Pregnant woman question

A friend of mine has just asked me to photograph her pregnant daughter as she is about to drop in the next week or two. There are no great expectations as she is aware I am a relative novice and have limited gear. She is a lovely girl and I obviously would like to do the best I can for her.
Is this 'do-able' with my limited gear? and what technique should I use?
I will be doing the shots in mono I think because I have seen some shots on here of babies and couples that look amazing. I have a conservatory at the back of the house but its not great for light i'm afraid just average.Its about 22ft long. I have 12ft by 8ft stiff cotton sheets in black and also in white. Any good for a backdrop?
Will be using my newly aquired 350d. I have a 24-70 zoom and a 70-300 zoom. Flashgun is a 430 but I have also got an old vivitar 283 and a 285.
This is really the very first 'rung on the ladder' for me, so I would be very grateful for any help regarding everything. I know its a tall order.

please ensure you shoot colour.. you can always turn it to B&W, but not possible to turn b&W to colour..

Anything is do-able.. doesnt come down to your gear, but your ability and your approach. First things first.. if she is going to be baring any skin at all, ensure wherever you are shooting is fairly warm, or ensure she has some sort of covering, like a wrap or a shawl.

Daylight always looks so nice on pregnant bellies so my suggestions would be to shoot her facing into the light, with whatever background you desire behind her. Have you taken a look around at some different pregnancy shots? There are some nice shots at this site:
www.vickibell.com.au
www.wildberry.com.au

So my suggestion would be to have a look around at posing, props, styling for hair etc, and to get comfortable with it.. also, maybe do a test run with a non pregnant person in the same locations to find the best time of day for light etc, and to get some ideas with poses and working.

Seen these?
FAQ - Studio Lighting

Thanks Cassarilda

And Photos Guy I missed them mate! Thanks also

Definately natural lighting, and color just like cassarilda suggested. I just shot my own PG belly a couple weeks ago infront of a window, and the pics look real nice. If you have any sheer curtains that always makes the background elegant. And if you have a reflector/diffusor or even a large white piece of poster board, you can use that to reflect some light up on the shadow side for a fill.

Now, are you planning to do all nude, partial nude, fully clothed, full body, half body? Just some stuff to think about.

As for nudity or semi nudity I am not sure yet Erika. Loved your shots tho.
My wife is also pregnant but she will not pose for me. She merely throws her head back and laughs her wonderful laugh and says , " Don't be so daft!"
Mmmmmm now there's a thought. How do I persuade my wife to pose for me?
She is a fun loving and warm person but just hates having her picture taken.

I am right there with your lovely wife. I hate having my pic taken also, but it's mainly b/c I don't like my face....self esteem issues. Basically what PG woman want to hear is how beautiful they are. So maybe if you just keep telling her how lovely she is, and how much you want to capture this pregnancy moment in pictures, it might help. That's the only reason I did them. I wanted my kids to know that yes mommy was pregnant and this is what she looked like. Also, maybe promise to make them as beautiful as possible. Good luck!! hopefully she'll cave in. You could also just tell her that you need to practice before this other shoot.

tell her you will only shoot her belly!!

Erika, Skrim... IT WORKED! My wife has agreed to be my guinea pig, thanks.

Now for the painful bit. Some C&C please.

I want to change this to a decent mono, can you advise on photoshop settings?
Shot was done on EOS 350d with a 24-70 at the 70 end. Blip of flash from an old vivitar 283 (the canon flash nor working properly and is back at the shop). Flash was directly on camera.
I know it needs a ton of work so I am all ears.

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

If you like and she does- then its a job well done.

I would prefer to see her in a darker color or white against all the white. The beige is too boring- but that is only my taste. The elbow pointing towards us is a little too distracting

Very nice for your first time!!! That's lovely just the way it is.

I definately wouldn't do b&w with this image b/c you dont' have any black in there. So it'd look really gray and white. Know What I Mean? Sepia might look nice, but it really looks great the way it is, and i'm not sure I'd change it.

BTW: Your wife is beautiful!! Make sure to tell her that.

Thanks for the comments Jilly, i'll remember them when I shoot my friends daughter.
Erika I agree. I did greyscale it quickly and it did look a bit pants. Would like to know how you guys go about converting to mono in photoshop tho. Also thanks for the comments about my better half. If I ever forgot to tell her how wonderful and lovely she is, I would be dead within 24 hrs!

It is a great shot! If she lets you do it again, I would try dressing her in black against a black background to do the conversion, and loose the watch.

Cheers Crissa. Will give it a try.