I absolutely love being behind the camera. As a matter of fact, it was my first love along with graphic design. While I was getting my BS in Graphic Design from Florida A&M University, I worked for my school Newspaper and Magazine as the Photo Editor one semester. Somewhere after undergrad I let photography go and recently have picked it up again. Probably because I needed to shoot my own photos for the blog and my Instagram.
This past weekend, I was able to photograph my first maternity shoot and it was on the beach. I have art directed on maternity photo shoots for friends but this was my first time actually shooting one. My subject, Aniyah, wanted a shoot on the beach and I wanted her to look like a goddess. We started the shoot at 9AM in Pacifica, CA. I wish I had some behind the scenes footage for you guys to see. But, let me just tell you those waves were narly! To get our shots we definitely had to be one with nature.
We started the shoot by taking photos of Aniyah with her son. It was a really fun time watching them be playful on the beach. Even though it was a slightly foggy morning, the heavens shined down on us and gave us just enough light to make it gorgeous.
Every pregnant woman I have ever known has had this AMAZING glow! And Aniyah was no exception. You can see how incredible she is wearing this pregnancy and I wanted to make sure I captured that in every shot.
While I enjoyed taking photos of her and her son, I couldn’t wait to get to the goddess shots that I had been dreaming of. I was hoping that these were going to come out just like I envisioned them. So after a quick wardrobe change we were ready to shoot the goddess look.
As an artist, sometimes we get ideas and we are not sure until we shoot them how they are going to come out. I knew I wanted her to be somewhat submerged in water and look as though she was a water goddess. And the waves definitely did their part. 🙂
The body of a mother who is growing life inside of her is undoubtedly beautiful. Each mother looks different when they are carrying and when I see maternity photos, I love that each mother is confident and embraces the amazing changes their bodies are going through. That’s what made this maternity shoot so special to me. I got to capture a mother’s love.
When the waves proved that they wanted to knock us down…literally, we took some photos on the sand and near the rocks. I absolutely adore these too and not just because I shot them. 🙂 More so because my subject looks amazing and confident. In everything that I do whether taking photos, writing articles on the blog or my voice on social media, I want to inspire women to be more confident and to love themselves. This maternity shoot reminds me of my focus.
Hope you enjoyed looking at these gorgeous maternity photos. What do you think of maternity photos? Leave a comment. XOXOXO
