Lessons

Lesson Info

In-Home Shoot: Sibling with Newborn

Siblings. We are going to see how in the world did we get him to interact with his little sister. Okay? Here we go. I'm gonna have you stay on this side, just 'cause of the light. Okay. We have some pretty harsh light coming in again, but we're gonna make it work. Okay, if we can, we need everybody out of that back window. (baby coos) I knew, I could tell. As much as possible. Okay? (camera shutter clicks) (camera shutter clicks) Does the side rail of the bed come off? Yeah. Is it easy to take it off? Would you mind? Yes. He's playing with it in the picture. Yeah. (laughs) I had shushed her a long time. She was perfect. Okay, there's our light. There we go! (camera shutter clicks) Can I see the flower, Cain? (camera shutter clicks) This is one of my favorite shots to do in the bed, 'cause they like to look at the light. (camera shutter clicks) Babies do. Alright, you ready to go up there and kiss your baby sissy? Hi! You're just so cute! Hi, you wanna go give her a ...

kissy? Okay, thank you. Alright. Here, you wanna climb up on the bed? Okay, climb up there. Go behind her, okay? How long does this work? Can you look at what's in her ear? What's in there? (camera shutter clicks) What's in there? Can you give her a kissy on the cheek? (camera shutter clicks) Can you give her a kissy? Aw, what's on my nose? (camera shutter clicks) Huh? Here, you wanna hold her? You wanna hold her? Come here. (baby coos) You know what we're gonna do? Come here, are you okay? Wanna hold her? You'll stick her in your belly. Yeah. Get in there with your belly. (baby coos) Oh, go back where you were! Go back on your belly. Gotta lay down, put your feet that way. No. Get down with your belly. (taps bed) Here, here. (baby coos) Alright, lay down just like that. Yup, there we go. Alright, yup, just like that. Got it? (baby coos) Say, "shhh!" (shushing) What a sweet pea he is. There we go. Oh, can you push up and look at me? (camera shutter clicks) Oh my gosh. Give her a kissy. (camera shutter clicks) Okay, good job. Hold on, one more. Oh, she's yawning, look at her! (exclaims) (camera shutter clicks) Oh, she's so silly. (laughs) Stay there, stay there. Okay, go on your elbows. You are such a good big brother. (baby coos) Can I put her head in your hands like this? (baby coos) You wanna hold her? See, it's okay! (baby coos) (shushing) She's like, "Free me from this sweater! Free me!" Alright, let me see you. Can you get your chin right here for me? (baby coos) Right up there. Yeah, just like that, okay? (shushing) Alright, there we go. Aww, can you smile? (camera shutter clicks) Can you smile? (baby coos) Don't cheat, I'm gonna come up and tickle you. Okay, come up a little bit. I can't see your face. Can you come up a little bit? There we go! Okay, look at me! One, two. (camera shutter clicks) Alright, good job. Can you give her a kiss, one more? (smooches) (camera shutter clicks) Aww, that's so nice. Can you give her hugs? Gentle hugs? Aww, what's on my nose? Huh? (camera shutter clicks) Oh, you know what? Can you give her a hug right here? Here, you were doing, you two doing such a good job. The only reason I'm gonna keep doing this is because he is such a good listener. Not all two-year-olds, any two-year-olds (laughing) (sighing) are this good. Okay, I'm gonna put your cheek right here, and just give her a little snuggle, okay? Yeah, touch her cheeks! Right there, real soft. Right there you go. There you go! Can you smile for me? (camera shutter clicks) (baby coos) Alright, let's not. Here, hop up for me. (baby coos) Here we go. That's okay. Alright, good job, buddy. (baby cries) We need to get her calmed down in a minute. Do you wanna snuggle her in the bed? You wanna lay down? Okay, that's fine. You know what, I'm gonna give her to you and I'm gonna get him set up. Okay. I like that idea, actually. What we might do... Alright, come here, little man. We're gonna snuggle your sissy, okay? We're gonna crawl in bed. (shushing) We're gonna put her right here, just like how you have this. Who is this? That's Spot. Spot? Yeah. Spot can go on this side, and then your little sister. You know what, though? Can you hop out? We have a tag sticking out. And there we go. There. There. I'll put your sister right there. You guys can snuggle, okay? And then I'm gonna do a shot. Can you pick your bottom up? I'm gonna put your shirt down a little bit. You're gonna do shot? Mm-hmm. Yeah, we're gonna do a picture, right here with your sister, okay? You guys snuggling. (chuckles) Let's pull your shirt down, though, and sit up for me. Can I have a high five 'cause you're amazing? (hands clap) Awesome. Ready, and back we go. (chuckling) Alright, come here, you. There. Alright, are you ready? Alright, and you're gonna tell her a story. I'm gonna have you come on this side for me. Your camera. Where's my camera please? That would be amazing. Thank you. Okay. Are you gonna tell her a story? Say, "I'm so glad that you're my little sister. "I love you so much." I love you so much. Just tell her a story. (camera shutter clicks) Then, can you tell her, "I love you!" I love you. (camera shutter clicks) Can you give her a kissy on the head? (camera shutter clicks) Hold her with your arm, honey. Go give her a hug. Yeah, there we go. There! Oh! That's cool too. (laughs) (baby coos) Alright, just right there. Don't move. Okay, what's on my nose? Can you look at me? (camera shutter clicks) Keep your head close to her. Here, I'm gonna do this. Right there. Okay? Okay! One, two. What's on my head? (camera shutter clicks) Ah, peek-a-boo! Put your head on her. (camera shutter clicks) Okay, look at me, honey, look up. One, two, three, boo! (camera shutter clicks) Alright, can you give her a smooch? (camera shutter clicks) How about a kiss? Smooch, I'm thinking he's gonna smoosh. (laughs) (camera shutter clicks) A smack should do. Tell her one more story. (baby coos) Do you wanna sing her Itsy-Bitsy Spider? Yeah. Can you sing to her? Mm-hmm. Yeah? Can you sing to her? Say, ♪ The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water spout ♪ (camera shutter clicks) Awesome. Okay, good job. (baby coos) He's trying to get up, so we're gonna go ahead and try to be done with this. (baby coos) Awesome, that was perfect. That was just enough time before we lost him. Are you ready to get out of this contraption? 'Cause I think you are! (laughs) It's so silly, I know! Okay, you know what? You wanna come up here with him? Sure. Okay. Come snuggle Mommy? Alright. Okay. Mama. Mm-hmm. She's starting to fall asleep now. But, Mommy. Okay. Alright. Do me a favor, I'm gonna need you on this side of him. Okay. 'Cause the way the light's coming in, I don't want you to block his light, okay? Mama! You're gonna snuggle your Mama! Mom? Yes. You get comfy, you may need to put those pillows up. Okay. Mommy. (clears throat) You'll sit. Yup, go snuggle with Mommy. Mom. Come here. Mom. Aww. There we go, okay. Mommy. Who wants a baby? Who wants a baby? I do! Who wants a baby? (laughs) There, we're all gonna hold the baby, okay? Okay. And then we're gonna get Dad in a minute, okay? But I want to get you a special shot with both your kids. Yeah. Get your elbow up there, little man. Okay, you're gonna be responsible for her head. (laughs) That's a good thing. Okay? Alright. Let's, um. You know what, I need her to be down a little bit. (baby coos) Right there. You got her? Yeah. Okay. Okay, you just snuggle them. Don't worry about me, okay? Let's put this back on her so we know she's a girl. (laughs) Sometimes I do these, and sometimes I don't, but. (baby coos) (shushing) Look down. There we go. (shushing) He's being so good. Okay. (shushing) Dad? Okay. Yup, you just snuggle. Don't worry about me. (camera shutter clicks) Oh, honey, look what's on your baby sister. See the little bow on her head? (camera shutter clicks) What color's her bow? (camera shutter clicks) Is it white? Yeah. (camera shutter clicks) Can you snuggle your mommy, honey? (contented sighing) (camera shutter clicks) (camera shutter clicks) Can you giggle? Do you know how to giggle? Hold your momma right there. There we go. (camera shutter clicks) He's spacing out. Cain! Hey, boo! Do you like pizza? (laughs) Do you like candy? (laughs) (camera shutter clicks) How about ketchup? Do you like ketchup? (laughs) Mm-hmm. You do? Do you like ... (camera shutter clicks) You guys all look up at me. Uh-oh. French fries. French fries with ketchup? (laughs) Do you like ice cream cones? Yes. Hey, look at me. You keep looking at me. Okay. And I'm gonna get his attention. Okay. (laughs) Do you like chocolate ice cream? Yeah. (camera shutter clicks) Got her. Okay, good job. Awesome, nice job. One more, and I wanna hold your hands together for a detail shot. Okay. Hold on. (baby coos) Oh, almost done, almost done. And we're gonna go get some Daddy pictures, okay? Oh, yeah. Okay, right here. I want all your hands right here. Okay. Okay. Okay, can you look at her? (camera shutter clicks) Look at baby? (camera shutter clicks) Good, okay. We're good. Okay, watch your head on the bed. You, little man. Go to your daddy, okay? Come here, buddy. We're gonna put him in between you guys. Everybody needs to be connected, (claps) okay? So you guys have to all be touching at sometime. I don't want any hands not doing something, okay? We need to show connection, so let's put him in the middle. Alright. You guys all just snuggle and just do your thing, okay? Kind of giggle, look at each other. Mom and Dad, smooch. Cheese! (camera shutter clicks) Oh, no cheese, no cheese! No cheese or I'm gonna tickle you. No cheese or I'm gonna tickle you. (laughs) Alright, we're losing the baby, so let's put her on the other side of you. Let's put her on this arm. Alrighty, here she goes. And then you can actually scoot your hip back into Dad a little bit, so you guys are a little bit more connected. Yeah. If you can. Okay. Beds are really, really hard to shoot on because Okay. They're not easy to move on, but I like to do them regardless. Turn her head a little bit for me. I don't care if I totally see her face. Okay. But I want to know that she's there. Okay. Okay. (laughs) He's a riot. Alright, you guys snuggle. Mommy can snuggle on Dad, okay. Aww. There we go. Be mindful of hair. (camera shutter clicks) Oh, there we go. You know what, should Daddy tickle you? Are you ticklish? Ohh. Uh-oh. Are you ticklish? (giggles) (laughs) Are you ticklish? (giggles) What's on my head? Hey, what's on my head? There we go. Isn't it funny? Awesome, so good. Aww. Do you like that? N'aww. Alright, so now, what I wanna do, let's turn her so I can see her a little bit. Does he like to go on your shoulders? Um, kind of, yeah. (toddler speaking gibberish) Sometimes, he's not a big shoulder person. He's not a big shoulder person? Not really. Put him on that leg for me. Okay, Cain, let's sit over here. I want you guys to get closer together. Okay. Let's go over this way. This is a double bed. Typically, we're shooting family shoots on a bigger beds, but since there's not a lot of light enough in the master bedroom, we are doing it in here. Let's go ahead and swing her back this way. Okay. Now that we have more light. Look at those toes. Those little toes. And actually, I'm gonna end up lying her in between this, so I can get her with him. Okay. Tickle me! Okay? Alright, let's put Spot over here. Put spot over this side. Okay, perfect. Alright, are we ready? Yeah. Don't you look at me! (laughs) Don't you do it. (laughs) Oh, there's a rabbit on my nose. There's a rabbit on my nose. There's a bunny on my nose. (camera shutter clicks) (laughs) Alright, one more, you guys. All I want, a big family hug, okay? Don't look at me. Don't look at you? Nope, don't look at me. Okay. We're gonna move Spot. Let's move Spot out of the way. Spot is adorable, but Spot's taking up the show here. Okay. Just for a minute. Yeah, just for a minute. That's fine, that's fine. One big super snuggle. One, two, three! She's smiling. Let's do a big smile. She has one eye open. No pirate eye. (laughs) Okay, oh, she's kind of smiling down there. Everybody, super snuggle. One, two, three! Can you lay in Mommy's arm? Oh, you snuggle? Snuggle. Do a snuggle. There we go. Watch your hair for me. Snuggle. We're kind of losing him, so. (laughs) Here, you ready? Which is typical. One, two, three. Look at your sister! (laughs) Look at her! (camera shutter clicks) What's on your sister? Give your sister a kiss on the head? (laughs) Oh, there we go! Aww. (camera shutter clicks) Got it. (camera shutter clicks) Hold on, one more. She's ... She's like. (laughs) There we go. No, no knocking on her head, honey. Yeah, let's not knock on her head. Let's pull your elbow up on Matt. Okay, one more. You just hold Mommy. Aww, look at you! Oh, she's yawning. Do you think she's sleepy? (laughs) Look at her, look at her. Hey, look at her. Look at her. There you go. (camera shutter clicks) What do you think? Got it. Perfect, beautiful. (toddler speaking gibberish) (laughs) Stay for me. Okay. You hop up, little man. Okay, let's go. You know what? Can you go find me one of your hats? Oh! Okay, go find me a hat. I'm trying to distract him. Yeah. Go find me your favorite hat, okay? Find your safari hat? And you're gonna hang out over there in the tent, okay? Ooh! You guys snuggle, okay? Arms around each other. So, this arm needs to be underneath the baby, more likely. Lay in there, just snuggle. There we go. (camera shutter clicks) Perfect, okay. And you guys put your heads together. (camera shutter clicks) There you go. (camera shutter clicks) Can you guys kind of giggle? Like, I know it sounds weird, but it gets natural laughs. (camera shutter clicks) Okay, so what I want you to do now. (laughs) Okay, whisper in her ear something you don't want anybody to hear. (laughs) Something nice. (laughs) (camera shutter clicks) There we go. (camera shutter clicks) Do it again. Whisper something to Lily you don't want anybody to hear. We need natural smiles. (camera shutter clicks) Keep your hand up for me. Now, look up at him while you're laughing. (laughs) Heads together. (laughs) (camera shutter clicks) Awesome. Okay, you guys look up at me. Heads together, snuggle. (camera shutter clicks) Awesome, good job! Cool. Okay, we're good! (exclaims) Okay. Now this was a large segment, but I wanted you to see it. Did you guys notice all the little things that we talked about with connection that I did? Trying to start at the beginning, okay. (laughs) With Little Man, right, you need to be in a position where you feel like you are giving him the option. Did you see how he naturally went to the back of the bed? And I'm like, okay, let's take this and let's go with it. Is he not the sweetest thing ever, by the way? (crowd murmurs) So, we took it and we went with it. And you need to do it in a way that's safe, so I wanted to get him up there snuggling his sister, and he started smashing her face in a little bit, you know? Which wasn't good for anybody. So then, you have to redirect, you know? I'm constantly directing, okay? Lifestyle shoots, you still need to place people in a position that's gonna be, you know, give them a reason to start interacting with each other. And we were just talking about, that, it is hard to get adults posed. It's hard to get adults to interact together. It's difficult for me. I'm a family photographer, I'm a child photographer, and playful. The whole like, sexy thing is not easy for me, okay? Blissful Maven, amazing. Go follow her. She can do it, like, that's her jam. So for me, it doesn't come naturally for me to be able to do that. It might for some of you. So what I tend to do is like, have Dad like, whisper in her ear something silly, or kiss her, you know, on the cheek, or just say something funny, and it tends to get natural reactions out of them, okay? So here's the shots that we were doing here. Remember earlier, we did the toe shot when Mom was unswaddling the baby? That's the toe shot. That was a really easy way to get a detailed shot. Here was this one. I want to note something for you. This bottom thing right here. Same focal point, okay? When I stood up, it put all of them in the same focal plane. Okay? I positioned them, this is purposeful. My eye is always cranked up extremely high, and I'm gonna show you that when we get into editing. This one's behind the scenes. I was happy when Mom was unswaddling. He's very into marching in like, a marching band right now. (audience laughs) And so, when we talked to Mom ahead of time, I said, "What is he into right now?" And she said, "Dressing up and marching in a marching band." So, I got that shot, and the dog, I mean, hello. It makes the photo, right? It was hilarious to me, and I captured it, and Mom's back there with the baby, watching on, you know. And I was probably around like, f 2.0 or so, so she's gonna be blurry, you know? And that's okay. Remember, we talked about that? That's okay, we got the moment in there. There were so many things that happened in that video. Is there anything in particular in that video that you have a question about that you saw me do? Yeah, the string connected to the, whatever that was on the wall. Yeah. Is that something where you would comb the string out, or were you pulled back far enough for there to be more than the string in the frame, or was it not distracting in the image? So, that's a good question. The way I was shooting, I was angled down. We couldn't see it. However, right at the end of that video, when I started to do all the parent shots, I'm like, "Oh, that thing's driving me crazy." I'm like, "Does that come off the wall?" (laughs) So then we took it off the wall. And it's one of those times this happens to me, too. We miss something. We miss a detail, right? Had I thought about it earlier, I would've. We were shooting down so low, you couldn't see it in the picture. But once we elevated and brought Dad in, that's when we did end up pulling that off the wall. It popped right off the wall. I would Photoshop that out, though, 'cause that would drive me crazy. That's one thing that would be distracting in a picture. We talked about things that could be distracting. That's absolutely something that's distracting, 'cause it's a string hanging off of a thing. It's cute for a kid's room, but now that we're doing the family shot in there, which we had to do because of the light, okay? That family is ridiculously cute. They're so sweet. Okay, so let's just show you more pictures here. What I did with him in between. (audience saying "aww") This was in between, you guys. All of this time. Remember, we talked about, take the sibling, let the sibling be a sibling, okay? This was at the beginning when Mom was feeding the baby. I took him away. I wanted to get some sibling shots of just him being himself, okay? Think lifestyle, think fun, think composition, okay? This was later, when we did the Dad shots, here, okay? It was really, it was really bright over there. Um, he was being silly with Dad. People, a lot of us would get rid of that, thinking, "Oh, I needed to keep an image that's everybody is looking at the camera." No, no, no. No, no, okay? That's lifestyle. He was being silly, so I let him do his thing. This is actually a vertical shot. I cropped it for this particular template, but I actually shot this vertical, 'cause it showed height. So, when you do jumping on the bed photos, I like to sit down on the ground and shoot up. You guys probably saw me do this in the last class, the family lifestyle class that we did here on Creative Live. I show a lot of how to shoot up vertical with families, and I use that technique in all of my sessions, even my newborn sessions, 'cause it's important, 'cause he's the first child, you know? And they're gonna appreciate having these later, okay? Yes. So, Emily, we did have a number of more questions coming in about the video itself. Yes, okay, good. I figured there were a few. (laughs) Don't mind taking some of those. Yeah. So, Jessie Faults, in addition to Elizabeth, other folks, cares about the standing on the furniture. Do you ask the parents? Do you ever go over that prior to it, and especially sort of, the bed, making sure that it is stable for you to get up there? 100% yes, and we did that. Just the video didn't show it. Whenever you, again, on any piece of furniture, you have to ask. And every parent says, "Oh, yes, absolutely!" Or, they'll say, "No, that's antique. "Don't step on it, it will break. "Let me get you something else." Okay? Parents, always ask. I've never had anybody say no. The biggest thing with beds, after you ask, 'cause it's just like, you take your shoes off when you go into somebody's house, right? You don't even ask them, you just do it. Take your shoes off, especially photographers. You say, "Hey, do you mind if I stand on your furniture? "Do you mind if I shift something?" Nobody's ever said no. Just be mindful of fans. I think we talked about that (audience laughs quietly) but, most master bedrooms have a fan, which tends to be on. So, watch for fans. Another question from Elizabeth. How do you avoid seeing your shadow when you're standing over the baby? Um, It's side lit. Okay. As long as you don't have light coming from above, or light, too much light directly behind you, pretty much, typically, in rooms, the lights can be pretty diffused. If the light is diffused enough, you won't have strong shadows. If you're finding that you have those really strong shadows, the shower curtain, okay? 'Cause you're not shooting into the windows, you're not gonna need it. And are these all with the 35? All with the 35. Great. Okay. I rarely take the 35 mm off my camera. And a question from Jennifer. What do you do if a parent tells you that the baby doesn't like to be swaddled? I say, "Are you sure? "Have you done it?" (audience laughs) They're like, "No." (laughs) I'm like. "Let's just try it for fun." I tend to win. (laughs) You just have to suggest and be open with it, you know? Um, a lot of parents would say their babies like their arms out, and they sometimes are right. The babies hate it. So if that's the case, I'll take the baby's arms out and swaddle their body, you know, with their arms out, and they're fine. You know, go with the flow. Um, a lot of parents swaddle loosely, and don't know how to swaddle tight, you know, well? Um, swaddling's an art. Swaddling is not easy, and some people swaddle with those thicker swaddles, you know? And those are really hard to get your baby swaddled up with, so just keep being happy about it, but suggest. "Let's just try just to see."