10 Tips For Beautiful Maternity Photography Poses
It doesn’t matter if you photograph your maternity clients
indoors or
outdoors,
there are some foolproof poses that can help you to add variety to the
session, focus on the bump, and make long lasting memories for your
clients.
Posing
can also mean the difference between an okay photo and a great photo.
Here are 10 tips to help you achieve better maternity photos at your
next
maternity session.
1. Mom Alone
If you are
photographing a couple, don’t forget to take photos of just the mom.
Getting a good solid portrait of her embracing her bump is going to make for tender and meaningful photographs.
Posing her in flattering ways can also create more depth
and warmth to the photograph. Try putting her at a 45-degree angle from
you. This way, we are putting more focus on the bump’s silhouette. This is especially helpful when the baby bump is small.
Tell her to rub her belly and talk to her baby.
If she feels awkward doing this, just have her smile while looking down at her bump. Have her think of meeting the
baby. This will get more authentic expressions in the portraits.
Take full length, mid-length, and up-close photos of her. Once you feel like you have taken enough solid portraits,
experiment with different crops.
Asking for her to bend one leg can not only help to relax
and shift the weight, but it also adds more interesting lines leading to
the belly, which is the focal point of the whole session.
During her
portrait session try and keep her hands moving as well as where she is looking.
Have her look at you, at her partner, down her shoulder, at her belly.
Huge tip: When she looks at her belly, have her poke her
neck out towards the camera and actually look at her feet. This will
avoid getting any squished chins.
2. Dad With Belly
Just because the belly is the focal point doesn’t mean dad
can’t have his time in front of the camera. Have dad kneel and get
close to the belly with both hands on each side. Have him talk to the
belly and enjoy the closeness.
Another great maternity pose idea is to have dad stand
half behind the mom and place his hands on her belly. Get in close so
that you just get the hands. Take a photo mid-length and focus on the
dad’s eyes rather than on the mom. Have him look at the camera and then
down at the belly.
If dad has a special request for a pose, do it. Letting
them feel like a part of the maternity photography session is going to
produce more intimate photos for your clients.
3. Props and Accessories
Maternity photography sessions are such a beautiful way to capture the parent’s excitement over meeting their baby soon. Many who know the gender of their baby, or have chosen names, will want to include that into the maternity session.
Whatever they decide to bring to add to the session, make
sure that you pose them so that you can focus on both them and the
prop/accessory.
For example, if they bring tiny shoes, photograph
different poses with the shoes. Take one where the shoes are on the
floor next to their feet and take an up-close shot.
Another maternity pose idea could be to hold the baby shoes at belly level and photograph up-close and mid-length.
If the couple wants to photograph their bump with letters or names, try and get creative on where to place the letters.
A word of caution here: Do not lay the mom down and place
the letters on her belly. This will only make the belly look flat and a
bit awkward.
Instead, try to have them bring a sign with the name
rather than individual letters or place the letters to the side and
photograph them next to the belly or the couple.
4. Wardrobe
It’s especially important to talk with your clients before
the maternity session about wardrobe. Wardrobe can offer the chance to
be more into the maternity poses and add to the overall experience of
the session.
Tight to the body dresses or shirts work well because they
can highlight the bump more during the maternity session. Using belts
above the belly also helps to accentuate the bump.
This can help give your client more shape and offer more
posing solutions rather than always having their hands at the bump
because the dress or shirt doesn’t allow for the bump to really stand
out.
Heels are not recommended but if the mom wants to wear
them, have them bring extra shoes to rest in between takes. Feet swell
pretty quickly when you are pregnant so be mindful of this fact.
If the mom is willing to show her bare belly, this can be a
great time to pose her at a 45-degree angle from the camera toward the
light. This will light her belly to accentuate it but she can turn
toward you and create more shadows on her face to add depth.
5. Legs and Hands
Maternity photography is all about the belly and to make
sure our focus stays on the belly and couple, hands and legs are great
tools.
Place both hands below the belly, one above the belly and
one below, one above and slightly to the side and the other opposite. Or
just have your client rub her belly as she normally would if she were
just standing alone.
Always try and place hands so that fingers are close together and hands are overlapping but not overwhelming the belly.
For legs, have mom cross her legs if she is facing you so
that you can add more lines toward the belly. This will add focus to the
bump much more than if she were straight legged.
In other pose ideas, try to have her bend one leg at the knee so that it gives the same effect as well as give her more shape.
6. Include Older Children
Maternity sessions don’t only focus on the belly,
sometimes there are siblings at the session that also want to join in.
This is such an amazing moment to have siblings interact with both mom
and dad as well as the belly.
Try and take some photos of the
family
walking or playing and interacting. Add this element to the session
will make it feel more natural and can help the sibling participate more
willingly.
Some
pose ideas
to try is to have the sibling(s) place their hands on the belly. Then
have them talk to the belly or kiss the belly or talk to mom and dad.
Interaction poses are always more intimate and meaningful.
7. Remember All Bodies Are Different
Pregnant bodies are all different and not all poses will
work for each mom. Also, not all poses will be comfortable to get into
either.
Remember to always ask before putting your client in a
difficult or uncomfortable pose. Great photos are made because people
are
comfortable in the pose, in the location, and in front of the camera.
You can tell right away if someone is uncomfortable so try your best to watch out for this and repose your client.
Remember that some maternity sessions you’ll need to
accentuate the belly more by the use of hands or perhaps a belt, or
turning your client at an angle.
Try and let poses evolve organically and allow for
interaction to flow. It’s the in-between moments where the couple is
laughing or enjoying the moment where the best photos are made.
8. Building Poses
The great thing about posing maternity clients is that you
can easily build and get various poses all without having to move your
clients very much. Keeping your clients in one spot also allows your
client to relax. It can be tiring to walk around a lot while being 8
months pregnant.
For example, start with the couple facing each other and
with the outside hand embracing the belly. From there, you can ask your
clients to look down, then look at each other, have the dad look at the
belly and the mom at the camera, hug a little tighter, kiss, or hold
hands.
Another example is having the dad behind the mom and with the hands close to the camera holding the bottom of the belly.
From there, you can have the dad kissing the mom on the
temple while the mom is looking down, they can hold hands, or like the
example, hold the props that they brought to the session. Get close up
shots and far away shots for variety.
For each variation, take about four to five so that you can ensure you got at least one great photo from each pose.
9. Don’t Forget to Play and Have Fun
Maternity sessions don’t have to be all tender and
intimate moments, you can also ask your clients to have a little fun
with it. If they’re up for it, have them walk around, dance, and enjoy
the moment.
Ask them to talk with each other and have the mom say
something nice to the dad and then vice versa. This usually causes many
of those natural in-between expressions that make for great photos
showcasing exactly who your clients are during this moment in their
lives.
10. Keep Arms and Face Away From the Body
Maternity sessions usually take between the 7th and 9th
month of pregnancy, where the mom’s belly is usually much rounder in
shape.
However, this also means that arms, legs, and face tend to
swell as well, even just by walking a lot because of the excess water
they are carrying around to help the baby grow and develop.
Keeping the face away from the neck by asking your client to push their chin toward the camera can help avoid squished necks.
Keeping the arms away from the body and bent can add shape
and lines to the contour of the body as well as not make the arm seem
fuller than it really is in real life.
Try and always find the most flattering angle and light so that they can embrace this beautiful phase of pregnancy.
Conclusion
Maternity sessions are intimate and a great way to begin a lasting relationship with clients so that they come back for the
newborn session as well as all future ones.
Having these tips in mind during a maternity session will
help you to stay focused on the belly and couple all while allowing for
variety and experimentation. Build the poses to have a bigger mixture of
photographs to showcase to your clients.
Remember body shapes, and always give your clients a great experience!
Now you have the lowdown on beautiful maternity photography poses, why not check out our complete guide to new born photography or our great tips on posing newborn babies.
For more great inspiration, check out these beautiful emotive maternity photography images!
A note from Josh, ExpertPhotography's Photographer-In-Chief:
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Jackie Lamas
Jackie Lamas is a destination wedding and portrait photographer
based on the beautiful beaches of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She earned
her degree in photography from California State University, Fullerton.
Jackie has over 10 years of experience as a professional photographer
and teacher. When she's not on the beach, you can find her writing on
her blog and spending time with her baby and husband. See more of her
work on Instagram, at http://instagram.com/jackielamas.
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