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Maternity Photography 101

we're going to do the art of pregnancy I have been photographing pregnancy for a pretty solid as she said fourteen years I fell in love with the pregnancy stage way before I was pregnant I was just in love with it uh again not having a visual memory of my biological mother carrying me when I saw my sister in law pregnant and I was in college it was my first time being up in close with a pregnant woman do you think about it my my first niece is in college now so goes back a ways and she's nineteen eighteen or nineteen now so that was my first time seeing a woman pregnant then have the baby you see the relationship then you see the relationship between the generations my grandfather and I had no idea at this time that I was going to be a professional photographer none if you would have told me when I was twenty one twenty tio you're gonna be a professional photographer specialising pregnancy but I would have not believed it um but I loved to take photos and I was so captivated by that an...

d I still am I really I really still m people always say why maternity I share this story I believe on photo week where a few months ago I had received a call from a woman saying I have a question I'm pregnant I have a question and I don't know if I'm gonna book with your studio I'm gonna be very honest but my question is I want to know why someone would take pregnancy photos she's like I'm asked all of my friends I've asked other photographers I've been calling around and I just don't get it I just don't know why you would do it I was like oh my gosh I've got this question I've got the answer and I said my answer is it's not necessarily for you it's for the next generation that you're raising and she was like wow no one has ever sent that before and I said yeah I get it you're carry in some extra way you've got a baby moving and kicking you're not feeling so glamorous and amazing and the thought of getting dressed on something other than elastic pants and going in front of life doesn't seem so appealing but if you go a step further and say gosh just gonna take one hour of my life maybe a little longer take a shower get dressed that don't even have to take a shower and take some photos that is forever forever you're a legacy that you can leave behind I mean it's it's so simple no one's gonna knock on your door and say hey I want to preserve your legacy do you have an hour no one's going to do that and I have nothing to dio I would be that person I'd be knocking on everyone's door going to have in our cause I want to capture your photos the capturing pregnancy images allows you to work with your client to contribute the legacy of their life and I find that women we're the caregivers were the nurturers not saying that men aren't but it is different because we are carrying the baby inside of us and whether you choose to give that baby away as surrogate or you're having that baby it's still something that only a woman can dio and so the men obviously play a process innit but it is the fastest growing developmental time in a woman's life in the shortest duration right if you think about what your body does and if you've never been pregnant I mean I know before I was pregnant I never I really thought about what happens from you know conception to birth how amazing of a miracle is not only that I think women are really beautiful and I think that they have a glow and the reason they have a glow is because they have another life inside of them and if you think about it there's another life in there that's a huge and fourteen years in my business and twenty years after seeing my first pregnant women I still think it's huge and so I tell people all the time it's for the next generation you guys we have a responsibility on this earth believe it or not it's not to just get up every day take our kids to school drop him up take a pretty picture you know we're on this life for a purpose don't you think every single person on this life has a purpose and whether that purpose is taking photos were raising your children or whatever saving lives you still you strip all that away want to leave your mark in this world right when we leave we want to say who who was anna what did she look like I want my daughters to be proud of who I am fifty pounds or not I gained weight I was huge when I got pregnant in there you're looking at me going there is no way I gained forty five pounds and to me that's a lot and then having a c section and trying to lose the way and then you got that ten pounds going in the next baby and so but I knew and I knew that I had to take photos because I have to have to pass this on so I cannot say a million times over it is for the next generation is to celebrate the miracle of life it's an amazing example for the sons and the daughters also from a photography standpoint I feel that you know we've talked about trust with your clients write that I feel that if you bring your client at the pregnancy stage you do develop a relationship it is special it's like going to your o b g y n I'm not just going to go find another one to deliver my baby not going to spend nine months with the doctor checking my baby out and then when I deliver me like I'm going to go to the doctor down the corner because she's got a better deal no I'm gonna be like you're my doctor I think that the pregnancy and you weren't photographers should be the same way you're nurturing that client you're helping them through this special time you want to be there for the birth now things happen sometimes clients move people call me a boy pregnancy photos in another state I'm coming to you for the new morn or unfortunately what I hear many times that I didn't have pregnancy photos done and every time I have a client comes in with the second or third child they look at my work and they're like I didn't do it I'm like it's okay it's okay don't beat yourself up you know but even if you never lets say you you're watching this and your kids air twenty and they're like we never did pregnancy fit isn't I don't want this whole day to just be about obviously it's about pregnancy but my whole mission in life my whole thing might want my taglines is to capture a life well loved when I speak to moms groups it's preserving your legacy I've said a million times it's got to be deeper right we gotta dig deeper and so everything we're doing we give it one hundred ten percent when it's pregnancy were in there because we need our energy to make that mom feel good you've got to step it up yesterday that was easy pregnancy to me is way more challenging than a newborn you gotta put your game face on you can't walk in there all sluggish like feeling it today because I do that all the time I did that a half an hour ago it's not feeling it and you're just not feeling it and then mom comes in and she's not feeling it and you've got two people like lumps analog and really got to get this show on the road and so I spent a quick minute with my assistant tiffany mike I need I need something give me something it's like a clothing get me inspired because I wasn't feeling it this morning and you have to say that when pregnancy people come in pregnancy people pregnant woman pregnant women comes in you've got it you've got to say I've got it we've got to get in this we've gotta prep this client so you know we do send our clients giant prep guide eso we talk about clothing in the guide and go over accessories we do provide clothing for the client I'll kind of tell you how this all happened one of the very first books that I purchased was by marianne helping and his pregnancy goddess hood google pregnancy goddess hood marianne helping h a l p I n she wrote one of the very first books showing how glamorous and beautiful pregnant women are and I remember having that book and they were in drapes gorgeous the cover of this book is to this day I love if you have a chance by it's just it's just an inspirational book and I remember looking at that book carrying that book everywhere I went and I'm buying sheets and buying wraps and buying whatever I can to make a woman look like a goddess I failed miserably at it about five hundred times but I just kept trying to get my groove in china and as I went along as I'm insured now is the twenties when he started I'm forty three now so you know you do mature your tastes change you you go from being a girl to a woman you still don't feel like a woman I still feel like a girl but I try to pretend I feel like a woman and so I'm always looking at the woman's body what's going to feel good on her body and from the waist down women usually don't feel great they're obviously we have a million different body types and if you're fortunate enough to be petite in tiny like my assistant tiffany is on dh in from the waist down you know you're a little bit more slender I find that people she'll she'll say if she's watching this this thing I don't feel comfortable from the waist down and look how tiny she is right so you can't just go on how a woman looks because I've seen some really tiny people that like hate their legs and then I've seen bigger woman better like let's show it let's bring it and I'm like wow so I don't think that the dressing a woman or assuming the confidence that a woman has you've got to be careful of your assumption because I'm very guarded about my body and I'm more more modest believe it or not I get a lot of women naked but I actually am very modest and so when I'm shopping and buying things I'm trying to think of all women in mind so originally so I was very inspired by marianne and was able to meet her at a recent trade show all these years later and it was really fun but I ended up looks so I'm buying things buying things buying things so for years I'm rapping women I'm using cheesecloth I'm using bedsheets and I was kind of getting bothered you know how yesterday when I said the baby being mags we created that bag because I wanted my professional bag right I wanted to be more professional when I started professionally I was twenty nine and I looked like I was twenty four and people would always be like oh is are you the assistant is ana coming I can't tell you mean times I heard that I'm like this is it and women were coming in my clientele has always been a little bit older some women were coming in mid thirty's late thirties pregnant and I look young are you out of college is your husband paying for your business you name it I've heard it so I was like I've got to put on my big girl pants because I was like wearing overalls and a pony tail and I don't really even look like a photographer and this woman's coming in pregnant in all her glory going really you're photographing me today so I was like man I got to step it up I got to show him my vision I've got to show them I'm amazing I'm going to make them amazing I need clothing to do it fast seven years of us craziness seven years ago I started designing clothing because I just was like I need something and I had a friend who is a children's clothing designer and she had pattern makers and we started I said I was like I need diaper covers and I can't sketch I can't draw I've got for kids who draw and my whole thing is if you can understand what's in my brain we can create a gown fifty gallons later in a whole collection that we sell around the world one of the things that I tell my clients is you can come with nothing but your panties in a bag and I will take care of you and what does that do if your mother in your pregnant you just said it you thank the lord because all I could do to find clean panties to put it back okay so however you have to be careful of that because you still want to go with your clients uh style correct so in this guide and I asked and begged and pleaded to include this if he purchased the course so if you purchase the course you're going to see you could be getting an editable psd a photo shop file for the pregnancy guide and the the baby love guide I want to clarify something really quick there's a couple things going on there's a facebook contest to submit your images for the prizes like the sheet baby being back then on the tai pan facebook page were promising a pdf version of the bailey baby love guy that we talked about yesterday that has the nursing list so that doesn't require purchase of the course that everybody can understand the proper foods to eat so then I said last night I think we ours I know photographers they're gonna want the photo shop file of the baby love guide and the pregnancy guide you khun popping your images and the send this to your client to be prepared I love printed material you guys we're gonna talk a lot about this tomorrow I'm not let me e mail you a pdf girl I can't tell you how many clients like him on my phone scrolling what underwear in my civil color on norms and they're on their phone and they're you know how much fun this is and they can see what to wear what happens after the session clothing suggestions oh I could bring boy short lingerie so there's ideas because I do want to just leave the door open I want to with the door open and say you can bring nothing which panties in the bag and I will take care of you and if you put your panties in a bag keep the disneyland underwear at home and preferably go neuter lighter colors or go through your closet and let's think of some fun thing scarves anything button down sweater jeans that go underneath your belly check out your husband's closet or your partner's closet jewelry wall reflects who you are and so what happens is you leave the door open right you're only limited by your imagination let your clients know that they're only limited by their imagination with pregnancy clients tell me I have no imagination that's why I'm paying you good they just put your panties in a bag I'll see you in ten so the point is that sometimes I've had women come in saris I've had women come in jewelry that I would have never imagined I wear very basic jewelry and so they opened up my mind and then the inspiration is like are you kidding me so one of the models that we talked to today she's like I don't really have anything but my undies and then she's like oh but I have these shoes that I wore when I used to dance I'm sorry what was that I used to dance oh really what kind of dancing did you do it said salsa dancing I'm like oh I like to move and she's like I don't know if I can move now pregnant and I'm like that's all you have to tell me if you moved once you could move again so I put her in I gave her because all she had was panties and shoes today I put her in a modest modest sheer gown and we're just going to see what we see but prepare your client and hair and makeup it's not suggested but it looks amazing and if you're going to spend an hour looking good in front of a camera why not go all out we do do phone consultations tiffany is my girl if you've ever if you have enough to do listen to tiffany on the phone with a client man it's it's worth its weight in gold she's very patient very kind she asks answers any single question she we do most consuls over the phone every blue moon someone real was an in person console which we will do but it's not requirement refreshments water and sugar brings has things on hand now you know what you're going to say you're going to say I don't have a studio no problem let me tell you a quick story is that I used to shoot for baby style which is a high end boutique store that was in fashion in newport beach sadly it closed down but I marketed to the store for years again we'll talk about marketing heavily marketing tomorrow and so we word shooting in the store right in the window I'm shooting for everybody to see and was shooting a pregnant women and she's there holding her husband's behind her thank the lord and all of a sudden she goes down and I'm like oh my god she just like fainted like right in front of a pregnant woman we're talking ten years ago I mean I don't really know what I'm doing maybe his nine years ago but it was I was still immature in my thinking and so I talked to them like what's going on and she said well on the husbands like she's most meeting protein the doctor city protein shine eating enough protein we'll start arguing she's obviously awake and I'm like okay and I'm like chocolate bars or just anyone of a chocolate bar snickers let's get some chocolate thirteen in her like anything like granola bars I was like like emptying people's bags in the store like let's get cause she wanted continue the session goes back to that insurance thing you know and be well being prepared and I'm like shoot she goes down my session what is that now I'm in a store does that mean what if something happens to the baby were we doing taking a photo shoot what the photographer do a kind of position I don't know so I remember like panicking and from that moment on I remember thinking when I have a studio I'm gonna have water and refreshments I'm gonna watch the sugar drinks because if you've ever been pregnant failed your glucose test should meet drinking sugar drinks I've failed three times so apparently you're not supposed to get a whole tray rice krispie treats when you're pregnant which is saying so you know we do have a studio and we keep fridge aerators stocked for the for the client again that client experience now I've shot in a condo I've shot on location I've shot in my garage I've rented from a camera studio don'tthink I walked in for your fourteen years ago and got a studio and we can try and talk about that tomorrow the business of it all is a whole my journey I can fill you in on my journey so I don't want to kind of say the people say well I don't have a studio I work in my garage I'm on location hey if you're on location pack a little bag pack a little comfort bag but also tell your client to do that so if maybe you do as a backup because then there's the whole food hours using what people can't what people can't so go the extra mile and educate your client if you're meeting them on location tell them to pack a little cooler bring some extra drinks you need to stay hydrated I tried to tell them should drink at least a bottle or two of water I'm going to start moving them in positions that they have never moved in you're going to see today what's gonna happen towards a woman towards the end of her term what happens your belly starts tightening there's not a lot of room at the inn okay well so there's not a lot of room at the inn and I start moving you when you start moving what happens things start shifting and making a little bit more room and I'll send the baby sees that there's a light at the end of the tunnel and you can have premature labor and so I do warn women that when they are coming to me at the end of their term that they need to make sure that it is okay you know I don't think that I put in here gosh that the top of the perfect time to photograph a pregnant women a woman we usually tell people around the seven to the eighth month and it really varies per women per woman why do we keep doing that per mama way like women woman woman so that mama on look I said this before I live in so cow I say have you seen a lot of weight oh my gosh I have gained so much weight it's been like ten pounds girl no you're fine so you know you gotta ask the women and the way the woman says she's huge just how much if you don't mind me asking how much weight have you actually put on because I know when I say I am huge I've put on five pounds to me I'm huge I'm carrying like eight right now huge so you want to find that out from the woman but most importantly this is what I tell women I want you to feel good there is a time in your pregnancy and for every woman it's different some women its seventh eighth knife women with twins a commune is early as the sixth month where your belly is nice and round you are visibly pregnant and you feel good and every woman knows that feeling where you can still walk around you could squat if you wanted teo you feel good you can put on clothes no one's questioning if you're pregnant and from the side it's visible that's a good time obviously photographers need scheduling we book we booked one to two weeks in advance I'm not like a book me six months from now I'm like one to two weeks yes um in my crazy time of the year two to three weeks if we're going on location but you know end of the seventh month early the eighth month if you haven't gained a lot of weight and your teeny tiny maybe good turns the ninth month and then then I get the women I've been looking at your images in the oby office for nine months I might do in a week so when you were walking down the hallway seeing my work every single only what were you thinking I'm thinking I need to call anna and I'm calling you and so you do get that you do get that and that's okay better late than never and I've had women on bed rest very important don't know why that's not in here bed rest I have women that sneak out of their home all the time if you're going to sneak out of your home do it at your own risk talk to your doctor but when women do sneak out of their home or they say my doctor said I could come see you for an hour I'm very careful I'm having him sitting down laying down I'll only have him standing up if I think it's ok olive has been support them or partners put him on it's still very very aware and I'm going to talk a lot about transitions imposing and timing I have to be very aware of that pregnancy perfection you need to be an expert in body types just like I said the x yesterday you want to be a baby photographer no babies no babies if you want to be a pregnancy photographer learned the pregnant body yes we may get double chins yes women get more fan in the back of their arms yes things are going to swell they're going to retain water they are developing a human being things will change you need to understand that changes how they're feeling cramps veins all kinds of things happen practice practice practice practice practice practice practice on your own time okay don't I had a pregnant woman come to me for a newborn tell you thirty second story and I said did you we were talking about the newborn did you ever have pregnancy photos done because yeah I don't go back to the photographer that did my photos and I was like gosh that's odd why I said don't tell me who it is because I don't want to know she says honestly it was like a five hour photo session and I was just over it I was just over it we couldn't get out of there fast enough that's like why so long she's like she was just playing and experimenting and having fun now this was a gorgeous woman should've gorgeous body I would probably want to play all day too she did not want to play all day I'm sure in the moment it was fun and probably the first three hours were great and inspiring and I'm sure she has gorgeous photos but it was a little bit too much and the dad was like ice told her we weren't going back I think the mom would've went back the dogs like are you kidding five hours with us imagine newborn gonna sleep spend the night and so I was like used to do that early on I used to just play and play and play and shoot cause I don't really know what I was doing it it took me an hour to get my groove and then I'd get in the second hour and let's just go for one more hour new don't do that you want to practice get a model once a month get a friend get a girlfriend and practice and play so when a client comes in you're prepared to have a system we have a rhythm you know your transition opposing and you move I move okay I know how to use materials recognize a fan is worth every penny be able to give direction you know I'm a director we got to be a director if you don't want to use your voice probably shouldn't be a pregnancy photographer just goingto say that now you want to be quick good and complementary and you want to be consistent you're going to hear me when I give direction today complimenting there is nothing worse than when you're shooting and your I've seen other photographers do it especially when I'm teaching workshops cause that's the point and the woman is just like and if tigers like looked down she looks down on us like look up like two side what am I thinking is a woman the mom am I doing it right I guess she just said look down look here I think I'm doing it right but when I was a photographer isn't holder she's doing it right look down awesome that's beautiful get your chin out that looks great good let's stretch it a little more that's awesome let's look out to this way great got it the same way that you work with children is the same way you work with a pregnant woman any time that you're directing take it back down to a child's level you want your child to do something when you walk around in your matter your children did you put the put the clothes here put the choice there I said do this do that and the child's just doing things and you know go he thinks instead of doing all that but they put the put the toys in the basket oh thanks good job makes the world in a first strike can you pick your clothes up off the floor and put it in the hamper I never told you a thousand times but thanks to be great when you do remember time you know it makes it makes it a little better you know what I'm saying so I kind of get my husband about that all the time he gets mad at me he's like oh my gosh like after watch everything I say I'm like everything you say transitional posing is how we're going to start today we have a long day not a long day meaning of full day it's going to go by lightning seconds but we're going to leave clients in a series of small movements backs transitional posing it's just I'm looking at you and I'm looking down and I'm looking away and looking over my shoulder and I'm moving my hair and my hands and I'm just gracefully moving the reason I'm having the kind constantly moving is in those movements there's gonna be one jim where I go I got it I'm not saying you need one hundred of those I'm saying I want to go teo and when you look at those images you're gonna go off you may not even see it till a post sometimes I see it and I'm like whoa if I see it you'll hear me and the kinds like what di dio I was just moving and they're going to feel awkward he needed to be a director you need to use your voice you need to do three to train for transitions I sound my transition when I'm shooting I'll be like oh my gosh it's not even it's intentional but it's not like I'm trying to be a pushy sales woman I told you yesterday I love products I want to see things on the wall and so when they're doing this whole set I'm like oh my gosh that would be so cool if that was like in sets of three hanging in our bedroom or gosh that would be such a pretty campus in the nursery next baby like oh yeah I love that so I'm I'm already thinking of already preparing I'm shooting with a purpose right you already know my main purpose is to preserve your legacy we have to do something with that right when you're stuck in a pose with a client movement you move so you're going to see today like okay I think I got all that hmm oh let me step up on a ladder let me go over here ah lot of times when I'm teaching in a workshop we see this all the time because in a workshop let's say steams over there and and one student is up here shooting and the other students is just observing and all of a sudden I'll see it every work shot so we'll pick up their camera and start shooting on the side and they get amazing angles right and so I'll take the photographer I'm like move move move move move you move you move you're not you can go anywhere you want you know I love a fans and we're gonna discuss the fan so we have two models in this next segment and they're wearing very different clothing the very first model I asked her to bring anything that she had so she brought a jean skirt that goes underneath her belly and I believe we gave her a top I sent him with a couple of things I'm not quite even church what she's wearing for sure but we'll see and then the other woman mice also my salsa mama no pressure she's like oh my gosh she's like oh no I should have never said that she's just wearing a sheer dress and uh we're just we're just going to see what we see we're goingto go over transitional posing and start the show is there anything that we want toe mention before we bring the models on that having hasn't going out in the internet I'll read the comment from camera goddess who says hello to my amazing and inspiring front and I'm so proud of her for her heartfelt sharing of all the goods isn't marianne yes is it that's marianne pregnancy goddess who that's pretty cool um we do have questions you want to do a couple questions okay so fashion tv who always is asking questions here incredible ives he's from singapore and he wants to know what the common posing mistakes and maternity images any practical advice for us which we avoid doing I guess we're going to be getting into that today we're going to be getting into it and alice I'll go over those simple things like double chins keeping the arms too close to the body keep the arms out of the body keeping materials clothing more simple or not too bulky and the big one is the shoulders people keep the shoulders up get the shoulders down ray lift from here from your core not from your shoulders those are big ones but all I will spend the day all day discussing do's and don'ts about a photo would like know about how long are your maturity sessions at an hour forty minutes and a good day if I'm on location about an hour and a half I don't know if you've noticed but I'm a very fast shooter um I can't I can't help it I believe it or not I do shoot slow I will say that I don't shoot that fast normally with a newborn yesterday was a little fast we are calmer and work quiet in the newborn with the pregnancy issue fast so I will tell you that what you see today is a hundred percent accurate so if you see me shooting really fast that's what I always do I'll definitely be in my rhythm with that because that's how I work I can I just can't do it any other way so in an hour forty minutes it's you know it depends on the client it sometimes it takes me a little longer to break through to the client because the client I'll come in and they're more reserved and they're protected and they're not quite ready to open up and so sometimes I take a six us a while to get our groove but I lied generally booking our