Brand New Big Brothers and Sisters in Studio (Tracy Gabbard Photography)
Photographing a newborn with a sibling (younger ones especially) is one of my favorite things in a newborn session! I will not lie, much of the time it takes A LOT of patience and MANY clicks of the camera to capture a handful of sweet sibling photos but once they are captured, there is nothing sweeter!!! What makes it so difficult to capture those precious moments? Well…. let me explain! First of all newborns are typically photographed with in the first 5-12 days of birth. Younger “big sisters or brothers” have just had their world rocked with a demanding baby! After those first couple days when the newness of the baby has worn off for them, they often want NOTHING to do with this alien that just invaded their world. Younger (preschool age) children can be difficult to photograph without the newness of a baby sibling SO throw that in the mix and you have a potentially challenging portion of the session. I LOVE when the siblings interact with the baby. These two below were “helping” cover the baby. Sometimes encouraging them to “help” is a good way to get them in the same spot for a quick photo!
Trying to get a newborn to stay asleep while getting a preschooler to cooperate and “pose” is not easy. Many times the best way to do this is to put the baby on something instead of having the sibling hold the baby. Often young children don’t feel comfortable holding their new baby anyway and it can be dangerous as they are unpredictable and may possibly get up without warning and leave the baby. I always have moms and dads helping hands close by for the baby no matter if he or she is in the siblings arms or in a prop. Safety first, always!!!! That is not to say that it is impossible to get a preschooler to hold their new baby! It can be done but always safely on the floor and with adult arms close by to help.
And then there are always the “smiling” looking at the camera pictures” Those are classic and always favorites.
I often think it would be funny to record the sibling portion of a newborn session! With mom, dad and me working together to keep the older child in an area of the baby, and all of us acting silly trying to get them to look at the camera or bribing with little treats! Maybe one day I will try to capture that on video! 🙂