As a newborn photographer I am always up for a challenge. So I was pretty excited when I did a shoot for not just one, but two sweet babies. Say hello to Jose and Mila, a set of cuddly twins who made my job so easy. This photo shoot was incredible because I saw the bond between brother and sister. In the comfort of my home studio they were able to sleep, snooze, doze, and pout their lips to the camera’s delight. Side by side or in separate frames, you can tell they are connected in every way.

With this being my first time as a multiples photographer, I knew I needed to be on my A game.

This is where the two musts for the flow of a newborn photo shoot come in: strategy and layers. Strategy is how I plan to move from pose to pose. I started with shooting Jose one-on-one, moved into shooting the twins together, and then ended with Mila by herself. Ideally, you achieve flow in a session when you don’t have back track from the final shots to the beginning or middle ones because you forgot something. Shooting in layers means I wrap a baby up first and take all of the tight, bundled shots. Then I slowly peel back the layers (with space heaters on full blast) until the precious baby boy (or girl) is in his birthday suit all snuggled and fast asleep.

I prefer to shoot newborns at around 8 days old for the posed sleepy shots, but I’ve worked with babies up to 6 weeks (these guys were around 3 weeks). The newborn stage is considered the “Fourth Trimester.” During this time you are learning your baby’s cues and adjusting accordingly, so your photo session should be structured to flow from the time you arrive to the time we wrap up.

I like to handle the stress of the session by showing parents what to expect before the shoot with my Newborn Prep Guide. We also discuss ideas, inspirations, and standards for how I pose a baby - safety is the top concern here - in advance. We talk so much before hand that by the time the session happens everyone involved is on the same page. It’s not uncommon for moms to fall asleep on my couch while I do the shoot.

The set was designed so that these two were the stars of the show. The elements you see at play here are the wool wraps layered around the babies, a flokati (available here) at the base of the shot, and a rustic crate I bought from a local antique shop. I make sure my clients know about one thing right up front: the JUST SHOW UP policy. I have what they need to design their dream set. All they need to do is show up, kick up their feet and take the next few hours off.

This session made me feel so comfortable with photographing more than one baby at a time. I found that my session actually went quicker because the twins would comfort each other in between moving poses. Usually it take about 2 - 2 1/2 hours for a newborn shoot and this one was over in an hour and half! From this session I realized not only do I adore newborn photography in general, but I am smitten with twins because they are double the warm, squishy, cuddly goodness that brand new babies bring into the world. Before this shoot I might have said, “Twins are intimidating!” Now I’m saying “Bring on the triplets!”