We were very excited when State Farm agent John Cooper contacted us asking to take photos of his infant twins, Preston and Emerson! We have taken pictures of babies before, but never two at one time. Double the fun. A few days after the babies made it out of the NICU, John and Jennifer brought them down to our studio to take pictures. For photo shoots, we always do a pre-shoot planning meeting. During this meeting we discuss the photo shoot, what to expect, and address any concerns. In discussing the session, Jennifer asked us if we photograph twins. I thought this was an odd question, so I asked why she would ask that. The hospital “photographer” actually told her she hated photographing twins! THE NERVE! I could not imagine how sad and cast aside that must had made Jennifer feel.
We deep cleaned the studio in the morning for the twins arrival. We also had to turn off the AC on a mildly warm day to make sure the temperature was perfect. There are several factors like this that not all photographers know and do when photographing infants. It is important to the health of the children to make sure the environment is appropriate when they are that young.
Both Preston and Emerson had special knit caps and diaper covers. Preston had a super cute blue bow tie and suspenders and Emerson had a pretty pink flower on her hat and little pink frills on her diaper cover. We used a special infant posing bean bag placed under the different covers we have. This is great for posing a baby because it allows us to position them safely and properly for our pictures. It makes them feel more comfortable and secure while posed.
We encourage Jennifer and John to be in a few of the photos because it is important for preserving those memories. During this stage of infancy, there is not always someone around to snap family photos with dad, mom and babies. If there is a person to take pictures, you may not be looking your best, so it is always a good idea to get a few photos taken while you are at the photographer’s studio. We do not charge extra for doing this, you get to use your time with us how you please. We spent about 2 hours doing the session, where a typical baby session is about an hour and a half. With infants, we make sure to take a little extra time for the unexpected occurrences. Almost every session has a feeding break, diaper change, or in the naked baby shoot an “oops” on the posing blankets. Occasionally mom and dad, or the photographer are the recipients of the accident! It happens, no worries. It will not be the first nor last time.
