First Birthday Photo Session in Downtown Chicago: How Our Studio Session Works
Your baby just turned one, and you still can't quite believe it. The year went somewhere. Now you want photographs that show who they actually are right now: the grin with four teeth in it, the wobbly first steps, the way they can get completely absorbed in an empty cardboard box for ten minutes straight.
What you probably don't want is a rushed session outdoors, where the sun is in the wrong place, your baby is overtired, and you spend the whole hour apologizing to the photographer.
A first birthday photo session at Filaneyka Photo Studio happens indoors, in downtown Chicago, where the room is warm, the light never changes, and nobody is racing the weather. It isn't only a cake smash, although you can absolutely have one. You choose the backdrop ahead of time, pick outfits for your baby and for yourself, decide how messy the day gets, and bring in whoever belongs in the frame: dad, grandma, the dog.
Here is how the whole thing goes.
The Best Age for a First Birthday Photo Session
Eleven or twelve months, and both work beautifully. Families come to us at either point, and the choice usually comes down to what the photos are for.
Eleven months is the popular choice when you want the pictures back before the party. Shooting a month early leaves time for editing, printing, and getting an invitation or a birthday banner made from the images. At eleven months most babies are sitting confidently, many are pulling up or cruising the furniture, and their expressions have become genuinely their own.
Twelve months, on or just after the birthday, is just as good, and often the calmer option if the birthday itself isn't a big event. By then more babies are walking, which changes the character of the photos in a nice way.
The window is wider than those two dates, though. We photograph first birthday sessions from about ten and a half months up to fourteen. If you want the pictures early, ten and a half already works. If life got in the way and the birthday has passed, thirteen or fourteen months is still a first birthday session, and nobody looking at the photos will know the difference.
Two pieces of timing advice. Book three to four weeks ahead, because weekend slots go first. And take a morning slot if your schedule allows it. One-year-olds are at their most cooperative before the first nap of the day, and every photographer in Chicago will tell you the same thing.
When You Arrive: Take Your Time
You come in with your one-year-old and whoever else is joining. The studio is warm, private, and already set up for you.
We're in downtown Chicago, in River North, which is a short drive from Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, West Loop, and Wicker Park, and an easy trip in from Evanston, Oak Park, or the North Shore. If you've been searching for a first birthday photographer near you and you're anywhere in the city or the near suburbs, we're probably closer than you expect. There's parking right in front of the building, so nobody is circling the block with a baby in the back seat.
Once you're in, you get 10 to 15 minutes to change your baby, put bags down somewhere, and let them look around. One-year-olds need a few minutes to decide a new room is safe, and those minutes are built into your session. You can read more about our downtown Chicago studio and what to expect on the day.
Then we talk through the plan. Real cake or no cake. Just your baby, or the whole family in the frame. Whether you want to be photographed too. We've done a lot of these, so none of it needs to be decided perfectly in advance.
Choosing the Backdrop
The choosing happens before you ever get to the studio, which takes the pressure off.
After you book, we send you photos of every backdrop we have: pastel sets made for babies, neutral tones in a range of colors, painted canvases. You look through them at home, with time to think, and tell us which ones you want. Those are the ones we set up and light for your session, along with props that fit them, small chairs and blocks, so you end up with frames where your baby is sitting, standing, and moving.
Nothing is locked in. If your baby is visibly happier in a different corner of the studio halfway through, we move. That flexibility is part of how these sessions work.
First Birthday Outfits: Dressing Up Your Baby and Yourself
For your baby. We send you the outfit collection after booking, the same way we send the backdrops. There are dresses for girls, shirts and little suits for boys, crowns with a number one on them, and party hats made for first birthdays. You look through everything at home, mark what you like, and make the final call once you're in the studio and can see how it sits on your baby that day. If you'd rather bring an outfit of your own, that works perfectly well, and plenty of families do both.
For you. If you want to be in the photographs, and you should, there are three ways to do it:
Wear your own clothes. Bring whatever you feel good in.
Borrow from our wardrobe. We keep a collection of dresses chosen for how they photograph, polished without being formal.
Add hair and makeup. A hair stylist and a makeup artist work on you together in the studio. It takes one hour and fifteen minutes, and it's booked at the same time you book the session.
Dad and grandma. Bring clothes they feel comfortable in. Comfortable people photograph better than well-dressed uncomfortable ones, every single time.
Cake Time: Real Cake, Fake Cake, or No Cake
Not every family wants their one-year-old covered in frosting, so this part is genuinely your decision.
Real Cake Smash vs. Fake Cake: Which One Is Right for Your First Birthday?
If you want a real cake smash. Bring your own cake, or we can order one for you for an additional fee. We set it on a low stand, your baby investigates it, tastes it, and eventually commits, and we photograph the whole progression. This is the messy version: frosting in the hair, frosting on the hands, the laugh you'll want to keep. Bring a separate change of clothes for this part, because the smash always comes last in the session, once everything else is in the camera. Cleanup happens here, in our space.
If you want cake photos without the mess. We have prop cakes that read as real in photographs. Your baby can pat them, poke them, pretend to smash them, and stay completely clean. The outfit survives, the photos look polished, and there's no laundry waiting for you at home. This is the answer for families who want the look of a cake smash without the aftermath.
If you'd rather skip cake entirely. A first birthday session doesn't need cake at all. We photograph portraits against the backdrop you chose, with props and outfits, and spend the time on your baby instead of on frosting.
Family Moments: Dad, Grandma, and Pets
Turning one is a family milestone, and sometimes the point is having everyone in the picture.
Bringing dad, grandma, or both? Come. We photograph your baby on their own first, while their patience is at its highest, then bring everyone in for family portraits. If what you really want is a session built around the whole family rather than around the baby, we offer a dedicated family photography session as well.
Bringing a pet? Yes, and they're often the reason the best frame of the day exists. Dogs, cats, birds, all welcome. Tell us when you book so we can plan the timing around them, and bring someone who can keep an eye on your pet between shots, or a crate they're comfortable in. Photographing a one-year-old and an excited dog at the same time works much better with one extra pair of hands in the room.
Hair and Makeup for Mom
If you add hair and makeup, a hair stylist and a makeup artist work on you at the same time, in the studio, before or during your baby's session. We block one hour and fifteen minutes for it, so nothing is rushed. Bring reference photos of the look you want, hair and makeup both, and they'll build it for you rather than guessing. The result is being in your child's first birthday photos looking the way you'd want to look in them. You can see more on our hair and makeup services page.
Retouching Your Favorites
You choose which images get retouched, and at what level:
Standard retouching takes 20 to 30 minutes per photo and covers color, skin, and light.
Exclusive retouching takes 60 to 90 minutes per photo and involves collage work, artistic processing, and advanced color grading. It's an additional service.
You'll see examples of both before you decide. Our first birthday packages show how retouching is included in each one.
How Long Does a First Birthday Session Take?
There are two options:
One-hour package: 60 minutes of shooting
Two-hour package: 120 minutes of shooting
Both include an extra 15 minutes for changing your baby, which doesn't count against your shooting time.
If you add hair and makeup, that's a further one hour and fifteen minutes on top, booked when you book the session.
What a First Birthday Session Costs
Three packages, and the difference between them is time, outfits, and how many people end up in the frame.
| Baby Only | Family Included (most popular) |
Signature | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $500 | $600 | $800 |
| Session length | 1 hour | 1 hour | 2 hours |
| Outfits | 2 to 3 | 2 to 3 | 3 to 4 |
| Retouched images | 8 | 8 | 15 |
| Images you receive | 80–100 | 80–100 | 150–200 |
| Parents and siblings in frame | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Baby outfits and photo zones | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Full posing guidance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
The studio, the lighting, the backdrops you chose and the baby outfit collection come with every package.
Hair and makeup for mom, with both specialists working at the same time, is $300 and is booked together with your session. Additional people are $50 each. A $50 deposit holds your date and comes off the final total.
When you get your photos. Your gallery is usually ready in two to three weeks. Faster is possible, but arrange it when you book rather than after the session. Full details are on our first birthday packages page.
What to Know Before You Book
Age. Eleven or twelve months both work. Shoot at eleven if you want the images back before the party.
Cake. Bring your own for the smash, or ask us to order one for an additional fee.
Comfort first. Dress your baby in something they can move in. We'll have studio outfits ready too.
Book hair and makeup in advance. It has to be scheduled at the same time as the session.
Tell us who's coming. Dad, grandma, extended family, all of it helps us plan.
Pets need a plan. Mention them when you book, and bring a person to supervise or a crate.
Book a morning slot if you can. One-year-olds are at their best earlier in the day, before the first nap has come and gone.
First Birthday Photo Session FAQs: Real Answers to Common Questions
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Usually eleven or twelve months, and both work well. Book at eleven if you want the photos in hand before the party, or at twelve if the birthday itself is the easier date. The full window runs from about ten and a half months to fourteen, so earlier or later is fine too.
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Three to four weeks is comfortable, more if you want a weekend morning, since those fill first.
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No. The session works with or without it, and you decide between a real cake, a prop cake, or no cake at all.
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Yes. Bring whatever feels right. We’ll also have our collection available if you want to mix.
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Yes. Let us know when you book so we can plan the timing, and bring someone to watch them between shots or a crate they’re used to.
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Only during a real cake smash, which is why it’s always last. Bring a separate set of clothes for that part. With a prop cake, everything stays clean.
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A large selection in high resolution. The exact number depends on your package, and you can see the details on our first birthday packages page.
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No, it’s entirely optional. If you want it, it gets scheduled when you book.
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Yes. Bring the people who matter for this. There’s time and space for family portraits.
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That happens at a good share of first birthday sessions, and it’s fine. We work with one-year-olds constantly and know how to wait them out. The uncertain, curious, unperformed moments are frequently the ones families end up printing.
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Downtown Chicago, in River North, with parking directly in front. We’re a short drive from Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, West Loop and Wicker Park, and easy to reach from Evanston and Oak Park. More about the space is on our studio page.
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No, we work in-studio only. It lets us control the light and the temperature completely, which matters a great deal when your subject is one year old.
Ready to photograph your baby’s first year?
Our studio makes first birthday sessions easy and fun - smash cake, outfit changes, and family portraits. Just show up and enjoy the moment.
