Expecting a Winter Baby? {A Maternity Session}
Oh baby, oh baby! One of the downsides of expecting a baby in a COLD WEATHER area that gets plenty of dustings but rarely gets measurable snowfall, is that your maternity pictures can suffer. You either don't get pictures taken, you freeze your butt off with a super bland landscape (or perhaps you get lucky and it snows one day (at least 3 inches) and freeze your butt off), or you find an indoor photographer! My clients know that my studio area is tiny and geared to shooting children. Think 10x10 with a cut out for a closet. In that cut out, I have my backdrop, which is 5' wide and I use a 4' flooring area. I'm the first to admit that it makes working indoors with adults difficult. Multiple children takes some ingenuity, and families are super close and cuddled into each other (I only offer family to newborns in studio, and with more then 3 children we go outside). One adult fits nicely in my studio and I've been practicing new techniques to really make indoor sessions pop. Being pregnant and growing a baby is literally the most amazing thing in the world. I am STILL in AWE of the process and I've birthed 5 children! Of course during a maternity session it's nice to include dad and siblings... but to be fair, maternity really is mostly about you, Momma! So, for my winter mommas to be {and of course for year round} I'd love to take a moment and focus on just YOU. Take an hour to capture the amazing 9 month journey you experience before meeting the new human you bring into this world.
This amazing mom is pregnant with her 5th kiddo (5th girl at that! lol). I KNEW we had to make her maternity session all about her; what she's done as a woman and a mother. She's single handedly (well we know dad had something to do with it, but lets face it, that was one fun night! haha.....) birthed 4 children already and is about to re-start the process all over again! Baby 5 is her last baby and what a better way to honor her then a Mom-classy maternity session! Here is a little behind the scenes on how our session went!
I suggested to Mom that she get her hair and make up done, a simple style REALLY takes the whole session up a notch! She went to Erika Rivera for both hair and makeup with the goal for her look this session a simple curl and amazing eyes. I'm not one for showing before and afters - but here is the magic of great hair and make up! Mom had come to me the day before her session, after a shower clean faced- no make up, no hair styling, nothing special just an everyday mom look. Here' s a close up of her before and after and what a simple stylizing can do!
I don't know about you, but when I do my hair and make up and I feel like a new, glamorous woman! Since this type of session is all about you, it's worth it. Getting 'done up' can also be the mood booster much needed at the end of pregnancy when you feel less than sexy on most days. Consider it a day of pampering... and then maybe a pre-baby date night after! I'm not sure he could resist taking you out anyway! ;-)
We changed wardrobe 4 times during our 1 hour session. We showed off belly in some and went high glam in others. We touched on all the looks! We went pretty momma of girls with a tulle skirt and lace top, because lets face it, as women ourselves, who doesn't like to feel like a ballerina!
I also had momma bring in her pre-preggo fave jeans and it's PERFECT that they don't zip! It really jut emphasizes the changes you've gone through in the past 9 months. I asked her light or dark and she chose to go dark, so a black lace bralette was a fitting match with a black background, lending a casual, relaxed look.
Don't forego your maternity pictures because it's cold and you're fighting coats and dreary skies. Or because Dad-to-be hated getting pictures done. Or because organizing wardrobe for kids is tough! Including dad and siblings is more fun and cuter when baby arrives and everyone is focused on new baby. Take this time to celebrate YOU Momma, the amazing woman, mother, human, creator that you are!
