Tips for a cake smash shoot in a tricky venue

[vintagesnaps]

At that venue you could think about setting up a high chair at one end of a picnic table. Depending on the time of day maybe set up at whichever one is mostly in shade (like the one on the right in the photo). It could work to cover the table (or at least the end that will be in photos) with a cute plastic picnic table cloth and you could tape it underneath to keep it in place (probably with masking tape). I'm not sure where you could put bunting or other decorations since it doesn't look like the tables are that close to the shelter in the background - unless you want to do some photos of the entire scene of the party.

You could take some test shots of just the chair/table, or of her seated holding a toy, to make sure your camera is set appropriately for the existing light. Maybe give her just a large enough piece of cake to show up in the pictures with the decorated icing side facing the camera, and let her eat and play and enjoy herself while you take some pictures.

You might need to check on the policies for this venue since it's probably necessary for people who use it to leave the campground/shelter clean - a cake on the ground seems like it could be hard to clean up and I'm thinking there could be a concern with attracting animals if food/debris is left on the ground. You could put plastic under a high chair to make clean up a little easier.

For this age I don't know that it would be necessary to dump an entire cake, I've usually found that a young child and a cupcake - particularly a chocolate one - makes more than enough of a mess! and could provide for some fun pictures. I'd enjoy the party and just take pictures of her as she's having fun.

 

[mrshayes]

Thanks for the wonderful tips, everyone! You've been really helpful.