Jenna D Photography

Jenna D Photography I am a Pretoria-based professional photographer with a passion for capturing life’s most precious moments.

I'm Jenna, a studio photographer based in Waverley, Pretoria, with 17 years of experience photographing maternity, newborns, and cake smash photos and creating timeless memories that celebrate life's precious milestones. Since 2007, I’ve been working from my studio in Waverley, Pretoria, specializing in family, maternity, couple, newborn, and cake smash photography.

Behind on sharing sessions… but Liora couldn't wait any longer. 🎂One year old and absolutely owning that cake smash. Sof...
01/06/2026

Behind on sharing sessions… but Liora couldn't wait any longer. 🎂

One year old and absolutely owning that cake smash. Soft setups, big smiles, zero hesitation — this girl came to party.

Cake smash sessions are one of my favourites to shoot. Styled setup, a beautiful cake, sweet portraits before the chaos, and a bubbly clean-up after. The whole first birthday experience, captured properly.

Turning one soon? I have limited spots left — drop me a message to lock in your date. 💛

21/05/2026

Happy 1st birthday, sweet Liora! 🎂✨

We actually celebrated a couple of weeks early so that her images could be ready for today, but this little birthday girl had us all waiting for her big moment.

Her mommy had to cancel their first cake smash date because Liora ended up in hospital. Thankfully, she was better soon after and came to the studio the next weekend.

And honestly? You would never have guessed she had been sick the week before.

She was the friendliest little girl, full of smiles, sweetness and the cutest little personality. I enjoyed every minute of her session. 💛

Happy birthday, beautiful Liora. I hope your day is as special as you are.

birthdayphotoshoot pretoriaphotostudio JennaDPhotography PretoriaPhotographer

Turning one is bigger than it sounds.It’s not just a birthday. It’s a year of growth, change, and everything you’ve navi...
15/05/2026

Turning one is bigger than it sounds.

It’s not just a birthday. It’s a year of growth, change, and everything you’ve navigated as a parent.

The sleepless nights, the first smiles, the milestones you didn’t even realise were milestones.

A cake smash session isn’t just about celebrating your baby. It’s about marking everything this year has been.

And that deserves to be remembered properly.

Save this if your baby is nearing their first birthday.

After 18 years, the question I get most often is still: "How do I get my baby to sleep for the session?"The real answer ...
14/05/2026

After 18 years, the question I get most often is still: "How do I get my baby to sleep for the session?"
The real answer is: you don't. I do.
Settling a newborn for a session isn't something parents need to manage. It's something I've built the entire session structure around. I keep the studio warm. I move slowly and without urgency. I use sound and positioning and patience in a specific sequence that I've refined over nearly two decades of newborn work.
Your job on the day of your newborn session in Waverley is genuinely just to feed your baby just before you arrive — and then let me take it from there.
The moms who have the most relaxed sessions are the ones who arrive having already decided to trust the process. Not because they're passive, but because they've done their homework beforehand and they know what to expect. That's why I spend time on the pre-session consultation — so by the time you arrive, there are no open questions.
If you're expecting a baby in Pretoria and you want to know exactly what to expect from a newborn session, my DMs are always open for real questions.

There's a version of your baby's first birthday that only exists for about two hours.Before the guests arrive and the no...
13/05/2026

There's a version of your baby's first birthday that only exists for about two hours.
Before the guests arrive and the noise starts. Before the sugar hits. Before the birthday child is overwhelmed and overstimulated and done with the whole affair.
That version — the one where they're freshly dressed and curious and blissfully unaware that anything is being made of them — that's what I photograph.
Cake smash sessions work because they're contained. Just you, your baby, a quiet set in Waverley, and about 60 minutes before the world gets loud. The session itself becomes a memory, not just the images from it.
Parents often tell me afterward that they hadn't expected the session itself to feel so special. They thought they were coming for photos. They stayed for the moment.
First birthdays only happen once. If you're planning one in Pretoria or Centurion in the next few months, I'd love to be the person you trust to photograph it.

The maternity session sweet spot is not when you're "big enough." It's earlier than you think.Most moms in Pretoria book...
12/05/2026

The maternity session sweet spot is not when you're "big enough." It's earlier than you think.
Most moms in Pretoria book their maternity session for around 36 or 37 weeks because they want to look "very pregnant." I get it. But by that point, a lot of women are exhausted, uncomfortable, and not particularly interested in being on their feet for 90 minutes at golden hour.
The images I'm most proud of from the last 18 years? Many of them were taken between 28 and 34 weeks. The bump is beautiful and round, the energy is still there, and there's a particular kind of calm that comes with being pregnant but not yet in final countdown mode.
Light in the Pretoria highveld at that time of year — especially out near Hartbeespoort or in the open fields around Waverley — is extraordinary. Soft, warm, forgiving. It's exactly the light maternity sessions deserve.
If you're currently in your second trimester and thinking "I'll wait a little longer," save this post and revisit it in two weeks. Future you will be grateful.

The first time I photographed a cake smash, the baby didn't touch the cake.Just looked at it. Very seriously. For about ...
11/05/2026

The first time I photographed a cake smash, the baby didn't touch the cake.
Just looked at it. Very seriously. For about four minutes.
Then she looked at me. Then back at the cake. Then at her mom. And then she very deliberately picked up a single strawberry from the garnish, held it up to examine it, and put it back down.
That was the session. And it remains one of my favourites, because it was completely, perfectly her. Her mom said she's still exactly like that at age seven — deliberate, thoughtful, never rushing anything.
Cake smash sessions are wonderful partly because of the chaos. But they're valuable because of the character. Whatever your baby does — destroys the cake in thirty seconds or respectfully declines to participate — that's the story. That's the image.
I've been photographing first birthdays in Pretoria for long enough to know that you cannot predict how your baby will respond. You can only show up and let me capture whatever actually happens.
And I promise, whatever happens, it'll be worth it.

You will forget more of this year than you think you will.Not because you're not paying attention. Because you're living...
08/05/2026

You will forget more of this year than you think you will.
Not because you're not paying attention. Because you're living it fully — with your whole body, at 3am, on broken sleep and borrowed patience. The details blur. That's not a failure. That's just how time works.
What photographs do is stop the blur. A single image from a maternity session in the golden light of a Pretoria afternoon can hold an entire season of your life that you'd otherwise only half-remember.
I didn't understand this when I started photographing families. I understand it completely now. The moms who initially hesitate to book a maternity session — who aren't sure they're "big enough" yet, or who feel self-conscious, or who think it's not necessary — are often the ones who send me a message a year later wishing they had.
Your body right now is doing something extraordinary. That deserves to be documented by someone who knows what they're looking for.
If this landed somewhere quiet inside you, you're exactly who I photograph.

Address

1186 Dunwoodie Avenue
Waverley
0186

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 16:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 16:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 16:00
Thursday 09:00 - 16:00
Friday 09:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+27825516117

Website

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