Maternity Photoshoot Tips and Ideas To Capture Your Pregnancy Journey
Pregnancy is such a special time, and whether you feel energized and glowing or feel pretty uncomfortable with the whole process, I promise it’s going to be a stage you’ll want to be able to look back on and remember. Enter maternity photos! If you’re looking for some ideas to make your baby bump photoshoot creative and memorable, you’re in the right place. Here are some maternity photoshoot ideas to take your pregnancy photoshoot to the next level.
Allow your maternity photos to serve as a visual journey of your pregnancy
Use your maternity photos as a way to showcase interesting food cravings you have, activities you’re enjoying during pregnancy (maybe prenatal yoga, for example, or working on the nursery), and make sure some of your pregnancy photoshoot captures you wearing some of your go-to maternity outfits.
Let your sense of humor shine through
Let’s be real: There’s a lot that can be funny about this time. One cute way to do this in a pregnancy photoshoot is to incorporate a letterboard and write silly messages on it to reflect some of what you’re feeling these days. (Examples could be: “Just six weeks until wine!,” “The exhaustion is real!,” or “No, it’s not twins!”)
Go candid
Sure, posed pregnancy photography can be stunning (and you’ll likely want to have your photographer grab a few of those), but the everyday moments are beautiful in their own right. Consider having some maternity photos taken of your family making dinner, or you relaxing and reading, or you and your partner out on a walk around the neighborhood. Think of activities you’d be doing if there wasn’t someone with a camera in the room with you, too, and some pregnancy photoshoot ideas are sure to come together naturally as a result.
Showcase your silhouette
Here’s a stunning maternity photoshoot idea: Pregnant bodies are incredible, and one gorgeous way to capture their beauty is with black and white silhouette maternity photos. (Profile shots will be best for this approach!)
Incorporate older siblings
If this isn’t your first baby, definitely consider including your older kiddos in at least some of your baby bump photos. After all, they’ve been part of this pregnancy journey, too! You can dress them in “big sister” or “big brother” clothes or accessories for an extra cuteness factor, or let them choose a baby toy of theirs that they plan to pass along to the baby to include in the maternity photos to bring their personality in a bit. (It’s not a maternity photo, but my sister has a few hilarious and priceless newborn photos of their new daughter in which her 2.5-year-old son insisted on holding his Moana fish hook. They’re so incredible and help them remember that funny phase he was in.)
Show off the nursery
You’ve spent lots of time and energy getting the new baby’s nursery just right, so why now showcase it in your maternity photoshoot? You and your partner could be holding up some teeny tiny clothes or perusing sweet books on the bookshelf together, or you could have a more sentimental series of shots around the crib as you anticipate your little one.
Go ethereal
Pregnancy can feel other worldly, and you might be feeling like a pretty special creature for growing a human. (You should – it’s no small feat!) Capture that feeling in your pregnancy photoshoot with a flowy dress, a flower crown, and a maternity photoshoot in a forest. Fog adds a really dreamy touch, and if you don’t luck out by catching it during the shoot perhaps your maternity photographer can add it into the shot later for the perfect finishing element. Who says maternity photoshoots can’t be a little fun?
Combine your maternity photoshoot with a newborn shoot
If you’re planning to get both maternity photos and newborn photos taken, a great option is to have the same photographer do both shoots and take a few photos meant to be displayed together. For example, maybe there’s a maternity photograph of mama-to-be in a certain dress holding her belly in a profile position, and then there’s a newborn photo of new mama in the same dress, now holding her baby in the same profile position. Talk about a beautiful photograph set to display, and one that really helps chronicle your new parenthood journey.
Incorporate baby’s name
If you have your baby’s name chosen by the time you have your pregnancy photos taken, consider using blocks or a sign to display your little one’s name – especially if you plan on sharing the name with friends and family before the baby’s birth. This would be a cute baby bump photo to frame for baby’s nursery, too!
Bring Dad in virtually if he’s not available in person
This is a really sweet maternity photoshoot idea for couples who are separate during pregnancy. Sometimes dads-to-be aren’t around for much of the pregnancy (perhaps he’s in the military and is deployed, for example), but you definitely still want him to be part of some of your maternity photos! You can make him a key player in your pregnancy photoshoot by holding up a tablet to your belly with a photo of your partner giving the baby bump a kiss. It’s an adorable and special way to remember this likely difficult yet still sweet phase as you await your baby’s birth from different places. Though these are maternity photoshoot ideas, it’s always good to incorporate the whole family.
