Photo ideas Archives | How Do You Do It?

Quintessential Twin Pictures

July 25, 2015July 26, 2015MandyE
Friendships with Other Multiples, humor, Infants, ToddlersPhoto ideas, photos, pictures2 Comments

When my girls were born 6 1/2 years ago, I wasn’t on Facebook. I hadn’t started blogging. And — to my knowledge — Pinterest didn’t yet exist. I barely had any mommy friends, let alone friends with twins. (That’s funny to think now, since almost all my mommy friends have multiples!)

I say that to say, I didn’t have a ton of inspiration for pictures. I took a blue million. Now, though, I look around at all the adorableness on social media, and I wish I could rewind the clock, if for no other reason than to take some adorable smooshy baby pictures.

One picture I’m thankful I captured is what I think of as a truly quintessential “twin” picture. I’m not sure where I got the idea back in the day (how old am I???), but it’s one that just makes me smile.

Two kiddos, back to back in a bucket swing at the park. How I love those matching hats, baby-soft skin, chunky little legs, and uber-clean tennis shoes…all TIMES TWO.

If you have infant or toddler twins and haven’t taken such a picture: GET THEE TO A PLAYGROUND. FIND THYSELF A BUCKET SWING. Aaaaand GO!!!

These days I’m almost always at the ready with my trusty camera. And a couple of weeks ago, I realized I had an opportunity to sorta-kinda recreate this quintessential twin shot.

No, I didn’t cram my kiddos into a bucket seat at the park. (They’re slight, but I think that would be pushing it.) My dad has a disc swing [there’s probably a real name for this?] at his house. The girls were delighted to play on it last month when we went down for a visit. They were taking turns well enough, but then I suggested they try to swing together. (Oh, and please do so while I find the perfect camera angle… HA!)

Voilà!

I still love that baby-soft skin, now with matching ponytails and scruffed up tennis shoes.

I can’t foresee what my next recreation might be, but know I’ll be on the lookout, ever ready to capture the moment.

What’s your favorite twin/triplet/more pose? Share it on our Facebook page. We’d love to see!!!

MandyE is mom to 6 1/2-year old fraternal twin girls. She blogs about their adventures, and her journey through motherhood, at Twin Trials and Triumphs.

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Twinfant Tuesday: Are You in Those Baby Photos?

March 3, 2015March 3, 2015Sadia
Mommy Issues, Perspective, Twinfant TuesdayPhoto ideas, photos3 Comments

My 8-year-olds love to hear stories about themselves as babies and revel in browsing through baby photos of themselves… even if they can’t tell who’s who. When I look through these photos, it takes me back to those days of round-the-clock nursing, sweet soft baby nuzzles, diapers, spit-up, and getting to know my daughters for the very first time.

It feels like I blinked, and those tiny little people grew up.

I can’t help but notice, though, how few of those hundreds of first year photos I’m in. Even though their dad deployed when they were 5 months old, he’s in far more photos than I. I was behind the camera.

I regret it. I regret not having more photos of myself with my girls. No matter how un-photogenic I might have felt at the time, my daughters and I deserve to have our relationship, as well as theirs, captured in images. Those photos that I do have of the three of us together are so precious, regardless of how visually unappealing photographic proof of the challenges of new parenthood felt at the time.

Exhausted though the new mother of twins may feel, these photos are so precious a few years further into the motherhood adventure. First laughs, early baths, rolling over, sharing toys—I have photos or videos of it all. I’m in none of them, except as a disembodied voice. The formal family portraits are well and good, but I wish I’d taken more photos of us in our day-to-day lives, at that time where every day brought something new.

This Twinfant Tuesday, I invite all you new MoMs to get in front of the camera. Don’t worry about the dark circles under your eyes, or the baby weight you haven’t shaken yet, or how unevenly your bra is filled in that moment before switching sides. Just get in the picture. You’ll regret it if you don’t, and I promise you that 10 years from now, you’ll see how great new motherhood really looked on you.

Need encouragement? Check out the Mommy and Me Monday posts at Really, Are You Serious? Let Krystyn and her adorable daughters inspire you to get into those photos that you’ll be looking back on in a few short years.

Hosted by Krystyn

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The chair photos, twin style

October 7, 2008LauraC
Ask the Moms, Infants, ToddlersPhoto ideas4 Comments

Every month for the first 18 months of my twin boys’ lives, we took their picture in a chair together. I’ve seen this done many places but I had no idea how much work went into those pictures! In our house they were truly a labor of love. We always had one designated photographer and at least one baby wrangler. The baby wrangler’s job was to entertain the boys and prevent them from doing headers off the chair while also staying out of the photographer’s way.

I almost drove my husband Jon crazy with my insistence on continuing the series, but oh my, all that work was worth it. Some of my favorite photos are from that series, as well as some of my favorite memories.

I still carry a copy of this two month picture in my wallet.

This six month picture almost became our Christmas card photo with the words “Peace on Earth.”

This eight month picture proved the conspiring begins early.

The ten month series was my favorite of the bunch, and includes a picture that still makes me laugh out loud and a picture that is one of my all-time favorites.

This eleven month photo shoot was the worst – they both cried and cried because they were so sick.

And this 18 month photo showed me how far we had come – instead of tiny babies we had two little BOYS.

We decided to stop at 18 months when they would no longer stay in the chair together. I took all those shots and turned them into a photo book as a gift to the grandparents. Even the worst outtakes made it into the book. You can view our entire series here.

If you decide to embark on the series, two things helped us greatly. First, we kept on snapping pictures no matter what happened. We have pictures of babies falling over, babies pooping, boys crying, and lots of smiles. The series truly reflects life with twins – not always perfect, and often crazy. Second, we stayed flexible. If the boys were not cooperative, we’d try again at a later point. The five month series took four attempts before we got pictures we liked. Even with all the work involved, this remains one of my favorite activities from the first year with twins.

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