When this sweet girl’s mom came to me to talk about her 1-year cake smash, she had a great vision for the set; a Cincinnati skyline featuring Godzilla as the baby. So fun!!
I love when clients come to me with super unique ideas for their cake smash session. When Mom booked this session I was over the moon excited about the theme: Godzilla Takes Over Cincinnati. I immediately contacted my favorite bakery, Tres Belle Cakes to create the perfect cake! Then scoured Etsy for the perfect Godzilla outfit to fit the color scheme. Once those items were lined up, I worked with a local artist to sketch the perfect Cincinnati Skyline, comic book style! I love how everything came together!
This sweet girl did not disappoint and kept with the theme. She went straight to destroying the cake like a little Godzilla.
My favorite moment was when she went head first into the cake!
After every smash, we wrap up with a nice warm bubble bath. This tiny Godzilla could not be contained ha! She had the best time splashing and making a giant mess.
If your baby became a toddler quicker than you could imagine and you want to do a cake smash session, let’s go for it! Always happy to customize with your ideas! Book your session here.
Now Casting: One Family for an Exclusive Golden Hour Portrait Experience
There is something magical about golden hour.
The warm sunlight, the gentle breeze through the tall grass, the laughter of children running through an open field—these are the moments that create the most meaningful family portraits.
Heather Elizabeth Studios is excited to announce an exclusive Golden Field Sunset Family Model Call at beautiful Glenwood Gardens, and we are searching for one special family to help bring this vision to life.
My Vision
This session is designed to capture authentic family connections in a stunning golden field during sunset. The focus will be on genuine moments rather than stiff poses—snuggles, laughter, playful interactions, and the beautiful relationships that make your family unique.
The resulting images will be used for portfolio building, website content, social media, and future marketing materials that showcase our signature outdoor family photography experience.
Who We’re Looking For
We are currently seeking:
A family with 2–3 children
Children between 6 months and 10 years old
Families who love natural, candid photography
Parents willing to follow wardrobe styling guidance
Families willing to sign a model release allowing images and behind-the-scenes content to be used for marketing purposes
What the Selected Family Will Receive
As a thank-you for participating, the selected family will receive:
✨ A complimentary one-hour sunset portrait session at Glenwood Gardens
✨ 25 professionally edited high-resolution digital images
✨ A personal print release
This is a wonderful opportunity to experience a luxury family portrait session while helping create beautiful content for Heather Elizabeth Studios.
How to Apply
Applying is easy!
Simply complete the application form and upload a recent photo of your family.
Only one family will be selected for this exclusive model call opportunity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the session really complimentary?
Yes! The selected family will receive the session and 25 professionally edited digital images at no cost.
Why is this a model call?
The images and behind-the-scenes content from the session will be used by Heather Elizabeth Studios for portfolio display, social media, website content, and marketing materials.
What should we wear?
Wardrobe styling plays an important role in creating the soft, timeless look envisioned for this session. To complement the warm golden tones of the field and sunset light, families should plan to wear neutral, coordinated colors rather than matching outfits.
Think soft creams, ivory, beige, taupe, light khaki, oatmeal, soft blues, muted sage, dusty rose, and other earthy, natural tones. Clothing should feel classic and effortless, with simple silhouettes and minimal logos, graphics, or busy patterns. Flowing dresses, textured fabrics, linen, cotton, knits, and layered pieces photograph beautifully in an outdoor setting.
The goal is to create a cohesive look that allows your family’s connection and personalities to shine while ensuring the images remain timeless for years to come.
Selected families will receive personalized wardrobe guidance, including color palette recommendations and styling suggestions for each family member, to help create a beautifully coordinated final gallery.
What happens if we are not selected?
Families who apply but are not chosen will receive an exclusive 20% discount toward a future family portrait session.
We Can’t Wait to Meet You
If you’ve been dreaming of beautiful family portraits filled with sunshine, connection, and genuine emotion, we’d love to hear from you.
We cannot wait to create something truly special during this magical golden hour experience.
Step into a world of magic as I capture the enchanting beauty of glitter in every shot. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just want to add a touch of sparkle to your memories, our glitter photography session promises a unique and mesmerizing experience.
What’s Included:
a 15 minute session
All the Glittery goodness
5 fully edited, high-resolution digital images
Our glitter photography sessions are available on January 21st & 27th. Book your slot now to secure a spot for a session that promises to turn ordinary moments into extraordinary memories.
As a token of appreciation, the first 5 bookings will enjoy an exclusive 10% off the regular session price. Use code GLITTERMAGIC at checkout to secure this limited-time offer.
Visit our booking site HERE to reserve your glitter photography session today.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to add a sprinkle of magic to your photos. We look forward to creating sparkling memories with you!
When this sweet little man’s mom came to me to talk about his 1-year cake smash, she had a great vision for the set; simple balloons with die-cut baby sharks. Adorable!
So, as life would have it, quarantine happened, and his session got rescheduled and rescheduled again.
I’m so grateful for clients who understood and rolled with it because by the time we did his session, he was 14 months old. If there’s anything we’ve learned that time is just time, and we’re all a little bit more forgiving now, aren’t we?
I’m in love with his little jeans and chubby belly! Keeping the outfits super simple keeps the focus on the faces and the set and brings out all those baby features that will soon fade away as they become toddlers.
This balloon set would work with any kind of theme! All you need to do is tell me your colors, and I can design something exactly for you and your birthday baby.
And as usual, Tres Belle Cakes knocked it out of the park with the Baby Shark cake. The colors match absolutely perfectly with the theme.
These cakes are so whimsical and the perfect size for cake smash sessions. They are definitely kid-tested and approved!
If your baby became a toddler quicker than you could imagine and you want to do a cake smash session, let’s go for it! Always happy to customize with your ideas! Book your session here.
First Cake Smash Hyde Park | Emilia’s Butterfly First Cake Smash
First cake smashes one of my favorite things to design. Each set has a sweet little theme that matches the birthday baby’s personality, likes, or favorite things!
For birthday girl Emilia, mom wanted something purple, so we chose a butterfly theme. I’m so excited at how these turned out!
One of the things I always have in mind when designing these sets is that the scene has a little bit of depth to it. While some of that can be controlled with camera settings, I do give a lot of thought to how the different items will look in the scene.
The blossom tree is one of my favorite backdrops because it has such a soft look to it. Adding balloons in pastels, and a few touches of gold and some vintage props gave it just the right pop.
Can you believe all the hair this little one has??!! Oh my gosh, with those deep chocolate brown eyes and that hair! Mom picked out just a darling outfit and headband, and it matched perfectly for her butterfly cake smash.
And speaking of smashing, it, Tres Belle Cakes did it again. Isn’t it just the sweetest?
If you are struggling with what outfit to put your baby in for a cake smash session, this is a great example of one that works well because it’s so pretty but didn’t compete with the items on the set. Keeping it simple is always best!
Emilia loved the frosting and was not shy about helping herself to cake (a girl after my own heart), but she really loved the bubble bath at the end. It’s funny that sometimes that’s when the big smiles come out, and she splish splashed away and had a great time.
Cake smashes are fun for everyone, and they are one of my favorite things to photograph. It’s a special milestone, and the beginning of their toddlerhood. And of course, there’s cake, and any day that has cake is a good day!
I’d love to talk to you about your baby’s upcoming birthday and a cake smash session designed for them. Book as soon as you start thinking about it for the best time slot!
I love collaborating with parents on cake smash photography. From Hyde Park to Indian Hill we have families all over Cincinnati. It’s so fun to hear their ideas and to begin to piece together the items in the studio we can use, and then, of course, it’s also fun to go out and buy some new props!
For this sweet girl’s birthday cake smash session, her mom had dreams of a big winter wonderland scene, full of things that felt indulgent and sparkly.
She chose the most adorable puffy taffeta skirt, which added to the theme; it looked like it was made out of cotton candy!
With the lighted trees, gold and platinum accents, and the cascade of gold beads, we got that beautiful, soft sparkly look she wanted.
Now, some kids love the cake, and it’s a blast to see them dig in. Others are a little more cautious, and it’s so funny to me that you can’t always predict which way they will go!
She had a few dainty tastes, showing off those big blue eyes of hers, and then she was like, “I’m done.”
But once again, saving the day… the bubble bath! Then we started seeing those bright smiles.
And that pink turban! Can you even with it? It’s little touches like this that can make the photos even more memorable.
Let’s work together to create the perfect cake smash scene for your baby! It doesn’t matter if you know exactly what you want or you need some guidance; I’m here to help make the magic happen.
Look at little Georgia; isn’t she a peach? I was so excited when her parents and I began to design her One Year Cake Smash Session.
If you’re wondering who chooses all the props and who comes up with the ideas, it’s really a collaborative effort. Some parents have lots of ideas, and others have a theme but then let me do my thing picking out the props and the look. To help with ideas, we share a Pinterest board, pinning things we like and ideas for the theme.
For Georgia’s, I knew that we’d pick from a palette of soft pinks, oranges, and light blue to compliment her peaches and cream complexion and her beautiful strawberry red hair and blue eyes.
I look over the ideas, check my stash of props to see anything that might complement the set and then, get to shopping! This was the first time for this theme, and I just loved it.
For One Year Cake Smash Sessions, no two sets are exactly alike. Though some people often request a theme I’ve already done, there’s always a special twist that is added in.
The cake was the perfect touch; look at that gorgeous creation from Tres Belle Cake. They never disappoint!
Georgia loved the cake; she got right in there and had a great time and painted herself up good with frosting from head to toe.
Afterward, it was bathtime, and boy did she light up for that. As we washed off the sticky stuff, we played with bubbles.
Kapow! These photos are the cutest, don’t you think? Check out this fantastic idea with our own Baby Bruce Banner morphing from a sweet one-year-old to Baby Incredible Hulk.
I love it when parents really embrace the fun of the cake smash. This rite of passage from baby to toddler can be bittersweet, to be sure. But it’s also a whole lot of fun to see their personalities emerge!
Mom and dad encouraged me to run wild with ideas. I knew that this particular set would need to both have that nerdy-scientist thing and a bit of Gotham to set the mood. The glasses on him and the green bow tie were the perfect finishing touch.
Some kids would balk at the idea of a bright green cake, but not Baby Bruce! What started out as a shy small and a taste quickly morphed into him getting totally into it. Mom and dad said this was right along with his personality, always curious and adventurous.
Ideas like this are what can personalize your cake smash session. As it turned out, this was one of my most popular posts on social media.
Then, after all the cake was smeared, eaten, and squished in, it was time for cleanup in our signature bubble bath to end the session. I love this part of the session because, after the sugar high, the water and bubbles are the perfect ending. Some of the sweetest photos come from this part of the session!
The sky is the limit, so let’s come up with some themes for you soon to be one year old! I love it when my clients can inject something meaningful to their family into the session. I have a ton of cool props at hand, or if you have something specific in mind, I’m happy to source props to make it the perfect end to the best first year. Get it touch to set your Cincinnati Cake Smash session!
What to wear in photographs is one of the most popular questions I get before a session. The days of being all “matchy-matchy” are over, and I always encourage people to embrace their unique individuality in their photos.
Here are the top 10 tips for wardrobe and accessories for your photos.
Stick to primary colors or their close version. Flouresecnts cast weird colors on faces and tend to come and go in trends.
If we are taking photos in a green area such as a park, don’t wear green clothing. Wearing it as an accent color is fine, though!
Start with one outfit you like and build around it for everyone else.
Wear what feels good! Avoid overly fussy clothes you or your kids aren’t comfortable in. That goes for shoes, too.
Layering adds dimension and provides a different look. Think hats, scarves, cardigans, and statement jewlery.
Wear clothes that fit well. Baggy, saggy clothes do not make you look slimmer!
Coordination, not matching. Go ahead and mix and match patterns too, as long as they are in the same color palette
Keep it simple for newborn session. Grey, black white, is great because it doesn’t overpower the baby’s beauty and simplicity.
Dress for the weather and be flexible. You know that the weather is changeable here, so have a plan B (or layer!)
Dress for the scene. A suit or a fussy dress on a little kid in a forest setting will look weird, and your personality won’t come through.
The point of your photo session is that the photos represent you and your family as you are right now. We want you to look and feel fabulous and comfortable because that will shine through in the photographs.
Keep your wardrobe as simple as possible, and be sure to stress to everyone involved in the photos that these session are going to be fun!
One of the best parts of living in Cincinnati is that we get four seasons to take photos in! I love every season for different reasons, mostly because of the variety we can take advantage of.
Summer Fun Sessions
Outdoor sessions in the summer are one of my favorites because the longer days mean that time seems to slow down a little bit. Is there anything better than that perfect summer evening near sunset when it’s warm enough to not even need a light sweater?
It’s the perfect time for family photos because the kids are off school, and we can play a little bit along with taking photos. There’s a ton of options to do the photos from your own backyard to one of our many parks; ask me and I’m happy to give you suggestions on locations!
All Outdoor Child and Family sessions include 60-90 minutes of photography and 25 digitally retouched images. You can feel that slight nip of fall in the air in the mornings now, so if you want summer-like photos then schedule ASAP here!
Fall Minis Are Coming!
Bright and bold sunflower minis at Cottel Park, fall mini sessions at French Park and at Ault Park are some of our favorite locations. Each offers a different look and has different backdrops that you will love.
These sessions are a favorite because they are quick and easy. You’ll get 8 digitally retouched images to freshen up your family portfolio to print and display those you love most.
Stay tuned because we’ve got more locations coming soon, including cherry blossom minis and even an outdoor winter option. Learn more about minis
One-Year-Old Cake Smashes
No matter when your little one turns one, cake smash sessions in the studio are great fun. These themed sessions are custom-designed for you! We share a Pinterest board and it’s so much fun to see the vision come to life!
These sessions include a custom-designed birthday cake, balloons, and decorations to match. We finish the session with a warm bubble bath, which makes for adorable photos, and a clean kid to take home!
No matter what kind of session you schedule, indoors or out, please know that the studio is practicing the safest practices due to COVID-19. If you’d like to discuss your session, please reach out and I will be happy to explain how your session will be conducted safely!
