It’s double the cuteness today with this twins photography shoot of two six-month-olds.
Photographing twins is a lot of fun, and it creates double the challenge. Two babies to keep happy and smiley for photos means I’ve got to pull some tricks from my sleeve. As a long-time Dallas baby photographer, I’ve done my fair share of twins photography. Here are a couple of my tips:
- Decide on newborn or six-month baby photos
- I recently wrote about newborn vs. older baby photography. For twins, especially if mom had a C-section, there are a lot of advantages to waiting until the babies are a little older. Mom and dad will have a lot more experience with “baby handling” and be more confident, in general. This often translates to a smoother photo session with happier babies. 6 months is a bit deceptive – for most babies, 7 or 8 months is more accurate as that is when they can sit up on their own.
- Pre-plan some general shots you want to achieve
- At the pre-shoot meeting, I always go over the “must-have” shots with parents. Knowing these ahead of time lets me plan the overall structure of the shoot.
- Allow for spontaneity
- Plan all you want, but with two six-month-olds, you’ll have your hands full of smiles, wiggles, laughing, crying, and everything in between. Sometimes, I capture the best photos during these unplanned moments. As you can see below, they had a little spat in the tub, but they worked it out and it made for some cute images.
- Bring lots of extra clothes and diapers
- Don’t plan on one matching outfit staying pristine for the whole photoshoot, especially if one or both babies need to eat. Spit-up happens, folks.
- Extra hands are a necessity
- I need both parents there to help with twins photography, or one parent and a relative/friend. Keeping the babies happy is important and mom or dad can be on the sideline making faces, cooing at the babies, or holding up favorite toys.
- Ask mom and dad which twin ‘stays put’ better and pose that twin first
- Usually, one twin is more mellow and the other is more wiggly. The one that stays put better should be the first one set in a pose, with the wiggly one coming second. During this photoshoot, the little boy was much more mobile and it was hard to keep him in one spot. The little girl was happy to watch him crawl around.
- Plan solo images around the other twin’s feeding time
- When planning twins photography, think of their tummies. During some of the solo shots below, mom was feeding the other twin.
- Have a sense of humor and lots of patience
- Photographing two babies means you’ll see a range of moods and emotions, and you need to be able to roll with it all. These photoshoots will usually take longer than a solo baby, with more unplanned shots.
