What to expect at your milestone session?
/SCHEDULE - time of day
The best time for a milestone session is just after your baby’s first nap of the day. When scheduling if you don’t know, schedule for the time you estimate for that time in their life, and a few weeks before let’s confirm the timing.
Have baby wake up from a nap, feed them and get in the car to come to studio. Baby is fed and slept and should be in their best mood possible!
Little one’s get more cranky as the day goes on. Most littles are best in the mornings. I suggest this based on experience. That is why I suggest after their first nap of the day.
STRANGER DANGER
Stranger danger develops around 6+months of age. It’s when children start to be more comfortable with the people they see most often and are scared of others.
Baby’s who have only seen mom and dad and do not go to preschool or daycare are more likely to experience stranger danger.
HOW TO DEAL WITH STRANGER DANGER IN STUDIO
Bring all your baby’s favorite things such as, teddy bear, toys, snacks, extra milk, music, rattle, pacific, etc. to make them more comfortable.
No additional people please. No more than myself and parents, it’s overwhelming for your little for everyone to be staring at them asking them to smile, and they can get quite upset.
Sometimes we need to take short breaks when your little gets upset, and that’s okay.
SESSION LENGTH
Examples of images we will capture
If it’s only baby in the milestone session, we photograph for up to 1 hour give or take. We take breaks as necessary. It’s far far shorter than my posed newborn sessions.
I typically start with some lying down poses, get a few close ups. Then we do 1-2 outfits with different props (baskets or bowls etc. depending on what baby is able to do.
If you are adding parents to the session add an extra 20-30 minutes to your session length. Parents and sibling, add 30-40 minutes.
Your baby has a small attention span, please come prepped and ready to start at your start time.
CAKE FOR YOUR CAKE SMASH
a cake similar to this is great!
Yes I absolutely do cake smashes as part of your one year session. We do it at the end of the session.
I suggest a neutral cake that doesn’t have dark icing that will stain.
I also suggest a 5-6 inch cake, with soft buttercream frosting and sponge cake.
Safeway’s cakes are actually the best choice. The cake itself is nice and soft for baby’s to ‘smash’, soft enough they can dissolve in baby’s mouth without any worry of chocking (some boutique cakes can be too dense).
Pre-order your cake: 5-6 inches, 3 small layers with white buttercream. I suggest sprinkles on the bottom of something similar, so I can easily move it off the cardboard to the cake stand.
CLASSIC CAKE SMASH
My cake smashes are classic and simple and do not involve balloons or extra props. Just baby destroying a cake that will look beautiful and not dated in years to come!
I have a small cake stand I will use for the cake you bring. You are welcome to bring a cake topper, but we will really only get a couple photos before baby destroys it or it becomes a safety hazard.
OUTFITS
I have many to choose from, you can come to studio and choose when you arrive. I am also happy to show you samples before you arrive in studio. Here are just a few of the outfits I have, I have MANY more in studio!
If you want to purchase something, no problem. I suggest solid colors, so baby is the focus of the photos and the pattern doesn’t distract. I am happy to suggest links on amazon for your baby’s size and colors you want, just let me know.
notice mom’s safety hand in the photo. A spot always needs to be close to baby.
SAFETY
Safety is an important part of ANY session.
For milestone sessions, I do always need someone to “spot” your baby to make sure they are safe while I am photographing them. I ask the parent attending to do this at all times.
This means watching your baby, if they are leaning out of the basket, or too far back, catch them. I say “baby over photo”, meaning baby’s safety is far more important than getting the photo.
If you do not feel comfortable spotting your child at their session, I will hire an assistant to help out for a nominal fee.
