This twins newborn photography session was extra special for me. It was my first time photographing twins and they belong to some dear friends of ours. The Fisher family met their twins, Asa and Kaius, via caesarean birth at Foothills hospital in Calgary Alberta.
It's always exciting to hear that your friends are having a baby! When my friend told me they were having two, we had a little laugh. Everything about their twins came as a complete surprise, but she and her partner embraced the challenge well.
Naturally, I asked if she would be interested in birth photography. To document a twin birth story is on every birth photographers bucket list. As a massage therapist and paramedic, the parents were equally interested in documenting their twins birth.
However, once we looked closer at all of the unknown variables we unfortunately realized our chances of success were slim. Between being on call for other births, unknown expected due dates, traveling from Golden to Calgary and the COVID-19 pandemic, it all felt like too much for all of us to juggle. We agreed that it would be best to keep things easy on everyone. So instead we decided to plan for a twins newborn photography session once they returned home.
About Di-Di Fraternal Twins
If you are like me, you might not know very much about twins. I considered this twins newborn photography session my introduction. First of all, there are more options than just identical or fraternal twins.
These babies are di-di fraternal twins, which means that they had separate placentas and amniotic sacs. Di-di fraternal twins come from two separate eggs and two separate sperm. These twins were born at 38 +2 weeks and were 5 lbs 7 oz and 5 lbs 8 oz, which means that they were good at sharing a womb.
I don't know about you, but I think that the specifics behind twins and conception are ultra neat. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this isn't usually normal dinner party conversation though 😉
Photographing Newborn Twins ... Double Everything
A story that I tell often about this twins newborn photography session is that me and the parents thought it would be really cute to get a photo of the sleeping cuddled beside each other. Of course a photo of two twins sleeping side by side would be an iconic photograph. Surely, it would be easy enough to do... or so I thought.
In general, a typical newborn photo session goes through a predictable cycle. We take some photos, pause for feeding, more photos, change the diaper, continue, repeat. However, to photograph twins we must double this cycle and realize that it might not sync up how we imagined.
As soon as one of the twins was fed, dry and sleeping, the other would wake up ready to eat. We photographed this way for a while before I realized that this iconic photo just might not happen. I never want to push families too far or exhaust everyone by dragging photo session out too long, so we collectively decided to let it go. As a newborn photographer, I know that photographing real life — instead of trying to stage something — will create much more meaningful portraits in the end.
Did my respect for all twin parents skyrocket that day? Absolutely. The newborn cycle is intense, and doubly so for twin parents.
Lifestyle Twin Newborn Photography
A lifestyle newborn photography session is the perfect way to document your experience. These photo sessions feel calm and natural, which translates into candid and beautiful newborn photos. My approach during these sessions is minimal, I will give you gentle guidance here and there but will otherwise photograph you just as you are. This is always my approach during photo sessions because what you are doing naturally, is magic.
I love working with Golden BC families to help them see the beauty in the chaos with a lifestyle newborn photography session.
Thanks for being here — If you enjoy the images you see here and would like to chat about your own maternity, birth, newborn, or family photography in Golden BC I would love to hear from you. You can also check my travel dates and join my newsletter to keep in touch.
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