The Inspiration:
I had heard from a few different customers during the month of December that it was feeling extremely difficult to make the Birthdays of their January children feel special. They wanted to deeply for their children to feel l loved and seen, but by the time January rolled around it felt to them like the extended family members were tired of family gatherines after the Christmas Holiday events, resulting in less participation in January Birthday Events As the mom of a child with a birthday at the start of the holiday season I could empathize with the struggle of feeling like her individual moment gets squished into all of the holiday happenings. At least, I thought, we get to kick off the gatherings with her Birthday. After the third or fourth time this discussion came up this year, I decided that hosting special birthday sessions in studio would be the perfect way to kick off the new year. One of my goals this year was to put some imagination and fun back into my brand and with the recent studio remodel I have been dreaming of offering a lot more sessions in studio as well. I have long wanted to offer birthday sessions for years outside of the big milestones like the first birthday or sweet sixteen sessions and I decided 2025 was going to be THE YEAR this finally happens.
The session:
I wanted to make the sessions fun and yet simple. Enough decor to feel festive but not so much that the child’s individual personality is overpowered by decor. With a list of ideas in mind I set out to find some January Babies that needed a little extra love this year.
The first family to respond had a child turning 5. 5 is such an amazing year. It’s the year they truly becomea big kid. Beginning kindergarten and the gradeschool years and leaving the preschool ones behind. So much changes during the 5th year for both the child and the family, so I was especially excited for this session. It felt like such an important milestone to capture.
I wanted the session to feel sparkly and joyful like the child herself. I stumbled across this rainbow shimmer backdrop at Walmart one day when I was out hunting for a New Year’s session and I knew paired with a bright color it would be the absolute perfect backdrop for this photography session. Of course our session had to include birthday cake, after all who wouldn’t want to eat birthday cake for breakfast? I jhave always thought it’s rather an unfortunate thing that cake smashes are typically only done for the first year of life because they don’t really ever stop being fun. Fortunately, she agreed with me and even asked to take home her colorful candles.
The Recap:
this session was so much fun. I felt the simplicity of it really allowed this child’s beautiful personality to shine through in the images. I hope 2025 brings me lots of birthday sessions and cake because I absolutely loved the joy the Session brought.
I’m still looking for a preteen with a birthday in January or early February to help me complete this project! Email me at katieharrison@nakupendaphotography.com for details!
