How to Prepare for Your Maternity Session
You booked a maternity session! Yes, that’s an exclamation. Do you want to know why? Because pregnant women have about 38,574,98 things on their mind and things they have to do and you actually did the damn thing and booked a session where you get to focus on the beauty of the life you are growing. This one decision will help you look back on this time on your life and remember all of the great parts about it. You’ll be in front of my lens, in something that makes you feel beautiful, in wonderful light and flattering poses and you’ll feel amazing! I promise.
There are a few things that you’ll want to prepare for your maternity session to help make it a huge success.
Plan your date. Your session should happen around 32-36 weeks of pregnancy. You should book based on your specific body and how you are feeling. Some women show early, and some later. Some feel wonderful through 36 weeks and some are uncomfortable early. You should be showing, but not so uncomfortable that it inhibits a lot of your movement. If you get further along in your pregnancy and realize you want to move your shoot up or back, reach out to your photographer ASAP.
Pick your outfits. By now, we, and especially you as a pregnant person scrolling the internet (I’m looking at you Pinterest) and likely being served maternity ads, have seen the beautiful images of women with gowns in fields or studios. If that’s your vibe, do that. But if that’s not your vibe, DON’T do that. The most important thing for your maternity session is that you feel comfortable. You’ll likely be photographed sitting down and standing up, and from different angles. Pick an outfit that makes YOU feel beautiful and matches your personality. For me that was a t-shirt dress with my first and a t-shirt and boy shorts with my second. Make sure your outfit hugs, or can be cradled to hug the bump in it’s full glory and avoid solid black as it can make the bump disappear from certain angles. Stretchy fabric is your friend. Oh, and avoid elastic bands in your clothing. We want smooth lines and beautiful curves, not harsh elastic lines.
Pick your location. I have several locations to choose from for maternity sessions. For signature sessions, there are six amazing San Francisco and Marin locations, which you can see here. For mini maternity sessions, there are three beautiful Novato locations available, my beautiful all-white Sausalito studio, and then, of course, there’s your home. If you’ve scrolled my website for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m an in-home girl through and through. I even did my own maternity sessions at home. Whichever location you choose, you’ll need to reach out to your photographer and make sure there are no considerations you need to make for that location like no heels for hills, or to dress warmly if it gets especially cold at a location.
Communicate with your photographer. If you have any must-have images, sentimental items to bring, or health concerns, bring that up to me prior. I make sure to take time before the session to make a game plan and I want to make sure I’m tailoring my prep to you and your family. I send out a pre-session questionnaire to fill out and that’s the perfect place to put all of those comments, but I’m also always available to chat via e-mail if you’d rather communicate that way.
Alright, what if you’ve read all this article about how to prepare for your maternity session and you are like, wait, I didn’t actually book my photographer yet! Listen, there’s about 500 things to research during pregnancy and I know finding the right photographer for you is one, too.
Poke around my website and see if you think we’d be a good fit. I’m all about the joy in life using real people, in beautiful light, with clean, true-to-life editing. I like big smiles and laughs, and if you’ve got other kids, I’ll definitely be singing and dancing with them. If it’s just you and your partner, or support person, or you solo, I’ve got you, too. We’ll have a great time together, and we will also capture some of the softer moments that accompany pregnancy as well.
I offer signature maternity sessions in-home, in-studio and on-location in Marin and San Francisco and mini maternity sessions when booked with a newborn shoot. You can learn more here, and if you’ve seen enough and are ready to go, you can book here.
