Back in 2011, Kelly and her husband visited my studio with their first baby, Alice, for newborn portraits. Alice was just 8 days old when I photographed her, posed inside her daddy’s firefighter boots and helmet. We decided to place a sweet little flower headband on her head so as to symbolize that she’s daddy’s little girl and I posed and photographed her in the lovely images you see below.
The Complete Maternity Photography Experience
Kelly is a beautiful expectant mother, and I think the images we captured of her during her session are gorgeous representations of how she was feeling just weeks before her baby was born – full of love and excitement! Maternity portraits are best captured between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, when a woman’s belly is full and round, but they’re not so near their due dates that there’s a risk that the baby will arrive early.
At Chandra Lee Photography, maternity portraits are never rushed, lasting approximately 90 minutes and including wardrobe, backdrop and lighting changes, as well as images taken with partners and younger children. I do my best to provide women with as much variety in their maternity portraits as they wish and time allows.
Before we get started, I always go over wardrobe options, having the women first try on the outfits they brought with them and then allowing them to browse the clothing options in the studio’s wardrobe, which includes more than 25 custom wraps and gowns. Every woman’s body is different, even in pregnancy, and so not every maternity gown will compliment every figure. There is, however, a wide selection and there’s always something that will look beautiful on any woman, no matter her colouring, shape or size.
- Maternity gowns are available in a variety of sizes
- Gowns are available in cream, white, taupe, chocolate brown, pink, lavender, sapphire blue, teal green and grey
- I recently added a beautiful tutu dress to the collection, which has already been worn by some of my clients this season and looks amazing in portraits
Lighting for Maternity Portraits
All of the studio maternity portraits are taken using a professional, full frame Nikon camera and professional grade, prime portrait lenses. I use studio strobes for creative lighting portraits, including the ever-popular silhouettes. Sometimes women can feel a bit self-conscious about their bodies when they’re pregnant, but the silhouette images capture their round bellies with beautiful subtlety.
Another popular image I offer, which also uses creative lighting, is one where the woman’s belly and a portion of her face are highlighted; these are very dramatic, captivating images that add wonderful contrast to a collection of maternity portraits.
Each session includes the use of two backgrounds, typically a black one and a white one. I do, however, use professional lighting techniques that I’ve perfected over the last 4 years to make white backgrounds look grey or even black for a variety of different set-ups. Taking photos with studio lighting is very different from natural lighting, but knowing how to control the light and use different set-ups allows you to create a varied and interesting collection of maternity portraits.
Every maternity session includes digital images that are fully edited and retouched, provided on a USB with a permission to print letter.
It was so nice to see Kelly and to catch up with her on her family’s latest. Thank you for choosing me as your maternity photographer!
For information on maternity photography sessions or to book your session, please call 905.449.2200 or email me at info@chandraleephotography.com.
