Newborn sessions are always a treat for me but I had an especially fun time the other day shooting alongside a friend who was visiting Chicago for a newborn session and kind enough to invite me along (she is an amazing newborn, baby and family portrait photographer based out of Iowa).  In addition to photographing baby’s first moments, capturing the love between a newborn and other members of the family such as older siblings is such a joy for us photographers.  Though personally fulfilling, it is almost never easy lol  I mention this aspect of a newborn session because, being the second shooter yesterday, my varied perspective reminded me of this as I watched Shannon work with baby E’s older sister Josie.

At first she asked little Josie to give her brother a big ole’ kiss right “there!” on his forehead… in typical toddler fashion, Josie politely declined.

Maybe whispering secrets down a telephone chain to Josie will do the trick…

… though it certainly got the biggest, heart-warming smile on her face, she coyly declined again our request to snuggle up with baby E.  Perhaps some stickers will work.

After putting stickers on her belly and Shannon’s forehead (whom I give extra kudos to – a good photographer will always oblige a request that will make a toddler happy.. even if it involves a little self-deprecation lol!), we finally got Josie to lay a big smooch on her baby brother.  Whether it be stickers or treats, bribery is always a great plan B for getting siblings under the age of 5 to cooperate if mom and dad are okay with it.

… and after it’s all said and done, the end result is always worth the extra effort 🙂