It was almost 12 months to the day that I captured Vishnu and Rangini’s maternity photo shoot at the Arboretum, Canberra. Last week I got to capture Raksha’s family photo shoot to celebrate her first birthday. Nothing is more joyous for a family photographer than when you capture their ever growing family.

We kicked off Raksha’s first birthday photo shoot at Nara Peace Park in Lennox Gardens, Canberra. It was a glorious day that was both warm and sunny (and with intermittent cloud cover).

Raksha was both alert and could not wait for the photo shoot to begin. We started off with some family photos as it is such a cute way to mark a birthday milestone - I just love these family shots and they will be a great memory of the day. While we were in the park there were lots of snuggles with mum and dad, which is the cue for some formal family portraits.

Mum and Dad always have single snuggles as well, and the little ones love this part, the singing and lifting-up games such as “if you are happy and know it clap your hands”. We were especially lucky to share the park with other families that were having photographs taken because summer is a gorgeous time of year in Canberra.

I was absolutely amazed when Mum and Dad told me that Raksha was already walking. This was another opportunity to capture important milestones such as standing or walking, which are another big part of first birthday photoshoots. Raksha’s walking, albeit a little unsteady. However, she loves to stand on her own while holding onto something for support. So of course, that's exactly what we documented for her.

While Mum and Dad had a huge range of props, which I love to use in photo shoots, it was the this little boy’s trike that Raksha took an immediate liking too - every little person’s favourite toy. I love the curiosity in young babies and toddlers, seeing their excitement and interest in the simple things that really warms the heart. Raksha was very impressed with herself as she was able to climb on and off it by herself.

With little ones like Raksha I like to keep the photoshoot short and sweet as it is very stimulating for them. It was when she was reading the books and interacting with Mum and Dad that I realised that she was starting to get tired. While I could have photographed the family for another hour, we had some gorgeous photos (and more) captured in 40-60 minutes.

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