Things to Consider for a Professional Pregnancy Portrait
August 2, 2008
Over the past ten years, maternity photography has become very popular. The anticipated birth of each child into the family is being celebrated with a professional photography session to capture the time in the family’s life. When considering getting pregnancy portraits done, there are some key elements to think about, including when to have the maternity session, who should be in it, and what to wear.
The timing of the maternity session is very important. You do not want to do the session too early and not have an impressive belly, but you do not want to wait so late so that the woman is swollen in the feet and ankles and miserable. Given these parameters, 32 to 36 weeks is a good, happy medium that usually works well. Of course if the woman is having multiples, then adjust the time accordingly.
Another consideration is who will be in the photos? Obviously the pregnant woman will be in them, but who else should be in them? One approach is to include the family members that will be the most significant part of the baby’s life - which usually includes both parents and any siblings. A different approach would be to do the project as a study of just the woman and her pregnancy - which is then sometimes given as a gift to her partner as a surprise.
Choosing the location for the maternity session is key. Things to think about are whether the woman would be comfortable showing some skin in public places like a beach, city scape or meadow - or would it be better to have more privacy and do the session at a photography studio or at home?
Deciding the location of the shots will have an impact on the overall style of the photos, and this too should be examined. Is the desired style of the pregnancy portraits light and airy, classical, modern and edgey, a study in black & white, etc? Figuring out the style you want can be aided by looking at other maternity portraits that can be found easily online on photographers websites or other sites related to pregnancy.
After having figured out the location and the styles, figuring out what to wear should be a bit easier now. For maternity sessions, the choice of what to wear includes; wearing clothes with the belly showing, doing semi-nudes with clothing, bathing suits or lingerie, doing semi-nudes with fabrics and sheers, or full nude maternity photography.
Now that you are doing the maternity session and you will have these great pregnancy portraits, where will you put them in the house? If the prints are of the family clothed, they may be able to hang anywhere in the house. For prints that are with less or no clothing, it may be a better choice to hang those prints in a more private location like the master bedroom. Creating a fine art maternity album from the prints is another great choice that can then be a more private collection.
So now that you are doing a professional maternity session, it would be a great idea to follow it up with a professional newborn session. Combining prints from both the maternity and newborn session into a beautiful album or a collage for the babies room is a wonderful way to finish off the celebration of the new life in your family.
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