For the past few years we have been collecting vintage bath tubs. They were the perfect size to keep little crawlers and active kids contained while still looking adorable. There was no water, just little kids in tubs.
When Big Apple Portraits moved to 72nd Street, we bought a bunch of towels for cleanup after cupcake smash sessions (and have a brand new washer and dryer to clean all those towels). We would send people to the bathroom sink to clean up the mess. It worked, and the sessions are very popular. Then we really got to thinking. What if we added some bubbles and water to the vintage tubs and starting shooting the cleanup. Same big mess – even more fun!
This past June we spent a long while trying to perfect the bubble bath. Here are some tips:
- We found not all bubble bath solutions are the same. Baby bubble bath solutions are not as good as the gentle adult body washes.
- Our bubble machine made too many bubbles. First we tried hand blowing which is near impossible with a camera in your hand. And the bubbles come out too big. Handblown bubbles are just too big. Invest in a handheld bubble gun. You can aim the bubbles to fall right in front of the bath which means no bubbles in the eyes or weird squints.
- Use a vinyl flooring. We have vinyl floors and rubberized bottom fake wood mats. The mats got soaked so we are sticking to the vinyl. There are a ton of vinyl floordrops available that look just like wood too.
- Bring vintage bathing costumes. Just another fun way to celebrate a first birthday.
Coming soon will be our extended smash session with a bubble bath.
