The week before
Cake Smash Photography
One cake, one baby, and no expectations.
Explore Cake Smash PhotographyBirthday Photography in Yerawada, Pune
Birthdays in Yerawada homes and halls, where the guest list runs from a great-grandmother to a two-year-old and everybody is related to everybody.
What people actually want from these
The candids are nice. The group photograph is the reason we were called.
At a party where three generations are present, the frame that gets printed is the one with all of them in it.
That photograph is also the hardest one of the evening, and it gets harder every half hour. Older relatives leave early, small children stop cooperating, and by the time someone suggests it half the room has gone. Left to chance it either does not happen or happens badly.
So we do it deliberately and we do it early — usually shortly after everyone has arrived and before the food, when the room is at its fullest and nobody has drifted. It takes about ten minutes and it is the ten minutes the family will thank you for.
Everything else runs normally around it: the decor before it is touched, the cake, the candids, the children being children. But the group shot gets planned rather than hoped for.
At a party where three generations are present, the frame that gets printed is the one with all of them in it — and it is also the hardest one of the evening. Older relatives leave early, small children stop cooperating, and by the time somebody suggests it half the room has gone.
So it happens deliberately and early, usually shortly after everyone has arrived and before the food, while the room is at its fullest and nobody has drifted.
Everything else runs normally around it. The decor before it is touched, the cake, the candids, the children being children — but the group shot is planned rather than hoped for.
The group photograph is worth repeating as the priority because it is so consistently the one that gets lost. Everything else at a birthday can be caught as it happens; that one has to be called for.
Older relatives should be photographed within the first half hour. They arrive early, they leave early, and they are the reason the frame matters.
After that the evening looks after itself — decor, cake, candids, children. The planning exists so the unplanned part can be left alone.
Getting ready
Getting the group photograph to happen
Decide the groupings before the evening and give the list to someone other than yourself. On the night you will be occupied and it will not organise itself.
Ask the older relatives to arrive early rather than at the stated time. They leave first, and the frames with them in are the ones that get printed.
Sort the decor timing with whoever is setting up. The twenty minutes before guests arrive is when the room is photographable.
Planning it
What shapes the running order
How many generations will be there, because the group photograph is the reason we were called and it gets harder every half hour.
Whether the venue has a fixed end time, which decides when everything important has to happen.
And who specifically must be in a frame with whom. Ten lines on a list saves ten minutes at the point in the evening when ten minutes is expensive.
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Birthday coverage in Yerawada
How the session itself works is covered in full on the main birthday photography page.
- 1st Floor, Behind G S Mahanagar Co-op Bank Ltd, Sai Nagari, Mathura Nagar, Wadgaon Sheri, Pune, Maharashtra 411014
- +91 79032 43332
When should the family group photograph happen?
Early, shortly after everyone arrives. Older relatives leave first and small children fade fast, so leaving it until after the cake usually means leaving it too late.
Our party is at home rather than a hall.
Fine, and common. We need to know roughly how many people and which room the cake will be in, so the group frame is planned rather than improvised.
Can you photograph the decor before guests arrive?
Yes, and it is worth the early arrival. Decor looks its best in the twenty minutes before anyone touches it.
Which areas do you cover around Yerawada?
Yerawada, Kalyani Nagar, Koregaon Park, Wadgaon Sheri, Viman Nagar, Vishrantwadi, Tingre Nagar and Dhanori, and parties across the rest of Pune.
Do you cover the games and the food?
Yes, if you want them. Tell us how much of the evening you want documented.
There will be a lot of relatives. Is that a problem?
No, it is the point. Send the groupings you want and we will work through them.
Can you photograph a first birthday and a cake smash together?
They work better separately. The party documents the occasion; a studio sitting produces the portraits.
Can you cover photo and video?
Tell us what you need at booking and we will confirm what is possible.
What if the party runs late?
The coverage window is agreed when you book rather than left vague.
Do you photograph the games?
Yes, and they are usually where the best candids come from.
Can you photograph the cake cutting from a specific angle?
Tell us where the table will be and we will position for it.
Can you cover a party at a restaurant?
Yes, though it is worth checking with the venue first.
Can you photograph a milestone birthday for an adult?
Yes, and the same principle applies — the group photograph is the one that gets printed.
Do you photograph at farmhouses or outdoor venues?
Yes. Tell us the venue and roughly when the light will be.
How early do you arrive?
Before the decor is touched, which is usually well before the stated start.
Most of the guests are relatives rather than school friends.
That changes the coverage usefully. Family parties give more arranged group frames and fewer running-about ones, and both are worth having.
Three generations will be there.
Then ask for a frame of all three together. It takes two minutes and it is the photograph most likely to still matter in twenty years.
The party is at home rather than a venue.
Home parties photograph well. Tell us which rooms will be used and roughly how many people.
How many people?
Numbers and the venue. The group photograph is planned around both, and it is the one that matters.