Congratulations on being promoted to aunty, Caitlin! What an exciting time. As a matter of fact, I am going to be a first-time aunt any day now too! 🙂 I didn’t actually have an opportunity to do a true maternity photo shoot with my sister and her husband, but it’s a topic that’s been on my mind in general over the past few months (for obvious reasons Lol).
Like @kina said, the concept is pretty similar to pictures of a couple (engagement, wedding, married), except you’ve got this third little “someone” to include. 🙂 The few random times I took pictures with my sister and her husband, I did find it more difficult than I thought it would be to position them and position their hands so it was obvious she was expecting. Naturally, this varies between various mamas and babies, and how far along she is in the pregnancy.
I don’t have examples to give you of maternity shoots from my own portfolio, but when I need to be refreshed in general composition concepts for portraiture, that’s when I re-read 30 Tips for Perfect Family Photos and other Pro Posing resources.
Here’s where I start my thought process: what am I trying to say in my photos? I’d take some time to think pretty purposefully through why I might pose someone how I pose them. This can also help me think of poses when I’m lacking inspiration elsewhere (i.e. google searches just aren’t cutting it!).
Like, for example, in a maternity shoot, I would try (as much as possible) to position hands so the wedding rings are visible. Why? – I’m seeking to portray is that this baby that’s growing is one of God’s precious gifts to this God-ordained marriage. Or, I’m not just going to have the couple place their hands a certain way just to show off “a bump”, but rather I’m trying to portray the love and blessing that they are sharing (and will share!) with this baby by the way I have them position their hands. So forth and so on. Think about the “why”, and it can help you plan the “what” without just copying what someone else did in their photo shoot.
Of course, you can’t necessarily think that carefully through every single shot and every single pose (that would be nearly impossible), but when possible it’s good to do!
Something that struck me when I watched Ian Plant’s video on composition (thanks for reminding me about that video a couple weeks ago!) was when he said “a snapshot shows the world what the camera sees, but a successful composition shows the world what you see.” That caused me to ponder, if our eyes see things in a wholesome, godly, righteous, Christ-honoring, Christ-exalting manner, and we utilize good composition to tell a “clear story”, we can be sharing that biblical worldview with whoever views our photo! Wow, what a powerful opportunity that affords us as Christian photographers!
In this day and age when marriage and children – God’s way – are not viewed in high esteem, a wholesome maternity shoot done well can be an awesome opportunity to shine righteousness into the culture around us.
Oh my, I’m afraid that was rather long-winded! Hopefully some of it is helpful.
On a more practical note (!), here are a few posing ideas specific to a maternity shoot from photos that my brother-in-law’s sister took! She is a professional photographer, and this was an impromptu photo shoot she did with Joel and Kathryn at a class she was giving.
I’m sure you will come out with some amazing photos! 🙂
