On a sunny summer day in Central Park, I had the honor of photographing a culturally significant event for a young family which mixed a traditional Chinese Zhuazhou ceremony with a Korean Dojabi ceremony to honor both parents’ heritage, marking their baby’s first birthday. Both traditions involve placing a variety of symbolic objects in front of the child and observing which one they naturally gravitate towards. The item the baby chooses is believed to reveal insights into their future interests and life path.
Close family and friends gathered as their little one explored the array of different items with varying degrees of interest; in this case, the baby reached out and selected a calculator—a choice that may indicate a future in finance or a field related to economics.

The photoshoot, spanning an hour, not only captured the heartfelt ceremony itself but also a light lunch as well as cake and games.

Here are some of my favorite images from this shoot (click/tap to view full size and un-cropped):

To see more examples of this style of photography, visit my parties and celebrations gallery >>

All images in this blog post were shot on a Nikon D850 using a 24-85mm zoom lens, and all individually post-processed in Adobe Lightroom using custom-built presets.

Jinnifer Douglass is a full-time freelance photographer based in NYC, shooting for both individuals and brands such as Google, Sotheby’s, Uber, Make Up For Ever, Squarespace, and more! Specializing in portraits, food, and special events, she works to make every piece of your social and website content ‘Insta-worthy’ with high resolution, full-frame DSLR photography and expert Lightroom editing. Interested in chatting? Leave a comment below, or send an email to info@jinyc-photo.com!