Welcome to Phoenix: Amilia’s 1989-Inspired Birthday Shoot

Welcome to Phoenix, Amilia!

Just like that, the little girl I first photographed at ten months old is eleven. After an entire decade of annual birthday shoots, Amilia has plenty of experience bringing her own ideas into the planning—and this year, she wanted the city.

At the time, Amilia was especially interested in Taylor Swift’s rereleased 1989 album and loved “Welcome to New York.” We couldn’t take her birthday shoot to New York, so we created our own Phoenix version.

Inspiration Doesn’t Need to Be Literal

This wasn’t designed to be a fully themed Taylor Swift photoshoot. We weren’t recreating an album cover or filling the session with props.

Instead, we used 1989 as our starting point. Amilia wanted an urban setting, wore a Taylor Swift shirt with cowboy boots for part of the shoot, and brought in the soft blues and greens she associated with the album for another look.

The inspiration gave us direction without taking over every photograph.

Finding New York in Phoenix

We began in a parking garage on our way to a café. The concrete, metal stairs, open levels, and city light worked perfectly with her Taylor Swift shirt and boots.

Then we moved farther into downtown Phoenix near the Metro light rail. We found older buildings, sidewalks, train platforms, street corners, and city textures that gave the shoot the urban feeling Amilia wanted.

Was it New York? Absolutely not. But that wasn’t really the point.

Good creative direction isn’t always about recreating something exactly. Sometimes it means identifying what someone loves about an idea and finding a way to translate it into the city, wardrobe, and resources available.

Let Their Current Interests Lead

A birthday photoshoot doesn’t need a complicated theme. Start by asking what your kid currently loves. It could be an album, song, activity, color palette, place, or style.

From there, we can decide what parts of that inspiration will translate well into photographs. For Amilia, it became a Taylor Swift shirt, cowboy boots, 1989-inspired colors, and an afternoon exploring downtown Phoenix.

Years from now, these photographs won’t only show what Amilia looked like at eleven. They will remind her that this was her 1989 year—when “Welcome to New York” became “Welcome to Phoenix,” and the city became part of her annual birthday story.

This darling family has graced the pages of my blog MANY times over the past decade. In case you missed all her perfectly perfect shoots here they are!

1 year: PHOENIX ARIZONA | LIFESTYLE PORTRAITS {HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMILIA!}

2 years: BEING TWO | BABY AMILIA ISN’T A BABY ANYMORE

3 years: LIFE IS A WHIRLWIND | AMILIAS THREE YEAR OLD PORTRAITS

4 years: TO BE FOUR AMILIAS GRAND ADVENTURES AND GROWING UP

5 years: TINY DANCER WHAT IS LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY ANYWAYS?

6 years: SCORPION GULCH LIFESTYLE

7 years: SUNSETS & PONIES

8 Years:The Seasons Of Amilia

9 Years: When Life Gives You Lemons – A Windy Beach Session

10 Years: A Decade of Amilia: Why You Should Book Annual Birthday Shoots

And now it’s 11??????

Click here for more family sessions.

Want inspo for your next family photosession? Check out my what to wear pinterest board.