It may sound cliché, but confidence really is the key to capturing beautiful images.
What you feel on the inside is what you project outward. If you are feeling insecure, it can feel scary to want to get in front of the camera, especially during postpartum when everything already probably feels crazy and different but a photographer is about to show up to your house to take pictures of you and your new baby. Talk about scary! But I want to share with you some of my favorite tips to help you feel your best and really let the beauty and joy shine through in your photos.
Choose something that you feel beautiful in. Color choice is important, especially when planning a family or lifestyle newborn shoot. Stay away from busy patterns, they will just make the photos look messy. Neutral or earth toned colors are always my go to favorites. If you are planning a family session outdoors, I do encourage my clients to choose a bold warm color if they are up for it, I find that it can really add beautiful color pop to images. For indoor lifestyle newborn photos, choose more neural colors in order to prevent the colors effecting the baby's skin tone too much.
My personal favorite to wear is a long dress, because that is what I feel most confident in. I also like to think about having the ability to breastfeed my baby in photos, so being able to pull down the dress is key for me. However, if dresses are not your jam, choose a sweater or blouse and jeans that you feel like you rock! It really is all about finding something that you feel comfortable in, not too constricted in, and especially postpartum - can breastfeed in if needed. I provide styling guidance to all of my clients and am always available to answer questions and help make choices. If you are scheduling a maternity session, you really want to wear something that you feel comfortable in, since pregnancy can already be such an uncomfortable time. Choose something that flows and adds movement to photos to add extra dimension to your photos!
If you wear makeup in your day to day life, you probably will want to on the day of your session. Keep it natural but emphasis the features that you really want to pop! Focusing on the eyes will help them stand out in photos. Don't worry too much about small blemishes or imperfections, while you can use makeup to try to help - my basic editing does a good amount of smoothing. Want to really make your features pop? Put some color on your lips and cheeks! Make sure you moisturize your skin and lips, especially the night before. Be sure to drink lots of water to keep everything hydrated.
While my approach to photo sessions is to create and capture natural and authentic moments, I do offer posing prompts that will help you to elongate your figure and neck. Simple movement variations can do wonders in creating beautiful silhouettes and angles.
Think of a photo session with me as just another day where you are making memories with your babies. We will have fun and enjoy the time. When you take a deep breath, laugh and smile - your true beauty will really shine through. That is my goal in our session, for you to feel and project confidence and beauty so that I can capture it and give it to you to keep forever. You are so beautiful, mama, let me show you <3
