What It Feels Like to Be Photographed While Pregnant

There is a moment during almost every maternity session when something changes.

In the beginning, most women are a little unsure.

Where do I put my hands?
What do I do with my face?
Does this angle look okay?
Do I really want to show this much?

I understand it completely.

I've been pregnant three times myself, and I've been on the other side of the camera for all three of those pregnancies. I know how vulnerable it can feel to be photographed when your body doesn't quite feel like your own.

So I don't expect you to walk into my Denver studio already feeling confident.

That's something we get to find together.

We start by slowing everything down

If you've chosen to add professional hair and makeup to your maternity session, this is where we begin.

You'll settle into a comfortable chair with something cold to drink and a few snacks while my makeup artist gets started. There's music playing. We're talking. We're getting to know each other.

I want your makeup to feel like you, only beautifully finished for the camera. Nothing heavy or overly glamorous unless that's specifically what you love.

Meanwhile, I'm usually nearby pulling out dresses, fabrics and ideas for the session.

We'll talk about what we're going to start with and how we might move through the different looks we've planned.

There isn't a rush to get in front of the camera.

This part is actually part of the experience.

It's a chance to press pause for a little while and let someone else take care of you.

Then we play dress up

This is one of my favorite parts.

By the time you arrive, we've already talked about your style and the photographs you're drawn to. I may have even purchased something specifically for you if I didn't already have the right piece or size in my studio wardrobe.

Now we get to put it all together.

We might start with something beautifully simple and fully covered. Later, we may move into sheer fabric, an underwear set or something more intimate.

Or we may not.

There is no required maternity-session uniform here.

I want to create photographs that feel distinctly like you, so we'll pull inspiration without copying someone else's checklist of poses and outfits.

Romantic. Feminine. Modern. Simple. Artful.

We get to decide together.

And then I take over

This is the part many women worry about most.

You do not need to know how to pose.

In fact, I expect you not to.

Especially in the beginning of the session, I give a lot of direction.

I'll show you where to stand and what to do with your hands. I'll adjust the position of your body and explain why I'm doing it. I'll watch how the light falls across your face and belly. I'll help you move your hair, change the tilt of your head and make all the tiny adjustments that create a flattering photograph.

After 27 years of photographing women, I understand how differently bodies photograph from different angles.

And after three pregnancies of my own, I understand something else:

how quickly standing in front of a camera can start to feel awkward.

So I don't leave you standing there wondering what you're supposed to do.

We're talking. We're moving. I'm directing you. The music is playing.

And little by little, you stop thinking so much about the camera.

Eventually, you start to move differently

This is the part I love.

We've changed outfits once or twice. You know what I'm asking for before I even finish saying it. Your hands start moving naturally. Your shoulders relax.

And then sometimes you start swaying to the music.

I've had women practically dancing in front of me by the end of their session.

That's when I know we've gotten there.

You walked into the studio wondering whether you would know what to do in front of my camera.

And now you're simply moving.

You feel beautiful because you've stopped trying so hard to look beautiful.

That's the transformation I'm looking for.

The photographs are soft because the experience is soft

My maternity work isn't about glamour or creating a version of you that doesn't feel real.

And while some of the photographs may show quite a bit of skin, I don't approach maternity photography as something overtly sexual.

I see it as feminine.

Soft.

Luminous.

There is something extraordinary about what a woman's body is doing during pregnancy, and I want to honor that without allowing the dress, the pose or even the scenery to become more important than the woman herself.

Sometimes that means an incredibly simple portrait against a bare background.

Sometimes it's a close photograph of the curve of your belly.

Sometimes it's an artful photograph where your face is obscured and the image becomes almost anonymous.

And sometimes it's you looking straight into my camera.

There isn't one photograph I'm trying to make every time.

I'm watching you and creating from there.

You don't have to arrive feeling beautiful

Maybe that's the thing I want women to understand most.

You don't have to wait until you're feeling particularly confident.

You don't have to practice posing.

You don't have to know which side is your good side or exactly what you want to wear.

And you certainly don't have to feel like one of those mythical pregnant women who glows for nine straight months.

Just come as you are.

We'll take care of the rest.

And somewhere between sitting down in the makeup chair, trying on something beautiful, learning how your body moves in front of the camera and eventually swaying to the music, I hope you begin to see a little of what I see.

A woman doing something extraordinary.

And looking pretty damn luminous while she does it.