Another first time - Maternity photos...

[Jetta32696]

Okay, it's the first time I've done maternity photos, and I wasn't really pleased with the results. It wasn't because the photos didn't come out well, it's because they're not what I was looking for...

If you were an expecting mother and had these photos taken, would you be pleased with them?? Tell me what you think...HONESTLY - no sugar coating. Pick them apart, tell me they stink - as this was a test shoot and Erika and I will be shooting again in a few weeks.

Ignore the colors of the "Sepia like" conversions, that's what Erika wanted the pics to look like and I did what I could with them... Anyway, on to the pics...

Some standard pose

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I just figured out how to add a vignette to a photo

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Something that Erika asked for

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Candid I just couldn't resist

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I'm off to shoot a wedding now, but I'm hoping to have some feedback before I show these to Erika. Thanks everyone!

 

[greyflash]

I like them all but #2. On that one it is hard to tell that it is really a pregnant shot. Placing them in order I would go 1, 4, 3, 2.

 

[LauraJohnston]

perhaps the lighting made them not what you were looking for? it's too dull, you can use some neat lighting effects with pregnant bellies. did she specify how she wanted the sepia images?? i usually use hue 31 at around 8-15 saturation personally and it tends to work well.
Try having some light on the other side of her instead of all from the front so that you get some rim lighting effect, etc. a silhoutte might be cool too. i don't know if you have a different location or not but I would try to be as plain as possible with the background if this is the style you're going for. But it might be neat to shoot some outdoors or something... I don't recall ever really seeing maternity shots outdoors, seems cool though.

 

[Jetta32696]

Thanks Gordon!! I changed the order as per your suggestion.

 

[P'Cola-Roy]

1,3,4,2. I think 1 and 3 are very nice Keith. I agree with Gordon on #2. KInd of hard to tell whats going on.

 

[Jetta32696]

perhaps the lighting made them not what you were looking for? it's too dull, you can use some neat lighting effects with pregnant bellies. did she specify how she wanted the sepia images?? i usually use hue 31 at around 8-15 saturation personally and it tends to work well.
Try having some light on the other side of her instead of all from the front so that you get some rim lighting effect, etc. a silhoutte might be cool too. i don't know if you have a different location or not but I would try to be as plain as possible with the background if this is the style you're going for. But it might be neat to shoot some outdoors or something... I don't recall ever really seeing maternity shots outdoors, seems cool though.

Thanks alot for the suggestion Laura! I was definitely having issues with the light - I have another post in the lighting forum from a few days ago asking for suggestions too... I've got some time to figure it out. She didn't really specify Sepia, she wanted the images to be "brown" and she wanted the pink in her top to show.

Erika and I have been friends for years and she may be willing to let me try some different styles as long as time permits. As for shooting in through the window, that could be dangerous as she lives on the second story of an appartment building. :biggrin:

 

[Jetta32696]

1,3,4,2. I think 1 and 3 are very nice Keith. I agree with Gordon on #2. KInd of hard to tell whats going on.

Thanks Roy. The order of the images has since been changed. I understand about #2, (now #4) - I was more focused on Erika in the mirror than on her belly...

 

[frede]

Very nice Keith. I like #3 as she seems to be very relaxed and sporting that "glow". It's also well thought out.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Hi, Keith. Part of the problem is the background, and the side shadows in #2 are killing me. But the bigger issues are she has too many clothes on, and you're doing this shoot a few months early. That girl is barely pregnant, and she's thinking about how she's looking, not about the baby. Her orientation will change as she gets bigger.

 

[Jetta32696]

Very nice Keith. I like #3 as she seems to be very relaxed and sporting that "glow". It's also well thought out.

Thanks Fred. We were really "wingin' it" with no real direction. But for next time, I will have some poses in mind and more of an idea of what we want to accomplish.

Hi, Keith. Part of the problem is the background, and the side shadows in #2 are killing me. But the bigger issues are she has too many clothes on, and you're doing this shoot a few months early. That girl is barely pregnant, and she's thinking about how she's looking, not about the baby. Her orientation will change as she gets bigger.

I agree about the background Frank. #2 was right before I got my bracket out of the car, hence the harsh shadows. I also agree about the clothes, but her daughter was home and we couldn't really do the lingerie shots that she wanted. Erika is currently 7 months, and once again I agree that she was trying to be cute in the pics and not very concerned with showcasing her belly... I appreciate the feedback. I'll take all of these comments with me to the next session...

 

[ponykilr]

Keith, I like the first one best. It looks more " motherly" for lack of a better description. A little vignette added and a touch of film grain would make it stunning.

 

[cuss2much]

I love the second picture with the vignetting...

one thing to try... on the mirror shot try having her look at herself (stomach maybe)...

man you are quick... just last week you were saying you needed to do a maternity shoot...

good work..

 

[Jetta32696]

Keith, I like the first one best. It looks more " motherly" for lack of a better description. A little vignette added and a touch of film grain would make it stunning.

Thanks Paul. I'll try what you suggested and see what I come up with.

I love the second picture with the vignetting...

one thing to try... on the mirror shot try having her look at herself (stomach maybe)...

man you are quick... just last week you were saying you needed to do a maternity shoot...

good work..

Thanks Maurice. Good idea about the mirror shot. We tried something like that, but I didn't like how it came out. It was just last week that I mentioned it, but Erika and I have been talking about it since she was like 4 months...