Eugene, Oregon baby photographer: Violet is ONE!

I was excited to see Violet again—this time for her one-year birthday session, complete with cake smash! The last time I had this cutie in my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon was for her newborn session, so it was wonderful to see how much she’s grown and changed in the short span of a year. 

It was also great to see Violet’s family: her parents, Megan and DJ, and her big brother Jacoby. I remember Jacoby being the most adorable ham in front of the camera during his baby sister’s newborn photography session, and nothing has changed! Well, except the addition of another equally silly and adorable ham—It looks like Violet is following in his footsteps! She was all smiles for this birthday photography session and not shy at all. When I did Violet’s baby pictures I predicted that Jacoby would give her lots of laughs as she grew up, but now I think it’s going to go both ways. They are so cute together and obviously destined to be best of friends and perpetual partners in crime. Look out, mom and dad!

I love Violet’s big round eyes and joyous, toothy smile. She is a doll and we had such fun doing this one-year photography session. We used plenty of props—I think the suitcase might be my favorite, but it’s tough to decide—and chose a purple and blue flowered backdrop for a lot of the pictures. You can’t not use purple with a name like Violet!

We did a pretty laid-back color palette for most of our family and baby pictures, then went all out with a rainbows and unicorns theme for the cake smash. I have to say, although this little girl was all fun and games and goofiness during the first part of our session, when it came time for the birthday cake smash photography, things got very serious. As a baby photographer I never quite know what reaction I’m going to get when I present a baby with cake, and it often ends up being tears. Not with Violet though. She was all business! I could barely get her to look at the camera, let alone smile for it. The minute I put that cake in front of her she was totally obsessed with it, and wrote me off as a distracting nuisance. I guess I just can’t compete with a unicorn birthday cake! Fortunately, serious babies are just as cute as giggly babies, and with frosting all over her face, I think Violet’s determined expression is funnier than ever!

It was fantastic to see this family again and have such a fun session with them. I can’t believe it’s already been an entire year! With so many sweet babies and families to keep me busy in my job as a Eugene, Oregon photographer, I sometimes lose track of how much time is passing, and I always love the chance to reconnect with clients. Such great memories with so many people. I feel so lucky!