Pregnancy Photography: 5 Tips for Portraits of Expecting Families – Craftsy

Pregnancy photography captures one of the most exciting times in a young family’s life. Being asked to capture these moments can be fun yet challenging. But, with a few photography tips, you can make sure your session goes as smoothly as possible, resulting in wonderful photos of the expecting family!

Learn advanced strategies for family portraiture in the FREE mini-class Professional Family Portraits, taught by Kirk Tuck, who offers step-by-step instruction on how to capture photos families will love.

Taking Perfect Pregnancy Photos - Craftsy.com

5 tips for capturing beautiful pregnancy portraits

1. Timing is key

When time is of the essence, as it is with pregnancy, scheduling is everything. I usually have clients schedule their session for about 30 weeks into the pregnancy. This way, the belly is sure to be prominent, but the mom hopefully won’t be too uncomfortable.

Proper timing should also help if the baby decides to come a bit early.

Maternity Portraits on Craftsy.com

2. Tell a love story

The love story of the couple should be a part of the story you are telling with your photographs. Capturing the love between the parents and the new life they have created is important.

Ask questions that will lead to emotional responses, such as what they thought when they found out they were pregnant or who they think the baby will look like. You could even ask them what they are most looking forward to about being parents. Hopefully, these kinds of questions will generate an emotional response that you will be ready to capture!

3. Clothing

Tell your clients to wear something comfortable. Suggest solid colors in fabrics that accentuate the bump. Try creating a Pinterest board with clothing ideas so your clients can see what options look good and photograph well.

Dresses work wonderfully for pregnancy photography, especially ones that are form fitting to really showcase the bump!

Pregnancy Photography with Mountain Backdrop

 4. Location

I usually do newborn photography at the client’s home. For this reason, I like a different location for the pregnancy photos. Whenever possible, I try to shoot the photos outdoors or in another visually interesting location.

Think of a location or two that will create a look and feel to the photographs in contrast to the location of the newborn session. Trust me, your clients will love having a wider variety of pictures!

Gender Mystery Pregnancy Portrait Pose

5. Posing with an angle

Posing your clients for pregnancy photography is different than your typical subjects, so you need to be prepared to get creative with both the poses and your camera angle.

Here’s a few examples of poses and angles to try:

  • Try getting up high and shooting down on the belly.
  • Have the mom turn and move around while your try to catch her from different angles.
  • Have her lie on her back for a few shots.
  • Make sure you are using dad too — interaction between the two partners will always make for better photographs!
  • Sometimes people like to bring props, such as ultrasound photographs, onesies or baby shoes. All of these can make for interesting poses and photographs.

Maternity Photography With Ultrasound Photo

What’s your favorite location for a pregnancy portrait session?

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