Little girl playing with wooden blocks in a white studio in New Jersey by Nicole Hawkins Photography. baby with blocks white studio #nicolehawkinsphotography #nicolehawkinsbirthday #nicolehawkinsportraits #NJstudiophotography #1stbirthday

Having sweet Ella in our studio for her first birthday portraits was so much fun. I had the pleasure of photographing Ella’s newborn session at the client’s home in Scotch Plains, NJ. Mom loves light and airy, clean, classic images. We made a beautiful album after the newborn session engraved with Welcome Ella Rose. A few months later, Ella’s big sister turned 2 and because she did not get to have her first birthday portraits done due to Covid, mama brought her in for some sweet images with guest appearances by baby Ella.

Mom clearly loves her daughters so much. She uses elegant, timeless photos to document sweet moments that go by so quickly. While mom loves to shop for cute outfits for her girls, she is also a doctor with a busy schedule. The fact that I provide a wardrobe in-studio is a huge plus. At each session, we have done a combination of her own pieces as well as items from my studio wardrobe. Here, Ella is wearing two outfits that mom picked out from the studio and her own bow. Ella has very sensitive skin so before the session, I made sure that the selected outfits were freshly laundered with natural, fragrance-free detergent.

We got a cake from West Orange Baker Bakes by Izzy, as we did for her big sister’s session, and opted for gorgeous rosettes. As a service for busy parents, we are happy to order the cake for you and even pick it up the morning of the session. When you arrive with your little one the cake will be ready, and their pre-selected outfits will be freshly steamed and ready to put on.

This was a Celebration Session, which is shorter than our Signature Sessions and perfect for baby milestones and birthdays. One-year-olds are often very busy, so each session is a bit different. We always aim to create some very classic portraits before introducing a cake. One of my favorite setups is to use beautiful wooden blocks to engage your baby. I often stack them up in the baby’s name, which turns out very sweet. Babies love to knock the blocks down, take apart the tower, and restack the blocks. They have so much fun and it makes for beautiful portraits with natural expressions.

If the baby is mobile, I am on the move! I love action images featuring a baby crawling towards the camera, and we often make a game of it where baby is placed back and I say “GO!” and she crawls back to me. Again, having fun and engaging is how we create these gorgeous images that truly show your baby’s personality.

Mom brought along Ella’s album, and Ella loved it. It was so sweet to see how, even at one-year-old, she recognizes her family in the photos and enjoyed looking at pictures of “the baby”. When she comes in for her second birthday portraits I know that she will understand it is her in those photos, and truly see and feel how loved she was from the moment she arrived in the world.

After this session, mom decided to create stunning wall art for her home. I showed her a few options to scale on the wall of her living room. We settled on two from Ella’s first birthday session, and two similar portraits from her big sister, Olivia’s, second birthday session from earlier in the year. The fine art prints with beautiful custom framing are in production now, and my team will go install this gorgeous gallery in her home. When the final product is up, I’ll be sure to share more of the planning photos and the final result.