Not Your Average Cake Smash & Milestone Session, Not Your Average Photographer
What makes this session (of any other one of mine, honestly) “not average”? I never set out to capture perfect smiles of perfect people who are perfectly dressed and live perfect lives. Because that’s not reality. Life can be hard and beautiful and everything else in between. I want to document it all – the no holds barred kind of life that is happening right now. I want to capture moments that are not only remembered because they live in a photograph – but are remembered because that’s the way life was day-in and day-out (and you just so happen to be lucky enough to have a photograph of it).
I don’t ask my clients to smile (well, that’s not entirely true – but mostly); I hope they’re enjoying themselves so much that it will organically happen. I don’t heavily pose my subjects (unless I see a major angle issue); I encourage them to take a deep breath, go within and “just be as you would if I weren’t here” and sometimes I will give them prompt (kind of like in High School theater class!). For me, this is the best way to get my clients to open up and reveal their souls to me, a stranger to most. I’m never in a hurry and I’m always confident that I’ll get the shots I am meant to.
I love this cake smash and milestone session for a bunch of reasons – first of all, how amazing is this venue (One Eleven East)?! second, that cake (Wyeth Pâtisserie)! and third (and most importantly) this little boy is beyond precious and it these images are truly reflective of their genuine relationship. It captures their love for one another – his admiration for mama and her adoration for every ounce of his being. It’s more than a picture of a boy smashing a cake to celebrate his first birthday. It’s all-encompassing documentation of the gigantic milestone that is “we made it” through the first year! So many sleepless nights and amazing firsts (and everything else in between) that have all led to this lovely unbreakable bond. Here it is (real life). Isn’t it beautiful?
