After hospital stays, fevers, and a house that was already full with two boisterous twin siblings, life had been turned a little bit upside down for this family. After Lola’s homecoming, things started to settle into a routine, and her mom finally got a chance to make plans for her newborn photography session.
I always like to discuss client preferences for the style of their baby’s photography session in depth. If a client has lots of thoughts and ideas, I make sure to use that as inspiration for their baby’s session. Lola’s mom knew she didn’t want anything overly frilly or girly; she preferred a neutral color palette with natural, organic, and rustic looks, so that’s exactly what we planned for.
On her 15th day, the whole crew arrived to my studio. Along with Lola’s own newborn portraits, we were planning for family photos, and sibling portraits with her big brother and sister too. Photographing newborns with siblings usually takes some prior thought and planning, so getting to know a little bit about big brothers and/or sisters is really helpful to ensure a smooth session.
Lola’s mom sent me a really thorough rundown of the twins’ personalities, and I loved reading it and getting to know a little about them:
- R, my twin girl, is all about holding Lola.
- M, my twin boy, not so much. He takes care of her and loves being around her, but holding
her is not his thing yet. - R is NOT shy & will be herself from the second you meet her.
- M is shy, but usually warms up after 5-10 min. Then you can’t get him to shut up. If you talk about tractors, nature, or chickens (we have a flock & live in the woods on a farm) he will warm up quickly.
Having all this info in advance helped the session to flow smoothly. Not only were we able to get lots of great photos of the newborn/sibling combination, we captured some great family photos too! After that, the rest of the session went perfectly. Complimented by an earthy color palette, I captured lots of adorable photos of Lola by herself, even some little smirks and smiles.
Baby’s Name: Lola Ray
Due Date: 7/20/17
Birthday: 7/5/17
Birth Time: 1:25am
Weight: 7lb
Length: 19in
Lola’s Story…
Sharing the news: “When we finally told our kids, we presented them with two gift bags filled with baby stuff and tried to have them guess what the gift would be. R started crying and saying she wanted to purple pony instead and M said he would rather have a tractor. Not how we planned things to go!”
During Pregnancy: “I was really sick and threw up several times a day all the way through. I went to the hospital for IVs at least once a week.”
On Lola’s Name: “Lola is a nickname for Dolores. Dolores was my mother-in-law’s name. She passed about 3 years ago. Ray is also a family name. My grandfather, who passed away several years ago was named Raymond.”
First thing I noticed about Lola: “She was way more chill than the other two kids were!”
Favorite Features: “Her giant feet, long fingers, sweet lips, and frog legs.”
Favorite Moments: “Just laying with her and cuddling. Going to Leo’s Coney Island when she was only 5 days old.”
Personality: “She’s not bothered by the insanity in our house. She is calm and quiet…unless she is hungry.”
