For your baby’s first year, you spend so much time thinking about milestones. By the time they’ve reached 12 months, they’ve gone through countless milestones and you’ve watched them every step of the way. Milestone sessions, especially 1-year milestones, are a sweet way to mark all that your family has been through in the last year.

Young family enjoying a picnic together on a blanket in a sunny park on grass.

Many photographers offer these in studios, and I offer that as an option to anyone who wants a studio session. But more often than not, my clients prefer to do these outdoors whenever possible. I absolutely love this. Here are a few more ideas for settings for 1-year photos.

Ideas for your milestone session
  1. Studio - more posed photos, options to bring props or do a cake smash
  2. Outdoors - can be more formal, opportunity to introduce a variety of styles of photos, still can include props and a cake smash if that is your vision
  3. In-home session - here we mix posed photos with casual photos in your natural elements
  4. Storytelling session - intended to be entirely candid while you and your family do something you enjoy


Read more about what a storytelling session could look like here.

A baby in white clothing laughs joyfully while being held up outdoors during golden hour with trees in the background.
A baby wearing a cream-colored sweater sits on a knit blanket on grass, smiling joyfully outdoors on a sunny day.
Woman in burgundy shirt holds baby in white top while sharing joyful moment together in garden setting.