For spring photo sessions, Big Apple Portraits continues to offer shoots with live animals, so your little one can smile away while feeding a few fluffy chicks or cuddling up with Grey Ears, the sweet, floppy-eared rabbit. These live animal photo shoots are such an intimate and exciting experience that kids don't even notice the camera snapping away in the background.

I missed the Mommy Poppins Live Baby Chick Photo Shoot with Big Apple Portraits in 2013 and was totally jealous of the charming photos my colleagues got of their kids with the chicks, so I made sure to book a live bunny and chick photo session for my animal-obsessed son last spring. While most nine-year-old boys aren't keen on having their pictures taken. This experience changed that for my son, who had such a ball interacting with the little chicks and feeding Grey Ears that he didn't mind smiling and posing for the camera! He has already told me he is hoping to do it again this year.

My son was at a great age to carefully and safely interact with the animals, but kids of any age can enjoy this experience. For infants, Big Apple can adapt the encounter by placing them in a basket or colorful wagon, and distracting them with a prop like a plastic egg, while the animal handler pops a chick on the baby’s head for a quick shot. Lead photographer and owner, Kim Brooks, is a mom of two, so she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve in the kid-distracting department. And while your children are occupied with the critters, the photographer shoots non-stop, capturing every precious moment—and giving you plenty of photos to choose from. Worried about what happens to the animals after the shoots are over? Don't be. The chicks return to their farm and the rabbit goes home with Kim's family. All of the animals are well cared for before, during and after the photo sessions.

All photo sessions must be booked in advance through the website or by phone at 212-600-4457. The studio offers a large variety of digital and printed photo options; a single digital photo is $75, and packages start at $99. Additional packages are available for the live animal shoot, which is 30-minutes long and can include up to four kids from one family.

This post is sponsored by Big Apple Portraits, but all opinions are those solely of the author.