Why You Should Invest in Maternity Photos

Maternity

March 28, 2019

Okay, confession. I recently wrote a blog post about the ins and outs of Lifestyle Newborn Photography versus Posed Newborn Photography in an effort to help expectant moms differentiate between the two and be better able to decide which way they wanted to go for their newborn photos. In the writing of that blog, I made a claim that I really have very few images of myself while pregnant. The reason this is a “confession”  is because I am a maternity photographer and how ironic is it that I didn’t practice what I preach which is, namely, that pregnancy is a beautiful gift that should be documented. Well, after writing the above, I took a little wander back through Facebook to see if I was right about the “no photos of my pregnant self” thing and, yup, it’s pretty bad, friends. But, because I am the first one to laugh at myself, I’m going to go ahead and post a few of the gems I found (btw, the “cute” one my sister took?? Yeah. Not cute. I’ll show you) because self-deprecation is the way I roll. You’re welcome. And then, I’ll show you what you and I could accomplish together in the hopes that you will learn from my mistakes and not make the same of your own. But I digress from the self-inflicted humiliation…without further ado…my best argument on why you should invest in maternity photos!

Where do I start. 😳

Reason #2 why you should invest in maternity photos.

Alright. Let’s go through them one by one (you’re welcome). The first one with the white sweater. That was the “cute” one. Let’s just leave it at that, unless we want to go into a deep discussion about putting your toes together and popping a knee when you pose OR about how the image is such poor-resolution that I can’t make it any bigger without it getting all pixelated. Thank you, flip phone, circa 2009. Reason #1 why you should invest in maternity photos

bad maternity photo shows why you should invest in maternity photos.

The next one. The pink shirt fiasco. That was in our living room and I think, I THINK, I might’ve said to Brandon, “I have no shots of me pregnant, go ahead and take one of me, I look cute in this horrendous maternity nightmare”. Those may not have been the exact words. Also please notice the deer-in-headlights expression and the glamorous on-camera flash glare. Reason #2 why you should invest in maternity photos.

Moving on. That attractive series of the whale in the black dress? That was me photographing my one and only wedding in 2012. I was approximately 406 weeks pregnant, it was the hottest day of the year, the infamous Derecho of June 29, 2012 had just torn through the night before and decimated trees and power lines so there was no power AND no air conditioning and it was 917 degrees in that church.  So I was photographing Mary and Sam’s wedding, sweating my *** off and let’s not even discuss the humidity situation of my hair. My mom thoughtfully captured that humid hair while I posed in the getting-ready-room (toes still not together, knee still not popped), the in-the-dark-church shot (no flash allowed in the sanctuary + no electricity = no ceremony shots…did I mention that this was a gift to Mary and Sam as they had no wedding photographer?) and the Liz-shooting-the-cake shot. You like how I tied a purple ribbon around my “waist” to camouflage my Old Navy, not-a-maternity-dress-but-all-I-had-that-fit-to-shoot-a-wedding-in-the-middle-of-a-never-ending-pregnancy dress? It worked, I guess. Please also note the flip flops. It was June 30 (my birthday, actually), there was no power, I was a billion weeks pregnant and hot. Mary (and Jesus, for that matter) forgave me.

I could probably dig up a few more embarrassing shots of pregnant me (only my first and third pregnancies are documented up there, there’s apparently no proof that I was ever pregnant with Taryn – except for that fact that she’s here and, incidentally, the only one of my children who even has a hint of my genes) but I think I’ve made my case. (Also, Reason #3 why you should invest in maternity photos.)

Unless you make it happen yourself, the few photos you get documenting your pregnancy are most likely going to be of the cell phone variety and, while I hear that the iPhone has a pretty nice camera, they’re probably not going to be ones that you blow up on a canvas and display proudly on your wall. That’s where I come in!

A maternity session with Liz Viernes Photography is going to include a consultation phone call where we discuss everything from locations (a beach session in Edgewater, a local park in Columbia, a downtown Annapolis session, a DC hotspot, even a parking lot cluster of cherry blossoms that we camouflage to look like a stunning Mary Poppins painting that we jumped into…the possibilities are only limited by our imaginations), styling (a long flowy dress that perfectly drapes over your tummy makes me go all heart-eyes and a hair and make-up artist is always a great choice) and the timing of your session both in regards to gestation (anywhere from 30- 36 weeks) and time of day (I’m open to just about anything unless it’s high noon and even that’s not a deal-breaker depending on the location!

And just because I can’t fathom leaving you with only the above images burned into your brain, here are some maternity images that I can find no fault with 😍 (Incidentally, both of these beautiful mommas were expecting boys which is why they were each in blue but you certainly can feel free to venture into other color palettes, giggle.)

Liz Viernes Photography is based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and specializes in maternity, fresh 48, posed and lifestyle newborns and first year milestone portraits.

Come follow along on Facebook and Instagram, and the Blog!

  1. Nicola says:

    This is absolutely hilarious! You made my day! 🤣

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