Who doesn’t love documenting their pregnancy? Just like everything else we love to photograph, when we become pregnant we want to record our journey. But sometimes getting in front of the camera is the absolute last thing we want to do. Trust me, I’m there right now. I am currently 28 weeks pregnant and my days consist of waking up, getting my kid to and from school, cooking, cleaning and taking a nap if I can. The last thing I want to do is get dolled up and look pretty in front of the camera. So I had to think outside the box on how I can capture my pregnancy without it being too much work during my already busy day.
Here is the criteria I had for myself when I decided to finally get my first belly shots:
- I don’t want to have to spend a lot of time getting ready.
- I want to include my daughter. It’s very important to me that everything baby includes his big sister.
- I wanted it as natural as possible.
- Last, I wanted to use as minimal equipment as possible.
Sounds like a loaded job right there but turns out it’s not. Have you ever seen on blogs or Instragram photos people hashtag with #frommyview? The second I thought of that, I knew my photos should be what I see every day. That tackles #1 because it’s my view not a view of me.
So I headed towards our largest light source in our house and called my daughter over. Started talking with her about being a big sister and got her to interact with my belly. Criteria two and three are checked off! And because it was from my perspective I didn’t need a tripod or anything I just held my camera. List completed!
The result was this set of photos with my oldest snuggling up to her baby brother. She thought it was a lot of fun and these are photos I will always treasure.
I challenge you change your perspective today with whatever you choose to shoot.
Read more ideas to capture a pregnancy
– Pregnancy Photography: 12 Dos and Don’ts for Flawless Maternity Portraits
– Maternity Photos – Why Didn’t I Think of That?
LOVE these pics!
That is SO sweet! I am 28 weeks and 1 day today, what a coincidence! This is our first, so I don’t have an adorable daughter (yet!) to photograph with my belly, but maybe I can get the dog involved somehow. :) Thanks for the great ideas!
Thank you! And Congrats! So exciting expecting your first little one. Too funny our due dates are only a day apart! :) Literally as I was reading your comment and you said it was the first I thought of a pet! Definitely include your fur baby. Maybe get down on their level and hid a treat by your belly and get a cute shot of them sniffing the bump. Or my dogs snuggle up to the belly on the couch and I’ve got a few shots of them doing that with my phone. Have fun with it and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!
These are SO sweet!
Great pictures of your daughter”, but when your baby grows up, they will want pictures of mom and dad. What I always looked for going through family picture boxes was enough contect to the photos that I could make an educated guess of their ages and interests. Even msternity photos w/o older siblings in the picture eventually must be decyphered by adult children or grandchildren struggling to fix dayrs or even decades to pictures of people no longer around to explain them. Tske a look at your own family pictures to see how critical context or place really is.
Hi Dave! You do bring up a good point. My article was meant for more of a every day when you don’t feel like getting ready but want to document your pregnancy. I 100% agree with you that we need to get in front of the camera as well. :) I had a friend take photos of me and my family with this pregnancy and agree that one of the biggest things I learned with my photography journey is how important those photos are for our children. So thank you for giving this feedback, I think it’ll encourage others to get in front of the camera too! :)