Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful things that could happen to a woman. It’ll be months full of love and enriching experiences. As the life inside you grows, it’ll be a constant delight to feel their kicks and sudden movement. Given how this experience will soon pass once your little one comes out into the real world, you need to make every moment memorable.
Your pregnancy is nothing short of magical. While there are plenty of side effects, the joy that your unborn baby brings you is priceless. As you make the most out of the months that you still have your baby inside you, you may want to immortalize the moment by having a maternity photoshoot.
What’s A Maternity Photoshoot?
A maternity photoshoot is another way of celebrating your pregnancy. Every pregnancy is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you might want to have photos for years to come of how you looked while you were pregnant. Most pregnancy photoshoots emphasize the mother’s bump; the mother can be alone, with her partner, or with other children. While some think that it’s unnecessary, your experience during the photoshoot can help you better cherish the moment.
Should you decide to have a maternity photoshoot, you need to ensure that you make the most out of it, especially since each pregnancy is a unique and life-changing event.
Listed below are some ways you can maximize your maternity photoshoot:
1. Prepare The Right Clothing
Being a pregnant mother means earning that bump on your tummy. With the changes in your body, you can’t expect to wear your regular clothing for the meantime. Therefore, you may need to upgrade into maternity clothes to match your new lifestyle. While some of your clothes may still fit, switching to maternity clothing can help make you stay comfortable with everything you’ll do throughout the day.
As you proceed with having a maternity photo shoot, it’s also ideal if you choose clothes that will better represent your present experience. You can even match your dress with whatever theme you’re going for. Expectant mothers now have a wide range of maternity clothes to choose from that will help them achieve their preferred look for the shoot. Moreover, you could even use the silky robes you have sitting around your closet. Because they’re roomy, these robes will feel comfortable even when you have a growing bump.
In addition to purchasing the right clothing for your shoot, ensure that you wear comfortable clothing as you go and leave the set. A maternity photoshoot can be very tiring, so you need to rest as much as you can. While sitting on the comfiest chair can help, changing into the softest clothes will help make the entire process as pleasant as possible.
2. Choose From A Variety Of Themes
When you’re doing a photoshoot to celebrate your pregnancy, it would be amazing if you could draw inspiration from various themes. While the process of changing from one set of clothing to another can be tiring, it’ll all be worth it once you see how creative the entire process and the final photos will look.
Since you’re doing a maternity photoshoot, why not truly make the most of it? While having a single theme is sufficient, you could ask the photographer how many motifs you can do for the shoot. Ideally, it would be great if you could have at least three themes. This way, you can fully explore your options and enjoy the process a lot more. After all, you only get to do it once.
You can begin looking for maternity photoshoot inspirations online and create the concept for your shoot from the themes that grab your attention. Here are some of the most popular themes:
- Goddess
- Enchanted forest
- Beach
- Park
- Nursery room
- Inside the house
- Sexy boudoir
- Plain background
- Field of flowers
- A growing family
For each theme that you’ll choose, there are different things that you need to prepare. If you are doing a sexy boudoir-style photoshoot, you’ll need to decide on what to wear and how to pose to show off your best features. In order to make that as easy as possible, grab the Boudoir Posing Deck on Amazon.
After you compile the themes that you’d like to go for, then you need to begin maternity clothes shopping so you can have the best-looking picture. Your photos will look perfect if you get matching clothes for each theme. Check out Instagram for additional inspiration.
3. Hire The Best Photographer
No matter how great your set, location, and clothes are, your photos won’t turn out how you’d like them if your photographer can’t reach your expectations.
A successful photoshoot doesn’t just rely on the theme but also on the skills of the photographer. With that, you need to ensure that you hire the best photographer you could find in your area. This way, you’ll know that your photos will look exactly how you want them to.
As you look for the best professional maternity photographer, check their portfolio and see if their style matches your theme. You should also connect with them first and ask about their shooting process and timeline. You can even show them the themes you’ve chosen and ask them if they’ve done similar shoots. This way, you can see if their style matches your vision, and you can be more confident with the team you’re working with.
4. Try To Be Extraordinary
While there are plenty of popular themes that you could go for, you may want to kick it up a notch by looking for an extraordinary setup. If it’s still safe for you to travel to distant locations, you might want to look for a spot that isn’t usually associated with maternity photoshoots. You could try to hold your photo shoot with an ice cave, fireworks, or a mountain as a background.
As you think about extraordinary themes for your photoshoot, communicate with your photographer about your plans and ask them if there’s anything you should prepare. Having open communication will help everyone secure everything that’s needed for the shoot.
Before you proceed with pursuing an extraordinary theme and unique background, ensure that the location is safe and won’t pose any dangers for you and your baby. After all, the purpose of your maternity photo shoot is to celebrate your pregnancy.
5. Include Your Family
The development of a new life is a wonderful thing. As you celebrate the new addition to your family, you may want to involve other family members in your maternity shoot. If you’re expecting your firstborn, you may consider including your partner in some of the photos so they can also express their happiness about your pregnancy and preserve this special moment. When you’ll look back on these photos, it would be priceless to see them smiling with you.
If you have older children with you, you should also consider including them in the photoshoot so they could feel involved in this occasion. Moreover, giving them a role to play in the photoshoot will help them learn that the arrival of the new baby is a family affair.
Should you include other family members in your photoshoot, ensure that they’ll also have outfits that match the theme perfectly. You could even wear matching outfits to emphasize your unity as a family. However, since you’ll include your family in the photoshoot, you need to choose a theme that everyone’s comfortable with. This way, everyone can enjoy the process and be happy.
6. Hire A Make-Up Artist
If you’re not comfortable giving yourself a make-over for your photoshoot, you should consider hiring a professional make-up artist. This will help ensure that you’ll look your best as you immortalize this moment.
While it’s best to stick with a simple make-over to achieve a natural look, hiring a professional can help you relax and just enjoy preparing for the shoot. Having one doesn’t mean that you need to go for an extreme look. The last thing you’d want to happen is to be stressed since you can’t apply your make-up perfectly. With a professional, all you have to do is sit back and relax, as they’ll be doing all the work for you.
Before you hire a professional make-up artist, you might want to have a trial run so you can be certain that they can give you the look you want to achieve. Since various make-up artists have different styles, you need to look for one that you’re comfortable with to guarantee a successful and stress-free experience.
When hiring a make-up artist, ask them if they can do hair as well, or if they have any recommendations. Apart from your clothing, your hairstyle matters in the photoshoot. Of course, you’d like everything to be perfect, and hiring a professional would be the best option for you.
7. Shop For Props And Accessories
Even if you plan on having your maternity photoshoot in a studio, they might not have all the props you need to achieve your vision. Before you head to the studio, you should consider asking them about the props they have. You can show photos of the item you’d like to be present in the image. They can advise you if they have one on set or you need to bring your own.
Apart from your clothing and shoes, you shouldn’t forget to include accessories as well. While they’re not mandatory, they can help to improve the appearance of your outfit. You can choose to wear jewelry, hats, scarves, or even a bag in your photo. Just ensure that you don’t overwhelm your look by wearing too many accessories.
While purchasing new props and accessories can be fun, you might want to look for any existing ones in your home which you can reuse or DIY. You can even choose to add a family heirloom to make the photoshoot more personal. This way, you can save money and add a personal touch to your photos.
8. Get Enough Rest
Maternity photoshoots can be exhausting, even if you’re just doing it in a single place. In addition to the tiresome process, you also have to consider the effects of your pregnancy on your body. Since your body is constantly working to nourish your baby, you might not have enough energy for strenuous activities. With that, you need to ensure that you have enough rest.
You wouldn’t want to cut your photoshoot short because you’re no longer able to keep up. To prevent that from happening, prioritize having quality sleep before your scheduled photoshoot and avoid overworking your body. This will help ensure that you have enough energy and strength to look your best in your photos.
9. Don’t Forget To Bring Snacks And Drinks
You need to ensure that you make the most of your maternity photoshoot, and you can’t pause your appointment just because you’d like to have a full meal. Since there could be a tendency that you’ll get hungry or thirsty during your photoshoot, it would be best if you bring snacks and drinks with you.
Ideally, you should bring healthy and light snacks. This way, you can keep yourself full all the time. Moreover, it’s also best if you could bring enough for everyone, including your photographers and their team. After all, they can get tired as well. It’ll be a small gesture that they’ll surely appreciate.
Even though you’re bringing snacks and drinks, you still need to make sure that you have a full stomach before the photoshoot. Have a healthy breakfast and stay hydrated. This way, you can limit your snack breaks, which might take too much time off your schedule.
Conclusion
Having a maternity photoshoot is an amazing moment that you need to enjoy. While you can always try to DIY the photoshoot in your home, hiring professionals can help you achieve the best photo to preserve this special moment. With the help of professionals, you can truly enjoy your pictures and be able to show them to your child once they’re old enough to appreciate them.
The purpose of having a maternity photoshoot is to embrace your journey and celebrate the new life growing who’s about to join your family. With that, you need to enjoy the process and make the most of your shoot.
