Calendar Outtakes--Part 1

The older the quints get, the harder it is to get a decent picture of them! Getting TWELVE decent pictures to make the calendar was really a challenge! Just for fun, I thought I would share some of the “inside stories” and outtakes from the calendar photo shoots!

January—41 pictures taken

My mom and I really thought that this would be the easiest picture to take. After all, we were only taking a picture of the babies backs, so we didn’t have to get them to smile or anything---just sit still five seconds so we could take a picture. So we took off all their clothes and diapers and sat them down, facing backwards. We gave each baby a little bowl of Cheerios to entertain them (an idea we thought was brilliant at the time). We soon realized the complete un-brilliance of our plan. No one wanted to sit and eat their snack. Within seconds, babies were standing up and running around the room naked. Cheerios were spread all over and several babies had some stuck to their bottoms. It was chaos! My mom and I kept trying to pick the babies up and put them back in place, but by the time we got the last baby down, the first one was up and running again. I knew we were not going to get this picture unless we had help, so I called Virginia to see if she could come over. I must have sounded frantic on the phone, because she said all she heard was “naked babies, need help!” Virginia was out shopping when I called her, but she was at my house in about 10 minutes. When she got there, we came up with a plan that really was brilliant---we got out the portable DVD player and put on the Wiggles. Thanks to Virginia (and Greg, Murray, Jeff and Anthony), we finally got a good picture!!!

Kyndall, Kassidy, Rustin, Ryder and Kaydence---foiling my "brilliant" plan

Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall, Ryder and Virginia who saved the day! Notice also the princess crown dangling from the top of the backdrop---we were trying everything to get the babies attention and keep them sitting down!

The Final Result: January's Calendar Picture

February—95 pictures taken

Finding the lollipops was one of the biggest challenges for this picture. I checked several stores before I finally found them at a world imports store in the mall. I was worried about everybody becoming a giant sticky mess before we could get a good shot, so at first I didn’t even take the wrapper off the lollipops. The babies were completely uninterested in the lollipops that way, so I peeled off a small corner of the plastic and tried to get them to suck on that part. This worked a little better. One of the hardest things for all the pictures is that the boys, especially Rustin, did not want to sit still. The second you put them down, they would try to escape.

Kassidy, Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder and Kyndall

The escape artists in action

The Final Result: February's Calendar Picture

March—58 pictures taken

My original idea on this one was to have all the babies together in the laundry basket. That didn’t go over too well, so I finally settled for any shot that had all five babies looking in the right direction!

Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder, Kassidy and Kyndall

Kyndall, Kaydence, Rustin, Ryder and Kassidy

No matter what prop we used for pictures, Rustin was always diving out of it.

The Final Result: March's Calendar Picture

April—232 pictures taken

I made the little chick costume by taking two turtleneck onesies, putting one inside the other, and then filling the middle section, in-betwen the two onesies, with batting. Then I took three feather boa’s and tacked them around the outside. The resulting costume was very hot, so the babies were not very excited about it. It was also a bit difficult to get on and off, so halfway through the shoot, I cut off the arms of the turtlenecks to make it a bit easier. After we got done taking the pictures, I posted the best ones on my family's blog. My brother, quickly pointed out that chicks are YELLOW, not white (I guess he really does deserve that PhD he has). I must have been thinking of chickens, not baby chicks, when I made the costume! After all the work we went through to take the pictures, I did NOT want to re-shoot. Instead, I became very good friends with Adobe Photoshop!

Of all the babies, Kaydence hates getting her picture taken the most!

Rustin, diving off his seat

Of all the babies, Kyndall is the easist to take pictures of. She loves the camera and will smile and pose. She also has lots of really great expressions.

Kaiya agreed to be my model while I tested the flash settings

The Final Result: April's Calendar Picture

If you are interested in purchasing a 2009 Wilkinson Quints Calendar, it's not too late! We still have several left! Click HERE to see more pictures from the calendar, or to order your own! Any proceeds will be used to support the consumption of diapers and wet wipes by the Wilkinson Quints!

Calendar Outtakes--Part 1