About Your Maternity Session
Our specialty is maternity photography and has been for more than 15 years. Your session will be special and memorable. You will come away feeling beautiful. It is our promise.
Our goal for your maternity session is for it to be easy, fun, creative and personal. We provide the light, the backdrops, the fabrics, the cameras, the film, the expertise, the makeup artist*, the stylists*, the guidance and the creativity. You provide the belly and family members including dogs. While we schedule our shoots for 3 hours, more often they last about one and a half to two, but we don’t like to limit it if we are making some great images. We do make hospital calls, so if you are on bed rest in the hospital let us come to you.
When to schedule your shoot
We recommend scheduling six to ten weeks before your due date, though one client actually came in on her due date and went into labor that night.
Preparing for your maternity session
You can scroll to view the list of preparations below or download as a PDF.
- Schedule your photo session on a day that you, your partner and your children (if they are going to be in the shoot) will be relaxed and well rested. Try not to schedule too many appointments on that day before or after the shoot.
- At least two hours before our shoot, please try to remove anything with elastic such as a tight shirt, pants, underwear or a bra to prevent strap marks from appearing on your skin.
- Eat a light snack before the shoot.
- Make-up should be light and natural looking. A light foundation, blush etc. to even out skin tones is perfect. Too much eyeliner or eye shadow can look very dark on film. If you want us to recommend a professional do your make-up, please allow us to make a recommendation.
- Hair should be fixed so you are comfortable with it. Some mothers prefer to go to a stylist before the shoot; others prefer to fix their hair on their own. If you want us to have a stylist during your shoot, please let us know.
- Special jewelry is a nice accessory to the photographs, though too much jewelry can be distracting. If you have any questions, just bring them along.
- Create your special photograph. Feel free to bring anything that you want included in the photograph including flowers or special clothing such as scarves, shawls or veils.
- Solid colored clothes can be useful when photographing a large family. Mothers, please bring a dark maternity skirt and dark or solid cardigan sweater and tank top — something to cover the breasts but still expose the belly. If you are being photographed with your partner, please have him/her bring or wear dark pants and a solid dark shirt, long or short sleeved is fine. If this isn’t you, then don’t bring it. But definitely talk to us before you come.
- If the shoot is in your home, we need a larger room with nice available light (no skylights) and only the family and nannies should be present to prevent distractions.
About Your Family Session
Your family is special and our goal is to capture your uniqueness, the different relationships and the fun that you have together. The sessions are sometimes hectic but always successful. And usually, the more hectic the better the photos.
Family, newborn, baby and grandparent photo sessions depend on your goals for the shoot. We like to include the entire family, then each parent with the children or child, and then shoot the children together and then individually. This can take 2 hours or we can accomplish amazing photos in 45 minutes.
When to schedule your shoot
- Newborns: we recommend scheduling within two weeks of their birth
- Babies: we recommend 4-6 months or just before or around when they start to crawl
- Toddlers: anytime is great, we love two year olds
- Grandparents: please bring them to any of your sessions. We love them!
How to prepare for your family session
- Schedule your photo session on a day that you or your children will be relaxed and well rested. Find a time that will work well with naps. Babies and toddlers are often at their best right after a nap and snack.
- Have everyone eat a light snack before the shoot. There is time during the shoot for breast feeding if it is needed.
- Clothing for parents should be representative of what you would wear casually. We prefer darker solid colors for the parents so that the faces really come through. For the children, clothes should be solid colors (feel free to bring both dark and light shades if you have them) but without writing or branding, unless that is the purpose of the shoot. Dresses are great for girls. And please have a light colored shirt for each member of your family except the baby. If in doubt, just bring it and we can decide while we are shooting.
- Special itemsYou are special and unique and we want these photos to represent you and your family. If there is something that you want to include in the shoot, please bring it along. Ideas are favorite baseball hats, stuffed animals, clothing items etc.
- Make-up and jewelry are fine, though lots of jewelry can be distracting. But if in doubt just bring it and we can decide when we are shooting. We have make-up artists and hair stylists that can be booked onsite in each city, please inquire.
- On the day of your shoot, mothers should consider not wearing a bra two hours beforehand to prevent marks from the bra straps if photographs are to be taken with the bare shoulders showing with the baby.
- Bring the babies and children’s favorite toys to help entertain them.
- Bring your child’s favorite treat. We may need an incentive (we like to call this an incentive instead of a bribe) and sometimes treats can work.
- If the shoot is in your home, we need a larger room with nice available light (no skylights) and only the family and nanny’s should be present to prevent distractions.