Poses for pregnant shoot

I am shooting my first pregnant mom on wed. Does any one know of any

good web sites that I could get some posing ideas from. She wants

some with her husband but mostly her and her belly. I did a google

search and found some but most were not anything great. I am looking

for great. Anyone?

 

Elaine Vang

hi Elaine,

In my experience, here are a few things to watch out for or do.

 

If the mom-to-be had a thin model-like physique BEFORE she got pregnant, she'll usually look good in pregnancy poses without much effort.

 

If the mom-to-be was (like most of us) NOT modelish, you need to be careful not to show fat rolls below the belly, or lumpy belly skin below the pregnant part. You will also need to soften cellulite and stretch marks in PS.

 

I shot a pregnant mom who was lovely but not reed-thin before her pregnancy. She wore stretchy black pants and a white man's shirt. During the pregnancy shots, we pulled the band of the black stretch pants down to expose her belly. I asked her to adjust the band up/down until it hit just the right spot. Too high, and it looked silly; too low, and additional belly-fat was exposed. It looked "right" when you could see firm, rounded tummy area, but not the "jiggly" stuff below it.

 

Some shots that I like include her:

 

Her standing in partial profile to me, with her shirt unbuttoned below the bust and pulled back on each side to show her tummy; her husband kneeling on the floor, holding her belly on each side with a hand, and smiling up at her as she smiles down.

 

Same as above but with her hubby resting his face on her belly

 

I'd show pictures, but the family asked me not to publish them and I want to respect that.

 

Good luck! If I find a nice site with great shots I will post it here.

 

Jennifer

hi Elaine,

a few more comments:

 

To me, black/white or sepia tint look best for pregnancy shots.

 

Very shallow depth of field works well for preg. shots, if you're doing close-ups of the belly with her hands on it.

 

Plain white shirts/dresses/etc, flowing, often look good and feminine

 

Simple backgrounds (black, white or neutral) look good

 

 

This might all be really basic stuff that you've already decided upon, so I'm sorry if it's too basic!

 

good luck with the shoot. You take nice pictures, and I'm sure it will turn out well. :)

 

Jennifer

Jennifer

 

Thank you for all your help! I always get so nervous before a shoot when it is new territory. Also I shoot alot of friends and family which makes it easier, this person I havent met yet, so its the unknown.I find that I get so nervous about having all the technical stuff to think about with the camera and lights that my artistic ability wont release its self in my brain. I know that it will get easier as I go along. I did find some good sites finally with photos I like now if my brain will retain the info I may do okay. Thanks

 

Elaine Marie

hi elaine. would you mind posting some of the helpful sites you found?

Hi Elaine,

 

I have only done one shoot for a pregnant mom, and I waited to get permission before posting this. I like how this shot turned out, and so did the mom. I set the shot up with one light into a 36" umbrella camera right and behind the subject about 12". At first when looking through the lens, I could see some flare from the light, so I put a screen inbetween the light and the camera. To get the back ground to fade to black, I had another screen between the light and the background. The opening between the front screen and the back screen was about 36". Also, the light was pointed up a little (I think it was about 2-3 feet off the ground.)

 

I have a few other studio shots from this session as well, but this was my favorite. I am showing studio only because that is what I assumed you were looking for. I also have some of this same mom that were taken outside, earlier in her pregnancy. Let me know if you would like to see a couple of them as well.

 

George Grabrick<div></div>

George,

 

Thanks for the picture post. I love that lighting I will try it. I love how it lights up her belly and face only. I am mostly interested in studio shots as the weather will not permit for outside shots tomorrow but if you have the outside ones posted in your portfolio I will take a look. Again Thanks!

 

Elaine Marie

Here's another one with mom & dad. I was at work earlier and didn't have access to this image when I posted previously. Same lighting, making sure that dad was far enough behind mom so that he didn't cast a shadow on her.<div></div>

Looking in the mirror is a good one, if you have one you can use for the shoot. Experiment with varying depths of field with her looking at her reflection in the mirror.

try this:

 

http://www.jenniferloomis.com/