Advice on maternity shoot needed!

Firstly, I will say that I am an amateur and the person that asked me to do this is aware of that fact as well as the fact I haven't done a maternity shoot yet.

I was approached tonight to do just that. I told her that I would do it, but wouldnt guarantee pro results since I havent done one.

Equipment wise what would be good. I dont have off camera lighting at this point, but have been thinking about buying some anyway...so what should I get?

Also, any suggestions about backdrops? They will have to be makeshift, as I dont have a "studio" setting at the present. She is light complected with dark hair, and will be in darker clothing. I dont want to lose her into the background, but I think something darker would suit her.

I have some pose ideas gathered from many posts here, but welcome suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

My first suggestion would be to do an image search for maternity images and see what your going to try to replicate, or gleen ideas from.

then I would suggest using natural light, as it is free and so versatile if you learn to use it. reflectors are easy to make. windows and covered shade are your friend. use large aperature for shallow dof. Background problem solved. Number one is to look for directional light. put someone in the shade then walk around them to see where the light is coming from. If you can't tell, move them closer to the edge of the shade.


lighting will be dependant on what you are trying to do. Once you find your inspiration figure out what you need to reproduce it. Alot can be accomplished with a cheap strobist setup. a couple of vivitar 285hvs, cheap lightstands, and shoot through and silver lined umbrellas will give you more options. Plus it will give you portable light setup even after you decide to upgrade to studio lights. Ebay lights are an option but I never got the results from them that I get from my Alienbees. If you decide to go the studio route over natural you'll need lights, modifiers, backgrounds, stands...

NewbieXT wrote in post #5882890
lighting will be dependant on what you are trying to do. Once you find your inspiration figure out what you need to reproduce it. Alot can be accomplished with a cheap strobist setup. a couple of vivitar 285hvs, cheap lightstands, and shoot through and silver lined umbrellas will give you more options. Plus it will give you portable light setup even after you decide to upgrade to studio lights. Ebay lights are an option but I never got the results from them that I get from my Alienbees. If you decide to go the studio route over natural you'll need lights, modifiers, backgrounds, stands...

Getting the flash off the camera (or using diffused sun light from the side) is almost mandatory if you want to show the three dimensionality of the belly. But while I highly recommend off camera lighting (from personal experience), I'd be careful with manual flashes. Pregnant women get tired more easily and unless the person in question is a photography freak you should try to get the photo shoot done as quickly as possible.

Of course you could set up everything before she even shows up but that yould limit your creative flow of ideas during the session. Especially if you are not a pro shooter (that's what the thread starter wrote), I'd stick to something automatic (like wireless E-TTL or sunlight and automatic metering).