When it comes to siblings and newborns in the studio, of course you’re going to want pictures of them together. These are some of my favourite images to capture – the start of something that will last a lifetime.
When the older sibling is still quite small themselves, there are a few things I’d recommend to get the shot right with the minimum of fuss.
If your older child is under five, the usual approach is to have dad take them off to do something far more interesting for an hour or so while we get started. Newborn sessions are fairly long, and a bored toddler who’s had enough tends not to be a willing participant when their turn comes. If they join us at the end when they’re fresh and the session is still a novelty, we get much better results – and they enjoy it more too. The other reason for doing sibling shots near the end is that it takes time to get a newborn nicely settled, and trying to do sibling photos when both children are unsettled is a bit like spinning plates. Getting one fast asleep first means we’re only working with one variable at a time.
When your older child is too small to safely hold your newborn, or at least to hold them in a way that will work for a photo, this side-by-side shot is a great option. They can lie safely on the floor and get close without any pressure to be in charge. It also means we only need the top half of them in shot – so if they absolutely refuse to take off their favourite wellington boots, it genuinely doesn’t matter.
