Eliana pink and gold first birthday {Denver Cake Smash Photographer}

I get this excited for the cake too! Isn’t little Eliana smile precious here! I had so much fun photographing this precious girl!

Every baby treats the cake smash differently, most take forever to even try the cake. Some babies get excited about the cake right away and then quickly lose interest, either way, I can get adorable portraits.

Eliana took awhile to get excited about the cake and didn’t make as big of a mess as some babies BUT she gave the most precious smiles and beautiful expressions. The photos from her session are absolutely precious, so cure in fact that I had a hard time narrowing down which to show in this blog. So, here are all of my favorites!

Deluxe gallery (Click the image to view my featured gallery options)

Cake by Cherry on Top Bakery Inc

I would love to plan a cake smash session for your baby. Set up a free consultation to discuss your theme and all of the session details.

I'm Jennifer Tavera.

A family photographer and portrait gallery designer in the North Denver Colorado area.

I help moms capture the moments and milestones that matter and turn then into beautiful art to hang in their home.

Learn more about me and my photography style:

10 tips for your cake smash! {Northglenn Baby Photographer}

Nothing is cuter than a baby covered in food, especially if that food is a Birthday cake! Cake smash sessions have become a huge tradition for first birthdays but they can take a lot of planning. I plan these sessions with my clients at the consultation call to make your session easy and so that everything is planned before you even put down your session fee so you can book in confidence. Even though I walk my clients through every step of these sessions I wanted to take this opportunity to give you a sneak peek into the process and the quality you will get doing your cake smash session with me. So here are 10 tips that I use to plan beautiful cake smash sessions for my clients.

1. Get your cake from a professional baker.

And when I say professional I don’t mean your local grocery store. There are 2 things that are VERY important when it come to the cake. #1 that it is not placed on plastic packaging that cannot be removed. There is nothing uglier than having a plastic bottom below your cake in an otherwise beautifully styled cake smash session. #2 The decorations need to be on the side. I remember early in my career there were several times when my clients provided the cake and it was plain white on the side which is all you see in at least 70% of cake smash images. Unless I shot all the photos from above you never saw the decor. This is why I have partnered with Cherry on top Bakery to provide the cakes for your session included in your session fee. She will custom design a beautiful cake to match the decor we have planned for your session.

2. Choose a theme

No, you don’t have to go all out with Elmo or Moana, but your session needs some kind of theme to give it a cohesive look. Your theme can be as simple as “pink and gold” or “nature-inspired” or more complicated like “unicorns” or “airplanes” but either way have a theme. Most moms will choose the theme of their babies party for the cake smash as well so if you are not sure that might be a great place to start. If you are not sure I will help you choose one during your consultation.

3. Choose a great location

The thing you want to consider is indoor or outdoor. Both have their advantage and disadvantage and in winter one is obviously going to be a better choice. For indoor, I can come to your home or you can come to mine. I will need a well-lit space with plenty of room and hardwood floors are best. For outdoor sessions, while I typically love locations with tall grass but for a cake smash, these locations don’t work well. During your consultation, we will discuss the best locations for a cake smash.

4. Give your baby cake before the session

The babies that really smash into their cake have had cake at least once before. even if it is just a tiny piece the week before I recommend letting them have cake before the smash.

5. Plan a minimum of 90 minutes

On average I spend about 90 minutes for setup, shooting, and clean up for a cake smash session. This includes about 45 minutes of shooting traditional portraits (No cake) 15-20 minutes shooting the cake smash and time to set up and clean up the session. Expect to spend a minimum of 90 minutes getting these images.

6. Don’t shoot your cake smash at their birthday party

I prefer cake smashes to be a separate session so we can just focus on amazing images of your child. Every once in awhile I am asked to come to shoot cake smash images at a child’s birthday party. I am going, to be honest, this is not ideal. There are too many people, too many distractions, rarely enough room for me to move, and get the angles I would like and I have little control over the setting and lighting. It’s best to plan a separate cake smash session and then another cake for the day of their party.

7. Ditch the high chair

Should you decide not to do a separate cake smash session and have them done at your child’s party, please ditch the high chair. Those high chair decoration kits from Etsy really don’t make the high chair less ugly. The best sessions are ones where the baby is sitting on the ground surrounded by the decorations with the cake In front of them. Choose a well-lit area that has plenty of space around it to set up.

8. Don’t rush baby

Cake smash images are deceiving, it always looks like the baby sat down and smashed up a cake in about 2-3 minutes. It normally takes most babies 10 minutes to even start to get messy. Don’t worry that is normal, let them take their time.

9. Come prepared for a mess

Don’t forget to pack a change of clothes, baby wipes, a wet washcloth in a ziplock bag, a towel to dry the baby off. Seriously they are going to get messy, bring all of the things.

10. Have fun with it

These photos aren’t about the perfect posed portrait, your baby is going to sit and eat the cake gingerly, barely look up, maybe cry, hopefully, get messy and eventually try to wander off. Don’t stress it, these are all about capturing something real. Sometimes baby dumps the cake and plays in it and sometimes they eat it gingerly with 2 fingers the whole time like a little prince or princess. Both are adorable and show their personality and either way, the portrait is going to be adorable hanging in your home! Let them be themselves and just enjoy the process along the way.

Sign up to join the birthday club and your child will get a free Monday Milestone session during their birthday month OR $100 off a cake smash session!

My name is Jennifer Tavera, I am one of North Denver's premier high end photographers. In 2020 I celebrated 13 years as a professional portrait photographer. I got my start back in 2007 working at a children's portrait studio, that, combine with 10 years experience raising my own 5 children means I am ready for just about anything when photographing your kids and I know how to make even the most stubborn kids laugh. I am often told by my clients that I am the only one who has ever taken a photo of them that they love. I attribute this to my superpower of knowing how to get you to relax in front of the camera.

I am passionate about capturing motherhood in all of it's stages and helping you celebrate your life through ready to hang heirloom portraits wall art. I want to take your favorite family photo. Contact me to book a free no-obligation consultation to plan your perfect portrait session.

Celebrate your child's milestones {Denver mini sessions}

My almost 11 year old son was born yesterday…while I know this statement isn’t true, sometimes it sure seems like it is. How many moms can relate? It seems like just yesterday he was a little toddler stealing our kittens ball to put in his toys or singing along to every word of the song on his toy piano “Is there anything more fun than playin the pianna, howd about, howd about playin with some fwiends!” he hates it when we sing that to him and would probably be mortified that I am telling this story, but the point is, as you have heard a million times and know is true as a parent, it just flies by so quickly and one day not too far in the future you are going to realize that your now infant is closer to moving out that he is to the date he was born.

One thing I will always be thankful for is all of the quality images I have on my children at these young ages. One thing I have always wanted to do in my business is be able to provide this same gift to my clients and so I asked myself how to I create sessions that are affordable enough for clients to book several times a year or even monthly for growing babies while still creating a sustainable business model where I don’t have to overwork myself with editing or take away the weekend session slots that keep me in business. And from the question Monday Milestones was born.

Monday Milestone sessions are designed to preserve the Milestones like first smiling portraits around 3 months, 6 month “sitter” portraits, 9 month standing images, birthday shoots, religious celebrations, school portraits, tween and teen images and more.

I addition to themed or seasonal shoots each month I have create your own days specifically designed for whatever occasion you want to celebrate.

Because these sessions are on a weekday preserving my weekends for full sessions I am able to offer them at a lower cost without needing to take so many each dat that I can’t serve each client well. While these 5 pose sessions typically only take 10-15 minutes I have reserved a 30 minute slot for each client and I am only booking 3 sessions each day to make sure that I am not stressed and exhausted by the final session. I want each client who books one of these sessions with me to get my very best work.

In addition, I am still helping these clients create beautiful custom wall art from their session with a selection and design appointment via zoom video chat 1-2 weeks after their session. This allows me to give the same service that my full session clients receive without the added time commitment for me to travel to your home.

The great thing about these sessions is the session fee is only $100 and prints start and only $30 and include a matching digital file. There is also no minimum purchase so you only purchase the images that you love from the session! Interested in setting up one of these sessions for your child? Visit my Milestone mini session page where you can view all of the details and pricing, this months shoot themes and locations, and reserve your session time.

Want a weekly update email with this months openings and other specials and events? Sign up below.

My name is Jennifer Tavera, I am one of North Denver's premier high end photographers. In 2020 I celebrated 13 years as a professional portrait photographer. I got my start back in 2007 working at a children's portrait studio, that, combine with 10 years experience raising my own 5 children means I am ready for just about anything when photographing your kids and I know how to make even the most stubborn kids laugh. I am often told by my clients that I am the only one who has ever taken a photo of them that they love. I attribute this to my superpower of knowing how to get you to relax in front of the camera.

I am passionate about capturing motherhood in all of it's stages and helping you celebrate your life through ready to hang heirloom portraits wall art. I want to take your favorite family photo. Contact me to book a free no-obligation consultation to plan your perfect portrait session.

How to display your family photos: Story boxes {Denver family photographer}

Updated August 2020 to include information on new sizes!

Do you remember those old photo albums with the sticky sheets inside that you just stuck your photos to? For anyone who has no idea what I am talking about you bought them at the store empty and each page was similar to a thick card stock covered in a stick material and then a clear sheet of plastic. You pulled back the plastic and stuck your photo to the sticky part and then stuck the plastic back over. They were great until your images started to fade from the acid in the paper and glue and then permanently stuck to the goo…

I recently heard my Storyboxes described as a modern-day album, it’s not a bad description. Like those sticky albums or the sleeve albums that were also popular you can easily switch out the images in the box however unlike those, the Story box protects your images instead of ruining them.

I recently heard my Storyboxes described as a modern-day album

I love these because they are the perfect way to display your images without running out of wall space!

They are an 8x10 sized box with a beautiful oatmeal-colored cloth cover and the option to emboss the front with your family name, your child's name, and birth-date, special dates such as the date of a religious milestone, the date of the session or any other writing you would like. They have a black interior and they feature a black ribbon to help you easily remove images from the box.

These come in 3 sizes, 10 print with 10 matching digital images, 20 print with 20 matching digital images or 30 print with your full set of digitals. All printed images are matted 5x7 prints in 8x10 mats that you can display in the box full time or take out and frame!

Ready to get more information on a session with me, fill out the form below to get instant access to my session planning guide including pricing on this and other beautiful ways to display your photos.

My name is Jennifer Tavera, owner, photographer and gallery designer for Truth Photography LLC. I have created beautiful custom portraiture for my clients here in the Denver and Boulder Colorado areas for the past 12 years! I specialize in growing families including children, maternity, and newborn. I love what I do and I cannot wait to share my passion with all of you.

As a busy mom myself, I understand that you need a photographer who will go the extra mile to help you with every aspect of creating cherished imagery of your family.

I would love to become YOUR family photographer and can't wait for us to get to know each other better!

Skylynn's Clear Creek Newborn Session {Denver Outdoor Newborn Photographer}

The thing I have found about outdoor newborn photography since I started offering it is that people either love it or hate it. I get it, it is not for everyone. Some people just like to keep their baby home for awhile and for some people they just feel indoor sessions are more natural for this age group.

For my clients who hire me for outdoor newborn sessions however it’s the most natural thing in the world. Why is that? Because they love the outdoors, that’s where their family spends their free time exploring all of the beautiful places in Colorado, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine!

I have no doubt that for Skylynn this outdoor newborn session will be just the start of her time out in nature, making this session the perfect fit for her! Plus they are going to look adorable in her forest themed room that mom let me peek at during their selection appointment. Her daddy is hand painting her walls with trees and woodland creatures!

I love getting to know the families I photograph and seeing families grow! In addition to loving this shoot because outdoor newborn is one of my favorite types of sessions, it was even more special because it is not the first time that I have done an outdoor newborn session for this family! This is a side by side from Skylynn’s session and their older daughters session two years ago! Their parents brought this beautiful handmade cradle to both sessions for their daughters to be photographed in and I wrapped them in colors to match each of their rooms for these images. I love being able to see them side by side now!

I can’t wait to see the final portraits when they arrive. Mom ordered a set of my heritage wood prints and I have been checking my email excessively for shipping confirmation for them, I think I may be almost as excited as she is to see them in print! The galleries below are just mock ups I created for her for her selection appointment but she did choose 2 of the images in the gallery below for her set!

I would love to create a beautiful wall art set like this for your newborn! If you are a nature lover like this family, and due with your baby between May and September an outdoor newborn session may be a great option for you too! Or if you are due during winter months or more of a homebody, I offer in home sessions or sessions at my home in Northglenn CO. Let’s chat and we can customize the perfect session for you!

My name is Jennifer Tavera, the photographer behind Truth Photography. I am a Northglenn Colorado family photographer and gallery designer seeking adventurous, free spirited families. I believe that your life is epic and deserves to be captured with photography!

I specializes in creating unique photo sessions that will be an adventure for your child or family and turning the finished portraits into beautiful wall art for your home. I can’t wait to photograph your next adventure!!

~Jennifer Tavera Photographer and Gallery designer

Why choose an outdoor newborn session {Denver Outdoor newborn Photographer}

Outdoor newborn sessions are by far my favorite sessions for newborns. There is something about having a sweet new life surrounded by the beauty and majesty of nature that really inspires me. It is almost like taking a newborn on their first little adventure, here are a few reasons you may want to choose them for your summer baby:

Raise a nature lover

If you are like me and love nature and the outdoors, an indoor session may just not fit your style. Chances are too that your baby will love the outdoors as much as you do so this is a great way to introduce that love of nature to them, after all, they will be looking at these portraits for the rest of their lives.

To match your nature-inspired nursery

If your nursery is somehow nature-inspired, decorated with animals, butterfly’s or bugs, trees or anything else nature inspired what better way to finish the look than by hanging a beautiful canvas of your baby in nature in the room (and maybe even one of you pregnant with them!). I love to tie the nursery colors and themes into my newborn portraits so make sure to tell me if you have a nursery theme when you book.

You want something unique

Although outdoor newborn sessions have gained popularity in recent years the majority of parents still choose to do studio or in-home newborn sessions and only a few photographers in the area even offer the option of an outdoor session. If you love having something unique and want portraits that will be different from the newborn portraits your friends and family took with their baby these might be perfect for you!

A little more about outdoor newborn portraits: I can schedule outdoor sessions for newborns from May to September however I always have a backup plan to move the session to an indoor location if needed due to weather or the health of the baby or in most cases can offer a weather reschedule if you have your heart set on outdoor but the weather does not cooperate. Because of the time these sessions take (typically 2 hours) they are always scheduled for two hours before sunset and I cannot schedule them for locations without shade. I do not like to have the babies in the sun that long and the lighting can be too harsh at the beginning of the session for great portraits so shade is a must. If you want to learn more about these sessions and reserve your spot for this summer please visit www.truth-photography.com/contactme

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My name is Jennifer Tavera, the photographer behind Truth Photography. I am a Northglenn Colorado family photographer and gallery designer seeking adventurous, free spirited families. I believe that your life is epic and deserves to be captured with photography!

I specializes in creating unique photo sessions that will be an adventure for your child or family and turning the finished portraits into beautiful wall art for your home. I can’t wait to photograph your next adventure!!

~Jennifer Tavera Photographer and Gallery designer