Those of you who follow Cherish Photography know that I specialize in wedding photography.  Capturing love stories is where my heart is.  Although I'm happy to do so, I rarely venture outside of wedding and engagement photography.  However, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to put some more focus on photographing my family.  As my business started focusing less and less on children and families, so did my personal photography.  One day recently, my oldest son and I were looking through some old Facebook albums and reliving some fabulous memories together.  I realized that most of these memories were from when I first started out on my photography venture and I didn't have many from the past year and a half or so.  Therefore, the resolution was born - more family photos.  

Because I photograph weddings, I rarely get the chance to 'set up' photos beyond basic posing.  I capture events as they unfold.  Studio photography is not something I have ever done much of or been extremely comfortable with.  I decided to take a risk and step outside of my comfort zone for a studio style photo shoot with Kelsy to celebrate her second birthday which is coming up in a few days.  To be honest, a lot of the reason I chose to take her photos this way is because the temperatures outside are not getting above 20 degrees and I couldn't fathom going outside for photos (not even snow photos...which someday I will build up the courage to try!).  So looking around our house, I decided our kitchen cabinets would make a perfect backdrop for a tea party themed photo session.  

Kelsy was so excited to have her tea party - she loved the process of dressing up in her tutu, necklaces, hat, and nail polish.  She loved pouring tea for her guests and of course eating cupcakes...hey, she's not nicknamed Cupcake for nothing!  So without further ado, here is how my most precious girl celebrated her birthday: