The Subject
This client was an employee of ours for seven years until she left to stay home and raise her babies. When she came to work for us, she knew nothing about photography and when she left, she was recognized by the Professional Photographers of America as a Master of Photography, a degree she earned in three years.
Clothing Selection
She wanted a pregnancy portrait for her first child, but she wanted a different treatment than most other maternity photographs. Most photos in this genre show the naked belly and a wrapped chest, but she wanted something more dramatic and unique. I asked her to find a Spandex top that would be like a liquid on her body—very tight with no wrinkles. She agreed to find something, even if it was too small, to fit around the baby’s shape. She purchased this dress and stretched it around her belly, the small of her back, and her chest, making sure it was smooth and without wrinkles.
“I posed her against the left edge of the frame, creating compositional tension.”
Background Selection
For these images, I used a David Maheu background with a little bit of detail in it. I do not like to use black backgrounds because they are devoid of depth. I prefer a background with a little bit of tone because I feel that it adds dimension (or at least the illusion of dimension) to the image. This is still a dark background, but there are shadows and tones behind her.
Posing, Lighting, and Composition
For the facing-page image, I posed her up against the left edge of the frame, creating compositional tension. This is the opposite of what most photographers would do. More often, the mom-to-be would be positioned on the right side of the image, but this seemed better to me.
Another image from the same session.
I also wanted her in profile, which would give me a more dramatic feel when I accentuated her belly with a pencil light. Because of the angle of the lighting, the profile pose is far more dynamic.
This image was photographed using a Hasselblad H4D with a 31-megapixel back (16-bit capture) and a 150mm lens. My exposure was made at f/10 and the ISO was 100.