One of the reasons I wanted a studio was so I’d be able to do milk and cookie sessions for Christmas! When I was traveling that wasn’t really possible, and I was ecstatic when I got my studio in downtown Monterey. My style is very simple, so I set up a vintage bed with some Christmas garland I got from Hobby Lobby, and told my clients to dress their babies in they holiday pjs. I provided the cookies and milk. The studio doesn’t have a bathroom, but there is one just down the hall. I got a cooler and ice to keep the milk cold and it worked like a charm. I also got milk bottle that had screw on tops, so if they fell over they might leak a tiny bit but nothing major.

Cooler: https://amzn.to/390o5ii
Milk Jugs: https://amzn.to/37SCVY0

Milk & Cookie Session Tips for Photographers

1.) Make sure your set is easy to clean up. Some babies will barely touch the cookies but others will tear them apart. For me I had a spare blanket, and I turned the blanket over if it got a cookie stain.

2.) Prep your Clients. I send out a prep email about a week before with studio information and what to wear. I also let them know I would be providing chocolate chip cookies and whole milk and if their baby had an allergy to please let me know and for them to bring a substitute.

3.) Have a prep area. I know in some studios this isn’t really possible, but my studio has 2 rooms. I let parents know they are welcome to come early (which is awesome cause it means your day will run on time) and they can hangout and get their baby ready in the other room. When parents are early they are much less stressed, and my mini session usually run ahead of time for this reason, which is awesome! If you don’t have 2 rooms, you can setup a room divider. I used an open floor plan studio once and setup v-flats to create 2 rooms and that works just as well.