Riley's family came along to his cake smash session last month, and what a messy one it was!

As usual we started with some family pictures, and pictures of Riley with his older brother and sister - Riley wasn't interested in the slightest, and so I brought out my favourite props in the hopes we could at least keep him on the backdrop long enough to get a couple of snaps!

My stool (a favourite among many babies!) worked for the briefest period, before Riley discovered he could climb off it and escape to raid the prop box ;)

Up next was Bertie, my little red racing car, and Riley loved it so much he even licked the steering wheel! We managed to get a lovely smile out of him though.

I then set up for the cake smash part of the session (my favourite bit!), and then we let Riley loose!

I think there's still chocolate cake hidden somewhere in the studio; that stuff went eeeeverywhere! That's all part of the fun though!

Once the cake had been smashed to smithereens, Riley had a quick splash in my tub in between trying to climb out, and that was his session all finished!

Riley and his family came back for their viewing last week and these are their favourite images from his session, and I hope you like them too!

Happy First Birthday Riley!

​Emma x

One of my last sessions in my home studio in Chatteris was Logan's newborn session. Logan has twin sisters who I photographed as newborns after meeting them when I worked in Cambridge, and it's been wonderful to watch their family grow. They came from their home in Ely to the studio in March for their session in April.

Here's Logan as a newborn...

And here he is at one!

Logan is such a funny little baby, he has a wonderful character and I think we spent a lot of time during his session just laughing!

We decided to keep his session quite simple, to focus on Logan and how he'd grown since I'd seen him before. He had lots of pictures by himself before we got some with his sisters and then the whole family together. Here are a few of my favourites:

Mum had asked for some bear bum photographs and I can see why, look at how cute and chunky he is! We had to work quick in case he decided to make the most of his nappy free time!

The first thing I said when the family arrived at the studio was how much Logan looked like his Daddy! He's the spitting image!

It's so wonderful being able to see how a family grows over the years and it's been an absolute pleasure capturing Logan's family - they're just so lovely!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about Logan's birthday and family session - I enjoyed every minute of creating it.

​Book your family's session HERE

Emma

Cake Smash and Splash photography sessions are becoming more and more popular, and are fast becoming my best selling session! The main concept is that a baby is let loose on a whole birthday cake while a photographer snaps away - messy, but fun!

It's a bit of a marmite session - some love it (me included!) and some do not like the idea at all, due to the cake wastage (although you'd be surprised at how much cake is left over at the end; some parents have even taken it home to use the good side as baby's birthday cake!!)

My sessions start with some simple portraits, focusing on baby on this special milestone. I ask my clients to bring a couple of baby's best outfits for this part of the session, which usually lasts 10-20 minutes.

Whilst I set up the cake smash set, parents dress baby in the cake smash outfit - this can either be one of the outfits provided in the studio, or parents can bring their own. The list of possible themes and colours for the session are endless; if there's something specific you have in mind, let me know when you book in and I'll do my best to accommodate it - I've had Disney inspired, rainbows, even a zombie cake smash!

Once baby is ready, out comes the cake and so the chaos begins! Babies are usually a little unsure when they have the cake in front of them, so I encourage parents to get some and let them have a little taste - that way they know it is for eating and tastes great! 

Some babies totally go for it and smash the cake to pieces, but most pick at the icing and take delicate nibbles of cake - yet they still end up covered in it, even if the cake is mostly still in tact!

What is the best way to clean up after a cake smash? A splash in the tub! I have Johnson's bubble bath in the studio, but if your baby has sensitive skin, I recommend you bring your own in. I provide a towel to dry baby off afterwards too.

Of course, cake smashes aren't just for babies! Maybe you have an older child who would love to have a cake smash, or even a grown up one for a special birthday?

​If you'd like to book in a cake smash session, please send me a message here.

​Emma :)