Lessons

Lesson Info

Potato Sack Pose with Sibling

So we set up our cushions here, which means we've got more room to move, and all I've put is some towels underneath to support their heads, to bring their heads up nice and high to get that connection between the two of them. You can use bonnets, you can use headbands in this instance, especially when you've got two boys, I wanna make her look like a little girl. So do you have any objections to me putting a little headband on her? Perfect, so what I'll get the parents to do in this situation is I explain where I want the boys positioned and then what I do is, because there's a bit of an age difference-- He's four? Mm-hmmm, four. Four? So he's older, we have a one-and-half-year old. Yeah, four and one-and-a-half. And one-and-a-half, so I don't know if the one-and-a-half-year old is gonna lay still enough for me to position the baby in his arms and I don't think that it would be safe in this situation. So, because there is quite a bit of a difference in terms of age and size, ther...

e's quite a bit of a height difference here in their size, I'm gonna be able to put the baby in the older sibling's arms first and then we're gonna bring the younger boy in, because he might not actually wanna be a part of this. Yeah, hopefully he will be. (laughter) Okay, so what is your name? Alex. Alex. Yeah? Yeah. I have an Alex at home. He's Gabriel. He says he's Gabriel. Gabriel. Alex and Gabriel, very cute. Okay, so Alex, do you think that you'd like to come and have a photo? Do you want to have a photo? Say yes. Yeah? Okay, so come on over with him. So you have a very special job. You have to hold on to your sister and give her a big cuddle, so there's a little pillow up there so if you sit down and then lay back and just kind of a little bit further on that side, perfect, and again, yeah. There's a little pillow there, I'm gonna put your sister in your arms. Good boy. See not all children want to lay down, especially when there's lots of people in the room and watching. Okay, you can sit up for a moment while I get a headband if you like. So if I'm sensing that they're not quite comfortable there then I'm gonna let them kinda get a bit more comfy. All right, what do you think of this one? Is that a good one? Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one. Okay, she's gone off into a nice sleep now just being able to sit back and not sort of fuss over her and move her too much has just allowed her to drift off into that sleep. Haha, instant reaction (laughs). That's better, now you look like a little girl, with your brother. So I'm gonna get these hands sitting out nice and flat. When you're in a home-studio environment or you're in the client's home and your attention is 100% undivided for your clients so you can really focus on getting this done a lot quicker. Here, we're going a little bit slower because we're in a teaching environment, but you never wanna rush through this, also in saying that, which creates any form of discomfort for the baby or safety issues. He's all right. Okay, Alex. That's an easy name for me to remember. Can you wriggle up a little higher? Put your head up on that pillow. Good boy. (baby squealing) Okay, and can you turn onto your side just a little bit? And wriggle, no, like, roll onto your side towards the window. That's-a boy. Okay, so I'm gonna place your sister in your arms for a special cuddle, but you have to stay really still. Is that okay? So letting them know that they have to stay still is important because they have to know that they can't wriggle around, especially when they're holding their siblings, their new babies. So this arm I need to come around like this and if you can put your hand here for me, yep. And that's gonna help support his arm while I put some supports down here. So I have some towels underneath and what I can do, you can see it in there. Now I can push them in to support that arm to make sure that he's nice and comfortable. Because they're little people, they're not used to having that sleepy sort of weight on them. And you can see, I'm just kind of putting it there underneath his arm, giving the baby a little bit of height. You nice and comfortable there, Alex? Yep. Yeah? Soft, isn't it? Okay, I'm just gonna give you a little bit of height here at the back. Okay, lift your head up for me. Good boy. And head down. There we go, so I've just given him a little bit more height and by doing that, I'm now gonna be able to shoot down in a way that I don't have to come all the way over the top of them, which can cause me to overbalance as well. We'll bring in his little brother shortly, if he wants to, but we'll get the shot here first. Okay, and same with the towels on this side. Stay still. Mommy's gonna stay here. She doesn't have to go anywhere. Shhhh. Shhhh. Shhhh. (baby fussing) You are such a good brother! Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Can you make that sound, Alex? (baby fussing) Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So she's going back off to sleep then. What I am gonna do in a second is just bring her face up when she settles back down, she's going back to sleep, and then position those hands a little bit. She's kinda brought them into this position so I wanna soften those hands and turn her face up towards the ceiling for this shot, and then we're good to go. (Mom and Alex whispering) So to keep her head down, I'm gonna place another cloth nappy down in here. So just gonna give her little head just a little bit more support her underneath. You can stay right there, Alex, good boy. You're doing good. Thanks. Okay can you bring your hands just down just a little bit, good job. So, getting these hands to sit nice and flat, I'm just moving your sister's hands, sorry. You have the most beautiful eyelashes, Alex, oh my goodness. Say thank you. Okay, good job. (Mom whispering) Okay, and just bring your arm down here a little bit for me. I'm gonna get my safe shot because I gotta go pull that dummy out and then once I've got that, I'm gonna readjust those hands because I'm not liking how one's kinda sitting out a little bit further than the other. Camera's this side. Now look at this. All right, I'm just gonna get my exposure before we get this dummy out. You're being such a good boy. (camera shutter clicks) I'm focusing on Alex's eye. All right, that exposure looks pretty good. I'm gonna bring it down a tad so I don't overexpose any of those white, those highlights. So what I'm gonna get you to do is come in in a second when I'm ready and bring that dummy out for me when you feel that she's like, yeah. (laughter) You'll feel it, you know. Just fix fix your little headband, make sure nothing's in front of her face. Okay, and can you put this hand here for me? And this hand here? Good job. Paying attention to all the little details is so important. Yeah, put that hand right there for me. You can feel her little hand, can you? You can put your knees up if you like, is that more comfortable? All right, let's see if we can get that dummy out without her noticing. And I want you to show me one of your beautiful smiles, can you do that? Yeah, good job. Oh, you gotta cheese for me. I can't see any cheese. Cheeeeeeese. Okay you ready? Looking up at the camera. Good boy! Keep your hands nice and still. That's-a boy, ready, and give it a good yank. Looking up here for me, good boy, and we just smile, we just smile. Alex. (camera clicks) Good job. Okay, so we're gonna do our little adjustment now. Okay, just bring your hands down for me. So what I'm doing here is, here I'll come around this way so you can see. I've just given her a little turn up and now I'm gonna adjust these hands so they're nice and flat, nice and comfortable. And they're not interfering at all with her face. And the chin is up nice and high there. You are doing such a great job, Alex. Okay, by turning her face up a little more, getting that safe shot-- Hey, where you goin'? You're gonna wake up your sister. Okay, cam you keep your hands right there for me? If the arms come up too high, we're gonna put shadows on the face, so just bring your hand down just a little bit more, that's-a boy. I'm cropping this image just below his hands, so keep your hands right there for me. We've been able to turn her little face up towards that light so we're gonna get more light on her face and she's nice and secure. You can stay there. Okay. She'll be tryin' to bring ya. Yeah, I'll just get one more and then we'll bring him in. Okay, I wanna see another one of those beautiful smiles but keep your hands nice and still for me. That's it. Good job. (Mom whispering) Oh, well done. Well done. (camera clicks) So you can see the difference, turning that face up, bringing more light in and getting those hands sitting flat out. So, let's see if (laughs), let's see what we can do. We can bring him in on this side and lay him down in there. We'll see if he's comfortable in doing that, but obviously we're not gonna make him and get him upset. He's having a little cuddle there with his dad so he might be, is he tired now? Is this, yeah. Having older children, I forget when little ones need to sleep and things so it's always important that I ask my parents. So what I'm doing is bringing the towels back here creating some space for the, for the little one to come in. So basically what we want is for him to lay down here. I'm gonna keep my hand here so if his arms go flying or anything, nothing's gonna happen. (giggles) Good boy. What we want to do is, bring his little bottom over this way and roll him kind of sideways just a tad. That's it. Good boy. Pull his shirt down for me? Good job. So we wanna aim to get their heads in nice and close and if he rolls onto his side, like this way, that's it, we can get him up nice and high. Now that he's on his side, I can bring the towels in behind his back to support him. (Alex whispers to Mom) Good boy, good boy. (Dad plays goo-goo-ga-ga with Gabriel) So in this case, I'm gonna try and show him the back of my camera. Look at this, look. Who's that? Who's that? It's Gabe. It is! Would you like to have a photo? Yeah, okay, now he is only 18 months old, so I'm not sure exactly what he is understanding in terms of lay still, let's get a photo. So if he can lay down. What are we singing? Twinkle, Twinkle. Oh, Twinkle. I shouldn't probably sing on camera, it's not good. Okay jump back, good boy. (camera clicks) (teasing Gabriel) Look. Who's this? Who's that? Is that you? Is that you? Would you like to have a cuddle with your sister? Here, roll over, good boy! You can put this arm over here. Good job, good job! Now we've lost a little bit of support there at the back but I'm willing to sacrifice that because I wanna get that shot before he moves. Have a little cuddle? Are you ready? One more photo, one more photo. You ready? Good boy. And bring his little head up a little higher, that's it. Ready? One, two (camera clicks). (teasing Gabriel) Okay, can you give your sister a big kiss? (camera clicks) He's just staring at me going what is she doing? Okay, so now we've got that shot and he's quite interested in what we're doing. I'm gonna come in and fix that little head support. Oh no, we don't touch faces. (Gabriel whines) Good boy, good boy. That's it, done. I have a shot. I don't need to try and get another one.