When Audrey and Antonino turned one year old, we had our first family photo shoot. Since they're about to turn 2, I figured it was time
to have another shoot to document how much they've grown since then. Plus maybe
have a few family photos where everyone is composed, smiling and looking at the
camera. I know, I may be asking too much from my twin toddlers but it was still worth trying.
Around the first week of September, I found out that Spark Studio was having a garden themed photo marathon for the whole month. I
reserved our slot and planned our outfits: white top with jeans, and a white
dress for Audrey. On the day of the shoot we showed up at the studio 10 minutes
before our schedule. This gave us enough time to change into our white outfits
and preserve its cleanliness for the pictorial.
Audrey and Antonino's eyes lit up the moment the saw the
backdrop because they love gardens. Patrick, our photographer, suggested to do
solo shots of the kids. Antonino went first:
He quickly decided he wanted his hat! If this were a video, you would hear him saying HAAAAAT!
That's more like it! Look at the smug look on his face in the first photo.
Then he got down from the chair and posed behind the prop tree. Such a ham! So far, so good.
Next, Patrick wanted to shoot the twins together. This was
where it got a bit tricky.
After a couple of shots, Audrey decided to run from the set. Antonino almost followed
her but thanks to Joey, we were able to keep him on set.
Then Audrey became a stage sister. She preferred to be
behind the scenes while Antonino posed for more solo photos. Want proof? Here's a photo I took
with my phone.
We had a lot of different poses planned and needed to get
shots of the twins together right away so Patrick suggested using bubbles. Once the bubbles
came, they stayed put!
Here's another BTS from my phone with Joey blowing bubbles.
#stagedad
Then it was Audrey's turn for solo shots. She just wanted to
run around and explore the "garden."
At one point, she even knocked down the prop tree. Yikes! Good thing it was easy to fix! This is another shot from my phone.
After several tries...
We finally got a her to hold a pose.
Then it was time to take our mother-daughter photos. Audrey
made funny faces.
She didn't want to sit or be held. She just wanted to jump!
Antonino started to become a bit uncooperative during his father-son photo with Joey.
Then it was LaMom's turn with the twins. Of course her LaMom
magic got them both to laugh and look at the same direction right away. Are your kids also better behaved
when they're with their grandparents?
See? Back to their normal selves again when they were with
me.
Then Joey took my place but as I walked away from the set,
Audrey followed me. Joey made a game out of it. The
result was this fun peekaboo shot.
Then it was time for a shot with all five of us. Yay, everybody looks decent and is looking at the camera!
The last pose was Joey and me with the twins. I was really
worried Antonino's hat was getting in the way or was casting a shadow over his
face. I wanted to take it off but Patrick told us it was OK. He probably didn't
want to risk a toddler tantrum. Good call.
Whew. All done in 20 minutes! I really gotta give it to
Patrick. The twins were a handful and just kept on running around during the shoot.
And whenever they would stop moving, it was difficult to get them both to look
at the camera / same direction at the same time (except when they were with
LaMom). But when I saw all the photos, I realized that perfect smiles and eye
contact aren't the only things worth capturing. There are other precious
moments too like Antonino's peekaboo game, Audrey's silly jump shot, and their
joy while watching bubbles. Those photos were really able to capture what my twin toddlers
are: curious, playful and cheerful bundles of endless energy. I'm glad we were
able to preserve their happiness and liveliness in these photos.
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