Maternity sessions have always had a special place in my heart.
I loveeee supporting moms and future moms by encouraging them and reminding them that they are soooo beautiful, whether they are in the "pregnancy glow" stage, the "I can't walk because of my cankles" stage, or the "I haven't slept in weeks" stage.
Hi, my name is Emma, and I am an Oregon adventure photographer. I am known primarily for shooting seniors, couples, and motherhood sessions. I call myself an "adventure photographer" because my goal is that this photo session allows you to live out your wildest dreams. I want you to think of the most crazy cool creative session you can come up with, that represents who YOU are.
Keep reading to see how we turned an unfinished house into a photo session masterpiece, symbolizing new beginnings!
I've worked with lots of seniors and couples throughout my photography career, but I haven't been able to do as any mama shoots as I've wanted - whether that's maternity photos or mommy + me sessions. So, I reached out to my Instagram community (which you should definitely follow) and asked them to send all of the moms or future moms my way for a free session. Leah quickly reached out after being referred to me by one of my past clients.
Leah was already in about week 37 or so of her pregnancy when she messaged me, so we quickly planned a creative maternity session for her around 39 weeks. We discussed a variety of locations, but when I realized that her and her husband were currently building their house, I knew I HAD to make a session happen there.
On September 23, I arrived at Leah's new, unfinished house, with an armful of props. The house looked incomplete on the outside, but the inside was painted white, with some detailing on the walls. Tools were strewn everywhere on work benches left and right. Wall sockets hung open. Even so, I loved the vibe of this house. To me, it felt like a story of new beginnings and new life being built by these two wonderful people.
I was so inspired by their house. We turned on some country music (that turned out to be a terrible playlist overall), grabbed several props, and got to the creative session.
First, we played with the setting sun coming in through the trees and her windows.
Leah had grabbed baby's breath flowers from Trader Joe's (their flowers are the BEST, am I right??), so we used those next.
Then, we used a long section of tulle to drape over Leah.
I even used my colorful Lumecube (a type of continuous light) for a few shots!
At this point, it was dark, and I needed to pull out my actual flash. Despite having only used it a few times, I am REALLY happy with how these photos turned out!
Finally, we grabbed Leah's sweet hubby for a few photos at the end.
What are some of your dream motherhood session ideas?
I would love to do:
-A beach pregnancy announcement
-A maternity session in a lake or the ocean
-A vintage maternity session with an old car or cool motorcycle (I don't know why, but a red old car is just calling my name for a session like this!)
-An editorial-style mommy + me session at an indoor studio
-An apple-picking mommy + me session at an orchard
-A cute mommy + me session at In-n-out
How far in advance do I need to book a session with you?
Usually, I would recommend you book at least 1-2 months in advance. Currently, this is about how far out I am booking at the moment.
If you want to do pregnancy announcement photos, contact me ASAP and we can plan something sweet that you will enjoy sharing with your friends and family!
If you would like to do maternity photos, I generally recommend you plan to have them taken around weeks 33-38. Any later and you risk having the baby early and missing your opportunity for maternity photos. However, you can always do them earlier if you are worried about getting stuck on bed rest or something like that!
For mommy + me sessions, I recommend planning a session for when your baby is anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. I think the optimal time is when they are learning how (or have recently learned) how to walk, because you are able to do such a wider variety of poses. I am not a newborn photographer, and do not have the supplies to make those "perfect" newborn photos, but if you would like to do a baby session with your little one before 6 months, just let me know! I would be happy to share my baby session style with you if you are interested.
I want to be able to post the photos before I pop! What is your average turnaround time for photos?
I typically promise to return the edited photos to you within two weeks of your session, but if my work load isn't too bad, my actual turnaround time is usually 1-2 days. So, if you are wanting to post these photos as an announcement or to commemorate a certain stage of your motherhood life on Instagram or Facebook, know that you won't have to wait long for the shots if you book with me!
