How to take the perfect maternity photos

For most women, the nine months of time in which she carries her child inside her womb is a milestone. Many women remember this time of their lives by simply saying, “When I was pregnant with so-and-so…” rather than with dates. After all, these are the days just before you’re poised to welcome a very special someone into the world, and as such, it’s not uncommon for pregnant women to want to mark the period of time with a photoshoot.

But there’s both an art and a science to doing so. There are no hard, fast rules for a perfect maternity photoshoot, but there are some things you should keep in mind in order to best capture the momentous occasion.

Here are three things to make sure that your account is for when planning your maternity shoot.

Timing

This is one of the things where you’ll want to find a happy medium. A great maternity photo is one that can clearly let people know you’re carrying a precious little human inside of you, so you’ll want to be far enough along that your belly has expanded a bit. However, you don’t want to wait too deep into the pregnancy, as posing for pictures could potentially become uncomfortable. Plus, you definitely don’t want to take photos at a point where you’re so pregnant that you lose confidence in your body. Therefore, we recommend you take your maternity photos somewhere between a month and a half to three months before your due date.

Choose your backdrop

Take your time when planning the setting for a maternity photoshoot. One trick we at Tumbleston Photography like to recommend is to aim for a late afternoon photoshoot if you’d like to be photographed outdoors; this is the time of day where the sun’s natural rays provide the best lighting. Usually, staging a photoshoot outdoors is recommended whenever possible because of the unlimited amount of natural backdrops that Mother Earth can provide. If you’d like to be photographed in a studio, though, there’s nothing wrong with that, either! There are plenty of backdrops to choose from. Whatever you decide, just be sure to pick something that works best for you.

Use props- but not too many

If you’re excited about the impending arrival of your child, show it! A big, natural smile is great but you can really drive that feeling through the photo frame with a carefully selected prop or two. Perhaps a picture of your baby’s ultrasound? Maybe a string of block letters that spell out your baby’s name, or even your due date? Or how about just you sitting in a rocking chair with your child’s future crib in the background? There’s no shortage of possible props to choose from! We do like to recommend not overdoing it with too many props, as an overdose of props could take away from you and your baby, but selecting just the right prop could make the difference between a great maternity photo and the perfect maternity photo.