A good friend of mine was pregnant this winter and as her belly grew, I decided to photograph this moment for her. She had already had a boy, and it wasn’t documented so I wanted her to remember this pregnancy. She was having a girl. Regardless of your child’s sex, any pregnancy is important and these life moments should always be remembered. Even if its the most basic snapshot, a photo is something to be treasured when your mind doesn’t recall certain moments.

I’m a portrait photographer and I don’t necessarily offer this type of photography. I also don’t favor what is considered “traditional maternity” photos.  Initially, I looked through some examples of maternity photos and I decided I wanted to create something different. I wanted something soft, feminine and also that evoked a feeling when she would look back at these photos. If anything I wanted her to remember the kicks, the extra warmth she felt, and the feeling she felt as she had two heartbeats beating as one. Childbirth is one of the most miraculous things I have ever been able to witness. I wanted to create photos that would show how beautiful a pregnant woman is.  I’m not a mother but I think I can respect the process of being pregnant and respect the amount of love that is needed to follow through on those 9 months.

With that said, we woke early and did a sunrise session. I had explained to Joanna that the colors would be gorgeous at this time of the day, and we could play with the colors as showcasing what sex of the child would be. Lucky for us the sky was a pretty cotton pink and definitely related back to her having a girl.

The morning was brisk and windy and we definitely did everything possible to keep warm. We brought a bundle of blankets for her to nestle in and she dressed in layers for us to create different looks.  I was so worried that she would go into labor, but luckily she was warm.  Although it was very cold that morning Joanna was very comfortable as  I moved her into posing.

Maternity Fine Art

Maternity fine art sunrise

This session allowed me to try new posing and focus on showcasing a subject that wasn’t necessarily present. I learned that with maternity there are few posing that you can do because the emphasis is the belly and the connection of the mom with her child. Without there being a physical being to hold and to have expressions to bounce off, I decided to showcase her body’s natural movement and shape.  Also picking a background to help create an artistic image for her to hold on to. (A soft canvas of nature with her as the main focus.) I hope that these images showcased her pregnancy in the purest and beautiful way.