Behind the Scenes of this Newborn Triplets Photography Session in Houston
How to even begin? This year was a year of firsts for me as a Newborn Photographer (and I’ve been around the block). Earlier this year I photographed TWINS for the first time. You can check that out HERE! But down below you will see that this session boasted THREE babies! Yes, that’s right! Triplets aren’t something you see every day. Honestly, it’s not something you see that much in newborn photography either. So, I consider myself very lucky! Check out below the BTS to see how it went!
Prepping for the session
For my newborn sessions, I have the routine down to prep for whatever comes at the session. Swaddles, onesies, baskets, flashes, lenses, extra SDs, etc. I’ve got it all. For these three girls though I wanted to make sure I came extra prepared with backups for all my backups!
However, as I am packing my mind naturally wanders to how the session will go. Then it dawned on me. How on earth will one person hold 3 babies?! Like, seriously how does one person physically do it? I remember this being difficult with two babies at my twin session earlier in the year. I felt a little silly that I was less than prepared for how to physically hold them. Hello, learning curve.
Luckily, I knew that safely getting babies into position wouldn’t be a problem. There would be extra hands around between mom, dad, and myself to make sure we could place each baby in the hands of one person. However, I would like to photograph just mom with the three girls, and just dad with the three girls and three infant babies with two hands isn’t math I’m used to.
So, I got out my daughter’s best baby dolls and tried it at home myself. I swapped between arms, practicing how to place their heads close together, how to lay them next to one another, how to all of this SAFELY along with many other things that I NEVER have to think about at other newborn sessions. All I have to say is WOAH! I’m so glad I practiced on baby dolls at home because these dolls didn’t move. When you factor in that these are living breathing people with movements and preferences of their own, you can see how a small working knowledge of handling triplets can come in handy. No pun intended.
Oh yeah and they have a bigger sibling too! HA!
The Group Shots: Photographing Triplets Together
When I think of photographing Newborn Triplets what initially comes to mind is how they will be posed together. If I am honest, this is the part I was most worried about! Like I said before, I was so worried that I practiced at home beforehand! But, just as most family newborn sessions go, everything just started happening in a free-flowing way. We chatted and passed newborns between the three of us as everything got comfortable and I began by giving just the smallest hint of direction, but the family instinctively knew what to do.
Right away, each girl started showing her personality. One was sound asleep, one was curious about the goings on, and one was NOT HAVING IT (although I tried to minimize evidence of that). Each of these temperaments are completely normal at newborn sessions and I have had them all. Now here is my test, can I handle them all together?
Further into the session, the family brought out a beautiful rocker bassinet that was a family piece passed down from Dad. When asked to include it I wasn’t quite sure how I could make it work. Mom then gently suggested that I turn those girls sideways in it. I felt so silly. Like “DUH”. I’m so glad she mentioned it though because I was happy to include such a sentimental piece.
The Individual Shots: Capturing the Uniqueness of Each Child
I have a thing for symmetry. Call it Type A or uptight, but my brain likes things uniformly together. When it comes to photographing sessions, I don’t just think about how a photo or photos will look in a gallery, but ‘How will they look on your wall?’ (yes, printing your photos is always the goal)
With that in mind, I aimed for uniform shots of these sweet girls that I imagined would be hung side by side. If mom held one girl a certain way, I would look back on the back of my camera study the angles, and try to recreate as best we could the same shot. Chances are that these photos will live side by side whether that is in a baby book or on a gallery wall.
In the individual shots, the purpose is to highlight the unique details of each girl. While they will often be seen as a trio throughout their lives, these photos appreciate each of them as distinct individuals. You can notice a particular pouty lip, the subtle nuances of their skin tone, or even the particular shape of their eyes, characteristics that are exclusively their own.
As I mentioned before though, each girl had their own personality too. Just as all kids do. Can you tell which one was curious, totally asleep, and not having it…?
The Family Shots: Telling the Story of the Family
This part may have been the trickiest because as far as newborn triplets go, you need all the hands you can get. Now, all my extra hands were now in the photo! Luckily, in the hands of mom and dad is exactly where these girls wanted to be. I didn’t have to force the girls into the arms of mom and dad. I did though have to be efficient! Full family shots may not be the photos that you have the most of when you receive a newborn triplets gallery. And that’s okay. You only need a few good ones. One to hang above the mantle or one great one for your profile picture. I felt like I had won that we even got some great shots of everyone together!
At the end of the session, I was even able to snag a few of mom and dad happily together with their girls.
The Sibling Shots: Giving Brother the Spotlight
If you’ve been a part of a session with me or even been around on my Instagram long enough, you will know that for me including siblings is one valuable part of the story I aim to tell! I love to HIGHLIGHT BIG BROTHERS AND SISTERS. (click the link for that blog too) It’s pretty common for big siblings to feel like they are “old news”. They aren’t getting the attention from mom and dad or all the visitors they may be having like they’re accustomed to. Big siblings definitely feel it. This Newborn Triplets session was the epitome of this phenomenon, but X3. Not only did big brother want (and deserve) his time in the spot light, but he was the type of kiddo who naturally wanted the spot light even before 3 sisters were around!
So, you better believe I gave it to him. If he wanted to photograph with sisters in his big boy room, the answer was “Yes”. When he wanted to cover his sisters with his own construction vehicle blanket, the answer was “YES”. When he wanted to take his (off-theme) Spiderman pillow and include that in some of these pictures, the answer was “YES”.
Brother wanted that extra attention from me and I was happy to give it to him. He was a delight! Plus, if I give him the “yeses” he is looking for, then he is a lot more likely to give me the “Yes” when I ask him for this shot or that.
These shots we took are the ones that will get pulled back out in 6 months, 12 months, 5 years, and even 30 years down the road to see how they have grown and changed together, so I really wanted to make sure that I did my due diligence of capturing them.
I still cannot believe I got this opportunity, and better yet I feel like I did a thorough job amongst the chaos of those 4 kiddos. Are you due with newborn triplets? Please give me a call!!! I would love to photograph your circus!
Houston Newborn Triplets Photo Session
Want more inspiration?
Check out this Studio Newborn Session
or Unique Items to Use in a Newborn Session.
Melanie B of Mel B Photo is a professional photographer based in Tomball, Cypress, and The Woodlands, TX. I specialize in Newborn, Family, and Maternity Photography. For more information on packages with me and/or opportunities to book, feel free to visit my website.
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-Mel B.
Mel B Photo
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