Outdoor maternity photoshoot: 28 weeks

Today, I hit 28 weeks of pregnancy, and realized that it was time to do maternity photos! Of course, my self-shot photoshoots are never as good as the ones I get to do of other people, but I still love doing them. I shot Asa’s at 28 weeks as well, and it’s kind of interesting to see the differences between the two. With Asa, I wanted incredibly pared down, makeup-less, super simple, and all of the focus to be on the belly. This time around, I wanted to be flowing and ethereal and beautiful and… well, all of the focus is still on the belly.

And I didn’t intentionally get girlier with this shoot just because it’s a girl, but I think my subconscious decided that’s what we were going to do.

If I had patience, I would have waited for my husband to get home to take these pictures, but I always find it’s hard to communicate to him what I really want without stepping on his toes about how he photographs. Being married to the perfectionist photographer who is taking your pictures while also being a (less perfectionist) photographer with a very clear vision of what you want can be… interesting. We have such different styles of photography — I tend to focus on the person, leaning towards spontaneous and natural shots with a touch of lightness and fairytale to them, while he tends to focus on the technicality of things to get perfect lighting and perfect posing and he prefers everything to be set up just so. He also tends not to pay attention as much to the people in the shot, and often snaps the shutter right as I am talking, fixing my hair, blinking, or generally just not paying attention to what he’s doing. Together, shooting others, we make a great team — I can focus on people, he can focus on technicalities, and our photos turn out beautifully. But when he’s shooting me… I think I’m a little too controlling over photos of myself to really relax and just let him work.

It’s something I need to get over. I attempted a few shots actually in the woods, but let me tell you: wrangling a “dress” (it’s a piece of fabric I have yet to sew into anything), a tripod, a camera, branches, and a pregnant belly while also swatting away mosquitoes and ensuring you don’t step through any rotten logs does not make for pretty pictures. Even if the woods do have enchanting light.

But, you know. They turned out mostly to my satisfaction in the end! And now, all I have to do is make it through the summer without dying. If you need me, I’ll probably be in Asa’s kid pool with him, because this pregnant lady does not take summer well.

Happy Friday!

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