First Birthday Alternative, the Donut Smash

A redheaded tot sits on the floor with a donut in her mouth and donuts on the floor around her during her Portland Oregon first birthday donut smash.

Celebrating your baby’s First Birthday with a Donut Smash

If your baby’s first birthday is starting to loom a little bit closer and you haven’t a clue how you want to celebrate, this is your sign! Sure, cake is damn cute, but donuts are a dor a ble. They can be plain, glazed, or customized with colored sprinkles. And while babies tend to be a little intimidated by a big cake and being asked to be messy (when they are told not to be any other day), smaller donuts are easier for them to hold and get their nom on.

What does a birthday session look like with Meg Ross?

3 part session:
1. Pre-smash smiles and portraits
2. Smashing with their favorite food or a birthday surprise (cake, donuts, fruit, etc.)
3. Bubbles – either bath or in the air

Tots can be pretty unpredictable and I find that with 3 different things to do, there might be at least 1 where they lose their “shirt”, but the other two usually are full smiles ahead.

Pre-Smash

This is kind of a “warm up” and gets them used to me and the camera. Most tots are shy at first and then they get rowdy when they realize I’m not stopping them from expressing their personalities.

Nora the redheaded tot in a green jumper smiles on top of a stool with a lace blanket during her first birthday portraits in Portland Oregon

Nora Donut Smash at a naturall light studio in downtown Portland Oregon

Tot Nora with a green jumper falling off her body, stands next to a large potted plant in a studio for her first birthday photos in Portland Oregon

Nora Donut Smash at a naturall light studio in downtown Portland Oregon

Sometimes we change outfits a little bit and this is when I can bring out my specialty lenses, like my Lensbaby Sol 45, and get some creatively blurred snaps.

The Smashing

There is no being shy about this part, it’s sink or swim or smash time! Tots are allowed to get as messy and wild as they want. This part is where we really see how their personalites have developed, and if they like carbs 😉

Bubble time!

I have rarely met a human, especially babies, who doesn’t love BUBBLES. Sometimes we do a bubble bath (if outdoors) or one of the parents is volunteered to be the bubble blower, and it’s a delight watching them get all bubble obsessed.

Would you like to have your baby’s First Birthday Celebration documented?

If you’d like to hire Meg Ross Photography, a Hillsboro and Portland Oregon Milestone Photographer, for your baby’s donut smash, first you may want to learn more about pricing and then you can head over to my contact page to get on my calendar.

…and then feel free to stalk me on Instagram.