Posing
Position the older child, then let the younger one move around them. Trying to arrange both simultaneously is where sibling sessions collapse.
In short: Position the older child, then let the younger one move around them. Trying to arrange both simultaneously is where sibling sessions collapse.
Stable, safe and it gives the younger child somewhere to be.
Elbows down, faces up. Comfortable for a long time.
Movement solves everything.
Clean and it needs no interaction.
For a big age gap; the older child is the chair.
Removes the pressure and produces real expressions.
Start with older seated, younger leaning in — the first two minutes are warm-up and the first pose should be the one that asks least of anyone. Move to both on the floor, on their fronts and holding hands, walking away once the shoulders have dropped, and keep looking at each other, not the camera for the end, when self-consciousness has gone. Shoot each one in bursts through the movement rather than holding it: the usable frames sit between the instructions, not on them.
Two metres back with the lens zoomed rather than close and wide — distance is what keeps facial proportions natural. Camera at or slightly above eye level for portraits, at chest height for full length. Below eye level enlarges whatever is nearest the lens, which is rarely what you want in frame.
Asking for a kiss or a hug on command — it produces the grimace and often a protest. And any arrangement where a small child has to stand still unaided for more than a few seconds.
Shooting after a nap has been missed. Promising a treat at the end, which turns the whole session into a negotiation. And planning an hour — twenty focused minutes produces more than an hour of persuasion.