Almost three years ago, I met up with the “P” family for the first time in a long time. Jessica and I went to high school together, but we lost touch as friends do when they attend different colleges. When she got pregnant with her son, Zan, we met up at the Cheesecake Factory to discuss newborn photos. He was my first newborn session, but I was excited to take on a new challenge.
Like I said, that was nearly three years ago. Just a few months ago, Jessica contacted me again to let me know that she would be giving me an even bigger challenge. She and her husband were expecting TWINS! I have to admit that I was a bit nervous…scared even, but I was also super excited for the opportunity.
Three weeks ago, Ellie Aleine and Lanie Belle were born – five weeks early. Each weighing 4 lbs 14 oz and 18.5 inches long. As soon as they were born, I was prepared to mark my calendar. On Sunday, I finally had my chance to meet and photograph them.
Newborn photography is not my specialty so I don’t have as many opportunities to photograph sweet newborn babies as some other photographers in the area. I tend to treat these sessions with a lifestyle photography touch, because I really do love capturing the realness of a family welcoming home new babies. The dynamic of a toddler and twins definitely mixed things up for me though.
Zan made sure I felt welcome as soon as I walked through the door. He wanted to show me his sisters’ room, his toys, his big boy bed…the whole nine. You could tell that he wasn’t too sure about his baby sisters getting all this attention. Note to self – include extra time to have mini session with older sibling.
We decided mid-session that while we would certainly try to capture a decent family photo, that we would try again at three months. We actually have a running list of more shots we want to capture at 3 months…and 6 months, etc. Yes, you’ll be seeing these sweet faces all year long!
After making sure we captured lots of photos upstairs, in their nursery, we took our session downstairs where I had my mini studio set up. I recently bought a foam bean bag chair for newborn portraits that I wanted to test drive. Like I said, newborn photography is not my forte (yet), but I already see 100% improvement from the photos I did of Zan 2.5 years ago.
In case you were curious, that’s Ellie on the left and Lanie on the right. I wasn’t sure I’d remember which one was which, but they are fraternal twins (as opposed to identical). After spending a few hours with them, I quickly knew which one was which. Yay me!
The whole session was so wonderful and I’m so glad that Jessica came back to me this time around. I can’t wait to see them again in a couple of months.
Until next time,
