Yes, your baby might cry during their first birthday portrait session.

It is actually very normal at this age.

By the age of one, stranger danger has usually set in. Your baby walks into a new place, sees people they don’t know and really has no idea who we are or why Mom suddenly put them down in front of us.

Then there’s teething. Those little razor blades are cutting through their gums, and some days it really hurts. Add in missed naps, a bad night’s sleep or the beginning of an ear infection, and there are a lot of reasons a perfectly happy baby may not be feeling it that day.

One-year-olds are unpredictable.

And crying isn’t the only thing parents worry about. Your baby may be shy, clingy, serious or want absolutely nothing to do with their cake. That’s all normal at one, too.

That’s why we have a specific way we work with them.

We start where your baby feels safe

If your baby is going through a stranger-danger phase, tell us.

We will usually start with family photos, or at least photos with Mom or Dad. Your baby can cling to you, snuggle in and take a few minutes to figure out what is going on.

They start to realize, Oh wait. They’re not leaving me behind.

And sometimes we find out very quickly who the hero of the day is.

It might be Mom. It might be Dad.

We’ve had babies who wanted nothing more than to snuggle into Dad, and we’ve had dads sitting on the floor playing, reading books and doing whatever it takes to help their baby feel comfortable.

If your baby still isn’t ready to leave you, we’ll work with that.

Mom or Dad may sit on the floor and read a book or play with blocks. We can slowly inch you far enough away that we can crop you out of the photograph while baby still thinks you’re playing together.

We try books, blocks, toys, snacks and plenty of snuggles. Sometimes we stop and go outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air.

And sometimes a parent ends up in a lot more photographs than they expected.

So if you know you have a clingy baby, both of you should dress accordingly. LOL.

What if my baby doesn’t smile?

This is another thing I wish parents didn’t worry so much about.

Not every baby is a smiling baby.

We photograph a lot of very serious one-year-olds. They’ll sit there studying me and my camera, trying to figure the whole thing out.

There is a difference between serious and upset.

If your baby is happily stacking blocks, looking at a book or playing with a toy with that little serious face they make all the time at home, that’s your baby.

I want to photograph that, too.

And then we bring out the cake…

Sometimes a baby has been perfectly happy through the entire session. Then they stick one hand into the frosting and their face immediately says:

Oh heck no.

Some babies hate getting their hands dirty. Some don’t like the texture of frosting. And some want absolutely nothing to do with that cake you were sure they were going to destroy.

We wipe their hands and try something else.

One of our favorite tricks is hiding Puffs, Cheerios or Yogurt Melts behind the cake. When your baby reaches for a favorite snack, it looks like they’re digging into their cake.

Sometimes Mom or Dad has to get involved in the cake smash, too.

We’ve had parents sitting next to the cake, feeding little tastes of frosting, hiding snacks and doing everything they can to convince their baby that this cake thing really isn’t so terrible.

And sometimes Dad just takes one for the team and ends up COVERED in frosting while his baby tries to escape. 😂

That’s a First Birthday story, too.

There is no stress … because we really don’t need that many cake photos. We just need enough to tell that part of their First Birthday story.

And honestly, a baby crying next to their birthday cake is about as classic as a child crying with Santa.

We’ll usually take one or two.

Parents of fussy cake-smashers often end up loving those photographs because they know what’s coming later. When they can’t keep that child away from sweets, they can pull out the picture and say, “LOOK! Remember when you wouldn’t even touch your first birthday cake?” 😂

But what if the crying doesn’t stop?

There is a point when we know a baby isn’t just shy or unsure. They are miserable.

Maybe they’re getting sick. Maybe an ear infection is brewing. Maybe they missed the nap they desperately needed.

And there is NOTHING we’re going to do during a portrait session to overcome that.

I’m rather cranky when I have an ear infection and in pain, too. Why would I expect a baby who doesn’t understand what is happening to be any different?

We’ve stopped sessions before, and we will do it again.

At that point, I don’t want to make your baby suffer through more portraits just because this was the day we had scheduled.

We’ll stop, put the cake in the fridge and try again another day.

There is no additional session fee. Your baby had a bad day.

Everyone gets to have one.

If your baby is obviously sick the morning of your session, call us and we’ll reschedule from the beginning. And one little piece of advice from years of photographing one-year-olds: don’t schedule shots the day before pictures! Give your baby a little breathing room between vaccinations and their session.

A few things you can do before your session

If your baby is going through a stranger-danger phase, tell us. If they’re teething, having a rough sleep week or something else is going on, tell us that too.

And bring a few familiar things from home:

• their favorite snacks
• a favorite book
• a toy or stuffed animal they love

Those little things can make a huge difference.

The other thing you can do?

Try not to get upset if your baby gets upset.

I know that’s hard.

You’ve planned the session, picked out clothes, gotten everyone out of the house and probably spent the morning trying to keep cake, spit-up and who knows what else off everyone’s outfits. Then your baby starts crying and you immediately think, Oh no. We’re not going to get anything.

We can feel Mom’s stress.

And if we can feel it, your baby definitely can.

This isn’t a preteen throwing a temper tantrum that you can reason them out of.

This is a baby.

We’ll slow down. You can snuggle them. Walk outside. Get some fresh air. Have a snack. Then we’ll see where we are.

So what if my baby cries the whole time?

Here’s what I tell parents:

We always get something. And if we know we aren’t getting anything, we’ll stop and reschedule for another day.

I don’t judge a successful First Birthday session by how many giant smiles we get.

A shy baby may cling to Mom.

A serious baby may stare straight through my camera.

A busy baby may want to explore the entire studio.

And your baby may decide the birthday cake you’ve been dreaming about for months is absolutely disgusting.

That’s their story.

After nearly 20 years of photographing children, my definition of a successful First Birthday session is pretty simple:

“That is my baby.”

That’s what I want you to say when you see your portraits.

We don’t need to fake a birthday story because we think every one-year-old is supposed to sit perfectly, smile on command and happily smash a cake.

I want you to remember who your baby actually was at one.

Because smiling babies aren’t the only babies who deserve to be celebrated.

The shy ones do.

The serious ones do.

The clingy ones do.

And yes, even the ones crying next to a perfectly good birthday cake do, too.

That’s your baby.

And that’s the story worth remembering.

See you on Cloud 9!

Jeanine
Chief Magic Maker & Photographer
Cloud 9 Studios

Helping children grow up loved in homes that tell their story.

Planning your baby’s First Birthday?
If your little one is turning one soon, you can learn more about how we photograph First Birthdays at Cloud 9 Studios — from family portraits and their classic one-year-old portrait to balloons, cake and the bath at the end.

Learn more about First Birthday Portraits at Cloud 9 Studios →