11 Tips For Photographing Siblings

Do your children sit quietly next to each other, smiling and hugging? Probably not, so why would they want to do that in an unnatural setting with a photo? You love your children for who they are and how they act (most of the time!), so that's how you want to capture them — curiously looking over the other's shoulder, playing tag, teasing each other, etc.

Let young tots into the great outdoors, and you may be running around in circles trying to bring them back together again. So when photographing outside, try to pick a spot that has something they'll both gravitate to — stairs, a slide, a bench, a jungle gym, etc. — and encourage them both to hang out there. They might not be willing to spend an hour there, but they'll likely stay there together just long enough to get a few key shots — just be sure your camera's ready!

The best moments tend to be those that are not scripted, so it's best to just keep clicking away throughout your "session." Even if you can get your kids to pose together, the most precious moments can occur when the tots think you're not paying attention anymore — that's when you secretly get the "money shot"!

Natural, photojournalistic-style photography has gained in popularity over the years, but grandmas still request the head-on, posed shot with the kids smiling for the camera. So go ahead and take a few — just realize that until the kids are beyond their toddler years, it won't be easy to achieve.

One of the joys of being an older sibling is teaching your younger sibling a thing or two (and not always the things mama wants you to share). Simultaneously, lil ones tend to hang on their older bother's every word. This connection — which some consider to be the definition of siblings — makes for a great photographic moment. They won't be looking at the camera and they won't be focused on the photographer, but rather they'll be focused on each other. And that's something mom will want to look back on in the future.

Part of being siblings is teasing each other and having fun at the other child's expense. Just because someone's making a silly face or puts rabbit ears behind the other's head, doesn't mean it's time to put the camera down. Rather, it's time to start snapping away because those instances truly capture what it means to be siblings.

Kids are often more comfortable with an object they can focus on — a toy, a chair, or even the ground — something that makes them feel less self-conscious about the camera focusing on them. If you don't have such an object around, don't fret — the ground can easily serve as that barrier between child and camera. Just tell them to get low (and you do the same) and see how quickly they warm up to your photo session idea.

Simply telling tots to smile just isn't going to work in most cases, so playing a few games with them can help. Tell them to get moving — to spin, roll, etc. When the giggles ensue, ask them to hug or kiss. If an older child is willing to cooperate but a younger one isn't — enlist the older one as your assistant and ask her to whisper something funny to her sister. Sometimes having another child act as the intermediary is all it takes to get the lil one to warm up to the camera.