One of my sons wore a Tigger costume — more or less continuously — for two and a half years. By the end, the feet came up to his knees. His sister spent that era signing her school papers "Hilary Duff's #1 fan." We remember all of it. But we barely photographed any of it, and I'd give a lot for one good frame of that Winnie-the-Pooh character eating breakfast. So consider this the session I wish I'd booked: the birthday, the cake, and whatever your kid currently refuses to take off, put down, or stop talking about. Little days now. The big ones, later.

The Photos I Wish We'd Taken

Where — my Talmadge studio for cake smashes (frosting welcome), or anywhere their favorite thing lives — the park, the backyard, or heck, trash pick-up day if that's their fave thing
Who — the birthday kid, front and center · parents & siblings whenever you'd like
Bring the obsession — the truck, the tutu, the turtle. If they love it this year, it belongs 
You Get — what-to-wear guide, polished gallery, simple ordering of framed delivered prints
Investment — cake smashes begin at $425 · milestones begin at $350

The Details

"Who brings the cake?"
You do — and there's a good reason. Between allergies and little tummies, the safest cake is one you chose yourself, from your own kitchen or your favorite bakery, so you know exactly what's in it. It doesn't need to be fancy: one simple frosted cake photographs beautifully (in my experience, the plainer the cake, the better the frosting-face). Smash cakes are small, most bakeries know exactly what you mean. You handle the cake. The mess is all mine.

"What if they hate the cake?"
Happens more than you'd think, and it's never a problem — the suspicious poke, the betrayed face, the single tear over frosting: those photograph as well as the joyful demolition, and honestly they're funnier at their graduation party. There's no wrong way to turn one.

"Is a cake smash only for first birthdays?"
That's the classic, but the milestone birthday sessions go all the way up — the year of the bike, the dinosaur summer, age seven with the missing teeth. Any birthday where they're deeply into something is a good year to catch.

"What should we bring?"
The current obsession, whatever it is — and don't clean it up. The truck with the chipped paint they've loved to death photographs better than a new one ever could.

"Do parents get in the photos?"
Whenever you want in — some families join for the singing and the snuggles, some let the kid have the spotlight solo. Both are right. (Though may I gently point out: someday she'll want a picture of you at her first birthday, too.)

Before You Ask —

"Our three-year-old refused to wear shoes and our seven-year-old refused to smile, and somehow the gallery looks like a magazine about a family much calmer than ours." 

— Erin, Kensington