Maternity Photography Tips

It’s official…over Thanksgiving I found out that I’m going to be an AUNT!!! A huge virtual congratulations to my brother and his wonderful wife! With this news comes pre-planning in my head. As the ‘family photographer’ I’ve been known to capture all occasions. It’s turned into ‘if Meg is home and you don’t have an event for her to cover she’ll come up with a shoot’ type of deal. With the announcement of the pregnancy I realized that I would be stepping into some new territory! It’s pretty exciting but, to be honest, a little nerve racking as well. As mostly a commercial photographer I’ve never taken any maternity photographs before.

Let’s face it, being original is difficult. Today I wanted to bring you some tips and tricks for a unique maternity shoot. It’s something that some photographers fully embrace or can be something that gives the photographer the ‘heebie jeebies’. It’s a very special moment in a woman’s life but at the same time they can feel very vulnerable. They may not feel as beautiful as they are and can have many emotions. We hope these tips will help you feel confident and get you shooting in a way you never thought you could before.

Before we get to the actually written tips, here are a few things you can do before the shoot to help your client feel comfortable.
- If you are shooting inside, make sure the room is set to a good temperature. It’s okay to ask if they run a little warmer than usual (you are trying to make it the best situation for them so they’ll understand)
- Have some snacks available in case it’s a longer shoot. They’ll love the thoughtfulness of you being prepared.
- Have a comfortable seating area for the partner, if they are coming along, to be able to sit close by.
- Make sure you talk to them ahead of time so you know what type of photographs they are looking for. Some women are comfortable doing a very tactful bare photographs (tastefully covering body parts of course) however, most clients are not looking for photographs like that. 

1.) Location:
There are many options when it comes to the location of your shoot. For our shoot we decided to stay in the studio for the fact it was readily available and our client was wanted some ‘lit’ photos. Other locations to consider would be the clients household or specific location that has a special meaning to them.

2.) Starting Point:
Start simple. There is nothing worse than making a client get in an awkward position or do something that takes a ton of setting up or thought for the first shot.  A very simple first setup is ‘high key’ lighting. It’s a very even light that will make your client glow. It’s also not much set up. For this first shot we blew out the background and had a big softbox right on our client in the front with an added white piece of form core board to bounce some light back onto the client.

This is your moment to get comfortable with the client and build trust. Simple questions always ease tension or nervousness. What’s your favorite food? What do you like to do on Saturdays? What is your favorite place to go on a quick weekend vacation? This will build a relationship between you and the client and relax them.

3.) Variety
If you are shooting in the studio like we are you have the option to to do many variations with very minimal set up time. We suggest changing the lighting ever so slightly without making your client move or wait too much. Know what you are going to do ahead of time to make the moving of lights seamless. Moving from high key to a silhouette is great. It gives you a shot in between as well. Move the key light that was on your subject to the side/back more and keep the lights on the background. This will provide a higher contrast shot with shadows but is a very different look from high key. To achieve a silhouette shot, remove all key/front lights from the shot. Keep the background blown out. Make sure that the subject is far enough in front of the lights so there is no spill if you want a completely black/white shot. If you would like a little detail, you could move them towards the lights/backdrop a bit to catch some light on them.

4.) Props:
Some clients may bring props with them to the shoot. They tend to be suggestive as to what is on it’s way. We suggest the following as good props if you would like to suggest any:

Baby Shoes
Sonogram
Building Blocks – To spell out the babies name
Cloth for wrapping around belly or covering areas
Ribbon to tie around belly

5.) Showing the relationship: If the partner if available highlighting the relationship can be very special. It is true indeed the deepest form of love when having a child and it’s important to focus on the relationship that made it all happen. Even if there isn’t a dad who is committed (because we do know that happens) there are many other relationships you can focus on including an siblings or even the mother of your client or friends that they know are pregnant as well. You can get super creative with photographs of the family that he/she is about to enter.

All in all maternity photos can be a really fun experience. Be aware of camera angles. If the client is fuller in the face avoid shooting up from below. Instead, go overhead and have her look up elongating the neck and face. They’ll thank you later! Always remember to tell them they look great and if you take a photo and see that it is particularly good show them! It will build self esteem and break some nerves. The more confident you help her feel the more confidence will show through the lens.

If you have read this far, congratulations :) Although we did have some ‘real tips’ in this blog post most of it was just for fun! As Ben said “This ain’t your grandma’s maternity session”. To view some actual photos you should stay away from please visit Awkward Pregnancy Photos Parts One and Two. If you stay away from any of those ‘poses’ or ‘themes’ you will be successful. 

 Happy Shooting!