It’s probably no surprise to anybody that women do not usually feel like they “look their best” once they’re coming down the final stretch of their pregnancy. They’re tired with lots of mysterious unexpected pains, and usually have trouble getting a good nights sleep. So, they’re not usually that open to the question, “Hey, can I take a photo of you and your belly?”.Or, “Hey… I just purchased a new wide angle lens and would love to try it out on you.”.
But, I would argue that pregnancy can be very beautiful even if you don’t feel beautiful. After all, it is the miracle of life that’s being created. Pregnant women often have a glow to them that’s quite beautiful. I’ve seen this in Brenda, and what’s funny is when I’ve complemented her on it she’s always shocked.
Recently I had an idea of how to shoot a photo of Brenda, making it very clear that she’s pregnant, but in a more artistic way. Let’s say, to try and capture the beauty instead of focus on the discomfort of her condition. I got the idea from another photo I had seen recently in an ad that I really liked. What I did was a bit different, but inspired by that photo. I also captured a few candid moments along the way.
On Tuesday of this week I took the day off of work, and as soon as the boys were dropped off at daycare I cleared out the living room and setup a small studio to capture my “artistic vision”.
So with permission from the mother to be, here are the only photos that I liked in the bunch. It was a bit of an experiment for me so I took a lot of really bad photos before I ended up with a few that I actually liked. And while they fell a bit short of what I wanted, I’m still pleased with how they came out. After all, photography is all about trial and error and learning as you go.
The photos in black and white are the ones I planned on doing. The ones in color were a last minute thought based on where the couch had been moved and the light coming in at the time. Looking at them I already know what I’ll do different next time to improve on the look.
I hope you enjoy them. I think in years to come we will be very glad that we did this.