Hello, everyone! It’s been a long four years since I last shared a blog post, and I’m thrilled to reconnect with you here. Life and work have been wonderfully busy, and I feel like now is the perfect time to bring this space back with a fresh perspective and exciting updates to share about my photography journey.

What’s Been Happening in These Last Four Years?

Over these past few years, I’ve had the joy of capturing beautiful memories for so many incredible families, documenting everything from tiny newborn details to glowing mothers-to-be. These sessions are what light me up, and every time I step behind the camera, I’m reminded of how grateful I am to do this work.

Personally, I’ve been balancing the demands of work, motherhood, and business ownership, all of which have influenced my growth as both a person and a photographer. This period of time has helped me refine my style and dig deeper into my creative vision. It’s also been a time of expansion as I’ve explored new ways to celebrate and empower women and families through my photography.

New Offerings to Celebrate You

One of the most exciting developments in my work is the addition of new types of portrait sessions, specifically Motherhood Sessions. As moms, so often the only time we get in front of the camera is during pregnancy or the occasional family photoshoot. I believe this has to change! Motherhood Sessions are designed to capture you in this moment of life, celebrating everything you are as a mom and as an individual. These sessions allow moms to be in the spotlight, capturing the beauty and strength of motherhood in a deeply personal and authentic way.

I’ve also been scaling my boudoir photography offerings, creating a dedicated space for women to express their confidence and embrace their unique beauty. Boudoir photography is a completely different genre from my maternity and newborn work, which is why I launched a separate website at amydoak.com. Here, I share my boudoir portfolio and offer a different kind of photography experience—one that is focused on self-celebration and empowerment. Feel free to check it out if you’re interested in learning more!

A Seamless Client Experience

Behind the scenes, I’ve been working tirelessly to make sure that every step of your journey with me is as seamless and enjoyable as possible. From booking to final image delivery, I’ve left no stone unturned to ensure that each session is thoughtfully crafted and truly reflects who you are. This effort to enhance the client experience has been a priority for me, and I’m so excited to see it come to life for you.

What to Expect From the Blog Moving Forward

Reconnecting through this blog feels like the start of something special! This space will be a mix of storytelling, tips, inspiration, and a closer look at what goes into capturing your most precious moments. Here’s a preview of what you can expect:

• Session Highlights: I’ll share some of my favorite recent sessions, celebrating the beauty, strength, and individuality of each family and woman I’ve had the honor of photographing.
• Behind-the-Scenes Insights: Ever wondered how we capture those gentle newborn poses or the radiance of a maternity shoot? I’ll give you a glimpse into my process, from prop selection to lighting techniques.
• Preparation Tips: Preparing for a session can feel overwhelming, so I’m here to make the experience as smooth as possible. I’ll share advice on everything from wardrobe to mindset, ensuring you feel relaxed and ready.
• Celebrating Family, Motherhood, and Individuality: Each story is unique, and every photo has a story behind it. I’ll be sharing stories that celebrate families, moms, and all the beautiful moments in between.

Thank you so much for being here, whether you’ve been with me for years, recently booked a session, or are simply stopping by out of curiosity. Your support means the world, and I’m grateful to have the chance to reconnect with you in a new way. Here’s to new beginnings, celebrated moments, and the beautiful journey ahead—let’s make these memories together, one post at a time.

With heartfelt thanks,
Amy

Amy Doak Photography strives to give our clients the very best experience when it comes to capturing your memories of you and your family. Celebrating a huge milestone, such as your little one turning the big 0-1, should be fun, exciting and memorable. Amy Doak Photography offers cake smash sessions, which are done in our studio. 

Our Cake-smash sessions include a beautifully hand-crafted cake, custom-selected décor to match your desired theme, a mini-family session, and a 3-part cake-smash/bubble-cleanup session.

Time of day

• Cake smashes should be planned for the time of day when baby is the happiest. Only you will know when that tends to be. The studio will coordinate with you on when this time of day works best for your little one and family.

Decor and Theme

• Let us know what type of décor and solid background color you’d like. It can take several weeks for specific colors if we don’t already have them in stock.

• It is great to incorporate some decorations from the first birthday party (such as a crafty banner). We have discovered that most of our clients follow the “less is more” philosophy.

Outfits

• Most babies simply wear a diaper cover (like bloomers), a tutu or cloth diaper for the cake smash. Some parents prefer to do the cake smash with the baby fully clothed instead of in a diaper, and this is totally fine with us. Just be aware that the clothing worn during the shoot MAY potentially be ruined by the icing coloring (trust me I found out the hard way). 
  
• My client closet does entail some cute outfits for baby girls. For boys, I do have an array of suspenders and bowties in the studio that can be used for the cake smash. I highly suggest searching amazon or Etsy for a more customized set.

• Please bring a clean change of clothes that baby can go home in after the cake smash session.

How to get get messy

• Let your baby have cake at least 2 times in the weeks leading up to the cake smash session. This way they will be familiar with cake enough to move past the exploration phase and they can get excited about it like the rest of us! I like to suggest getting a cupcake and letting your little one get familiar with the texture and taste of something as sweet as a cake. Or even whipped cream or some frosting is a great way to help your little one get used to having something sticky on their hands.

Alternatives to cake

• If cake isn’t your littles one’s thing, you can also get really creative with this milestone.  Donuts, tacos, etc. Anything that your little would enjoy eating or getting messy with! It’s more about them experience of them getting into their smashing vs what they are actually smashing.  Don’t limit your ideas to just cake! Take a look at my Pinterest Board for some awesome cake smash alternatives!

Outdoor vs Indoor

We can have the cake smash outdoors if you really want to! Outdoor cake smashes are a great way to take advantage of the beautiful summers that we have here in Buffalo and to maximize those golden hour vibes.

However, there are many things to consider about the possibility of an outdoor cake smash: The session must be scheduled according to the best natural lighting (usually around sunset), which may not coincide with your baby’s naptime. So planning naptimes are essential! We also have to take account for the weather on that day and having a rain check date is a must. Outdoor cake smashes have minimal props! With all the gorgeous scenery of the outdoors, props are mostly unnecessary. The bathtub splash session is still performed afterwards, with everything being toted in my giant rolling wagon 🙂

A few additional tips

• Have a few dry snacks and some water on-hand in case your baby gets thirsty. Cake smashing is hard work!

• Keep a spoon handy within arms-reach in case we need to give your baby a little “help” smashing into the cake.

• Bring a small plastic toy (that can easily be cleaned) handy to give your baby to grab their attention and keep them entertained.

• Make a playlist ready to go on your phone that your baby loves to jam out to! This will help with making your little one feel like they’re having fun and forget that the camera is even there!

A cake smash session can be best described as a beautiful fun mess! If you’re interested in a cake-smash photoshoot with your little one, let’s talk! I’m also happy to share my Pinterest page that has a lot of well-thought-out “pins” on the subject. Check them out below!

I hope you found some of these tips and tricks useful to make the most success out of your cake smash session! I hope to share this day with you! To find out more information on how to book a milestone cake smash session, please contact our studio today!

Happy Cake Smashing!