Take those cute pictures of your baby’s first birthday and them eating their cake right at home with this DIY Cake Smash Photo Shoot!
I’m not going to lie.
One of the main reasons for this post is to show off my baby.
Isn’t she adorable??
Okay, moving on.
So I love all those cute cake smash photos I see popping up on Pinterest and Facebook . . . but I didn’t want to pay for one. So I did my own! Here’s the caveat: I have some experience behind a camera. I don’t want you to think the average Joe who picks up a point and shoot camera and the supplies I have listed is going to capture similar pictures. But! It is totally possible to do this at home.
Here’s my set up:
The supplies:
- White Bulletin Board Paper – I got mine at JoAnn’s with a 40% off coupon for about $5.
- Duct Tape – It’s what I used to hold the paper up to the wall. I only had it on my wall for about two hours and it came off perfectly without taking off paint, but if you are worried, you could use painter’s tape.
- Two DIY Reflector Boards – Get some foam core boards at the dollar store and while you are there pick up some aluminum foil. Then tape the foil to the foam core boards. Place them on either side of the paper.
- Decorative Banner – Go to a party store and grab a decorative banner of some kind. It adds great color to the picture. (If you buy the one linked, keep in mind that I pushed the tassels much closer together.)
- Cake
- Baby
Like I mentioned, I have some experience using my camera. If you are just starting out with a DSLR, I would recommend this book, Plate to Pixel. Even if you aren’t shooting food, it is so helpful with the basics. I have a Nikon D5300, which I love. And for this photo shoot I used a 35 mm lens on manual/automatic focus. It gave me a lot more room to work with than my fixed 50 mm which I typically use when shooting food.
Other tips:
It’s important to put your set up in a well lit area, but not in direct sunlight. Keep an eye on different areas of your house leading up to the photo shoot and get a sense of what area has the best light and what time of day.
Before you put your baby in front of the cake, check out the lighting and take a couple test shots to see if you have the settings on your camera right.
We started out with the cake on a cake stand I got at Target . . . . and Piper had zero interest in it.
We gave her one of her spoons, and then she just wanted to stab it. Still no interest in eating it.
We finally took it off of the cake stand and started ripping chunks off for her.
She still wasn’t really sure . . . . but she did love feeding us.
She finally had a little taste.
And then she was spent.
And I could not have been happier that we did the Cake Smash. :)
Amy @Very Culinary says
Cake? I want to eat HER up!
What is it about babies that make you just want to chew on them, Amy?
Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector) says
Such a cute idea! She is just precious!
Thank you Jaren!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I love this post so much. SO MUCH! She’s adorable. Also – pinterest makes me regret all my choices as an early mother. Who knew cake smash photo shoots were a thing? Think it would be weird to do it with a 10 year old? :)
Thank you Dorothy!
nay says
If you have a couple of kids photograph a food fight. Same principle lol
Tanya says
That’s an awesome idea about the food fight.
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says
Aaw your sweet lil girl is so so adorable! I love the set up for the cake smash. My daughter is a little over a year and I totally want to do this since I didn’t get a chance yet on her actual birthday. I can’t wait to pick up some white bullet paper this weekend :)
Emily says
These turned out great! How wide was the roll of paper you used?
48 inches Emily!
Kellee Taylor says
Where did you purchase that large of paper?
JoAnn’s!
maria gonzalez says
HI what size is the roll of paper? I’m getting ready to go by the store tm
I’m not sure the size of the paper, Maria. I just bought a big roll of bulletin board paper and had lots left over.
Abbey says
She is super adorable! Did you have a party with this set up?
Hi Abbey! Nope, it would really be too chaotic to get the pictures I wanted to get during a party. I actually did this a week prior to her turning one.
Diana says
Love this!!! My babygirl is turning 1 next week i was gonna go to a photostudio to do this but ill do it myself!!! Ill save some cash and make more memories doing it at home. Thank you so much for the tips!
I hope the photos turn out great, Diana!
G says
Thank you for this post! Quite helpful! I will be shooting some new year photos this week. I am not sure if I can find card board here :( Can you recommend anything similar? Greetings from İstanbul :)
Hi there! Do you mean for the reflector boards? Anything that is flat and has a big surface area that you can wrap aluminum foil around will work.
gokce says
Hi again :) I meaned the white bulletin board paper!
Oh, I’m so sorry! You could try a white bed sheet!
gö says
I will do that :)
Tjitske says
Thank you so much for sharing. I am preparing for my daughters shoot :) such a cute girl you have. Greetings from The Netherlands
Thank you Tjitske! Hope it goes well!
Erica says
She is adorable!! So in wondering…. Will the DIY reflectors make the shadows behind the subject not be there? I always have this problem!!
Hi Erica! It’s not quite as simple as will reflectors make the shadows go away yes or no. Yes! They have the potential to, but it all depends on how strong the lighting is, where they are positioned, etc. That said, I had her and the set up in indirect light and with the reflector boards I had no shadows :)