Posts Tagged ‘pregnant’
Maternity portrait sessions with Courtney and Jen
My first maternity session was about five years ago with my wife’s friend. I shot it as a favor and as a test to see if I enjoyed the work and liked the results. I enjoyed the shoot and everyone was happy with the results. I’ve been offering maternity sessions ever since.
Maternity sessions are an interesting niche. Some people love ‘em, some don’t. A few years ago I wondered why the disparity in opinions. I talked to a handful of women and previous clients and asked their opinion. A couple former maternity clients fessed up to not loving the shots at the time of the shoot. They thought that they looked fat in the photos. We all know that isn’t the case but when faced with 50-100 images of our bodies most of us will focus on what we don’t like. The clients that were honest about their feelings of not loving them at the time also raved at how happy they were to have done it, how much they loved the photos once their child was born and how grateful they were to have documented such a momentous time in their life. That’s what we as professional photographers do; we make sure that those special moments and events in your life are documented in a way that is unique and special.
I really enjoy maternity sessions. The session is a collaboration that my clients are very much involved in. We look at examples of maternity photos and talk about the goals for the shoot. Are the photos for posterity, to hang on the wall, are we trying to create art? For most women, other than their wedding day, a photo session devoted entirely to them is new and exciting. For me it’s the same feeling and planning I devote to a fashion shoot. For come clients it’s as simple as a couple’s portrait shoot out on location. For other clients I set up a mini-studio at their home or have them in to my studio.
Over the past couple weeks I had the honor of shooting maternity portrait sessions with Jen and Courtney. I’ve known both for a couple years and worked with both Jen and Courtney before they got pregnant. My session with Jen was about trying to get something creative and beautiful as well as shooting relaxed, timeless portraits. Jen and Courtney were photographed in my studio.
based on the advertisements for Heidi Klum's maternity line for Pea in the Pod
My session with Courtney was different in that there was not any pre-planned ideas or goals. Courtney makes her living as a model and we both knew that we would come away with something fun.
As I mentioned for some clients it’s just about having a fun family or couple’s session to mark the occasion. To see more examples check out the maternity portfolio on my Wedding and Family Website.
Maternity Photography Session with Meriah
Of all the work I do, Maternity photography is the smallest niche. Some women love being pregnant. They love the new experience and the incredible vitality that comes with the territory. In my experience photographing expectant mothers, as well as watching my wife deal with her pregnancy, I’ve found that not all women love how they look and feel during pregnancy. That’s not exactly the best mindset for an intimate portrait session.
So why do it? To me this is like wedding photography, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. (OK, so maybe in maternity photography there’s likely to be a couple opportunities in a lifetime.) But you get my drift. I’m there to document a milestone and a very special time in a family’s life. I’m there to help create art as well as portraits for the family to look back on for years to come.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph Meriah. She’s due with her first born in late June. When we talked about the shoot our goal was to get creative and have some fun in addition to getting some portraits.
Meriah Maternity Portrait
A Rocky Start – introducing Kainoa
Back in July I met and photographed Malia and Lopaka. We came away with some great maternity shots including this one. At the time we had penciled in another photo shoot for the baby shortly after he was born. But….there were some complications. He got stuck. I forget the terms Malia used but he was halfway out and got stuck, some crazy nurse ninja moves were performed and he made it into the world safely. He was born August 10th and weighed 8.5 lbs. The nurses took him to the NICU to check him out and found that he had a congenital heart defect which would require surgery. While in the hospital waiting for the surgery he got an infection which affected his organs and pushed the surgery.
Malia and Lopaka
That was four months ago. He finally left the hospital a three month old boy and this past weekend we finally met. He’s strong, happy and doing well.
