Max & friends...

A handsome baby boy, a beautiful great dane plus a few cool cats makes for a dreamy first birthday photo session  - Happy first birthday Max xox

 

Ryan Turns One!

I first photographed Ryan when he was a teeny tiny newborn (see the beautiful images here). So when Ryan's mum contacted me asking for photos of Ryan for his first birthday, I was delighted to hear that she wanted the majority of the pictures simply at home, documenting all of the wonderful things that Ryan is doing at this stage. She wanted to capture Ryan as he is, in his favourite place, doing what he does at one years old.

The session was super relaxed, Ryan enjoyed showing me his tunnel, his water table, how he could climb (on his water table), and showed absolute delight in introducing me to his furry siblings Floyd and Bailey. What better way to celebrate turning one :)

And of course no 1st birthday would be complete without a bit of a cake smash ;)

Turning one!

Yesterday was my birthday - hooray! So I thought I'd share the birthday love with some beautiful first birthday photos and some info about cake smash photo sessions!

Your baby is turning one, so lets celebrate what makes them laugh, smile, curl up their toes, I want to see, hear and document all of those special little moments for you to treasure and hold on to.

A cake smash photo session with dinkyheart photography usually takes place at your home or the park.

I encourage you to style the photos as you like, rather than going for a uniform studio style setting, because these are your photos of your precious baby and I want to capture that for you. 

So first things first we need to decide on a location. A lot of parents opt to have their session in their home. This is a good option, especially if your little one is a bit unsure of different situations, the more comfortable your little one is with the environment the more they'll have fun and we'll get lots of happy smiley cakey pictures ;) Having said that, if your little one enjoys the park these make for beautiful, natural first birthday cake smash photos too, what ever suits you and your little one is what we will go for.  

So once the location has been decided and the time set you need to have a think about the look of your pictures, will they be simple, just a cake and your little one digging in, or will they be styled with lots of cute props and things for your little one to play with?  

Below is a list of considerations, remember you can make it as simple or as complex as you like, the result of a happy cakey baby will be the same either way.

1. A cake - with really yummy icing - remember this is probably the first cake your little one has tasted so they may not be overly keen but if it tastes amazing they can usually be convinced! Some parents make the cake themselves, some have one made, one mum had a fancy cake made for their little ones party which we used for some photos and then swapped in a cheaper one for the actual smash - again what ever works for you. 

2. Props - balloons, bunting, blankets, pom poms, headbands, pearls, cake stand etc etc etc! Think about a colour theme and what your little one will wear and then head to the party shop for all of the above! 

3. An outfit - will your little one just wear bloomers, a tutu, a special birthday outfit (that you don't mind covering in cake). There are lots of small boutiques that sell all sorts of beautiful accessories, such as Desert Roses and Tutus in Dubai as the name suggest make beautiful custom made tutus and headbands.

And my last little tip is make sure you have some banana to hand - This was the idea of one very clever mummy who's little one didn't like cake - instead she played with the cake but ate banana and the results were the same ;) 

So as you can see theres lots to think about and exciting ways to plan and style your little ones first birthday cake smash, if you want to discuss your ideas for your little ones first birthday please do get in touch here,

Lianne xox

Isobel - Family Photo Session Dubai

It seems like forever ago that I met beautiful Isobel just before her 1st birthday. Mum wanted to document her turning one but didn't want a cake smash as such so we went to the lake just by their house and took some beautiful family pics to mark the occasion before letting Isobel try a little bit of cupcake for the first time. Mum wasn't sure how she'd like cake so we weren't expecting much, but to our astonishment she loved it, so much so that we had to take it away before she ate the whole lot haha - now theres a girl after my own heart ;)

 I love these first pictures of Isobel, her mummy's a teacher, can you tell ;) xox