smash.  I mean look at those rolls!  Dream baby!!!  She didn’t really like her cake, but the pictures were still awesome.  Her faces are priceless!

Floral Cake Smash

Lillian’s mommy brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers for her simple cake smash photography session.  We used a cake on my one year inspiration board as our inspiration piece.  We decided to let her wear her blue smocked dress, and I think the colors flowed seamlessly

Have I talked you into booking a simple cake smash photography session?  I hope so!  They are THE BEST!  Email me or fill out the form on my Contact Me page so that we can discuss ideas.  I love working with my clients to plan the perfect birthday photo session.