Namita Nayyar:
With more than 25 years of experience, you have learned to capture moments and feelings
that create compelling photographs of you and your family. Share points to keep in mind
while choosing a photographer or maternity shoot.
Jennifer Loomis:
The best advice I give my students is to really make their business about building relationships with their clients. Get to know her, and her family. Genuinely care about her and her well-being. The most enriching experience is to work with clients for years, to see their kids grow, graduate, get married, to be a part of all those transformations.
I also advise my students that to capture intimate authentic moments of their subjects in front of your camera, you too have to be authentic in front of your clients. You have to be honest about who you are in front of the person you are photographing to gain their trust. You have to be present. Gaining trust is so important. I had to learn this pretty quickly as a photojournalist where you often only have 30 minutes to come into a situation and make a compelling photograph. One way I really help women relax in my studio is to do a brief Tadasana yoga pose with them. (A side note here is I trained to be an Iyengar yoga teacher and this is adapted from a teacher of mine.) I bring many life experiences into my studio if I feel they will help my mothers (clients) heal, grow, or be more present for this transformation that they are about to witness in themselves.
I may keep saying this, but pregnancy is the most profound and significant transformation a woman will undergo. My job is to witness it and create a photograph that represents the person before me, her strength, her vulnerability, her joy, and her sadness. Not only is having a baby full of love and laughter for the new being we are now guiding through this world, but also there can also be extreme sadness for the loss of self, or loss of a vision for a life that one hoped for. So how do I capture these moments? I use all the tools I have learned over the years, finding the light, watching for a gesture, consciously crafting composition, using special lenses, and all the other tools photographers have like exposure, and motion blur. I should add I do most of my work on camera and don’t use Lightroom presets or fix my images much in post-production. I am a former film photographer so with film you have to get it right the first time and I continue to do this even though I use a digital camera now. I also shoot in manual mode still to this day. I have the fanciest camera in the world but that isn’t important, it is a tool like anything else. My expertise is knowing how to use that tool to make it do what I want and tell the story that I envision for each client.
As for choosing a maternity photographer, the best advice I can offer is to look at a lot of photographs. Google everything. Keep looking. Observe your body or your heart while looking at them. What image makes you pause for even a second? Find that photographer. Be careful because now there is a lot of image manipulation and sadly it can be misleading as to a photographer’s actual ability. Lastly, find someone who you like. Talk to her. See what she does. Why she does do it? Find out her “why,” meaning why is she doing this work. Is it for the money, or is there a bigger passion simmering beneath her price sheets?
Namita Nayyar:
According to you, reasons for the rise in maternity & family photography.
Jennifer Loomis:
Maternity photography has been increasing in popularity for the past 20 years and it started in 1991 with the wonderful risk-taking Annie Leibovitz’s photograph of Demi Moore. I think women are realizing that this is an important turning point in their lives, and one worth capturing. I am excited because, during my first few years in business, clients told me that they didn’t tell anyone they were getting maternity photographs taken because they were shy about it. Now having your maternity photos taken is as normal as having your baby shower. Yay! How amazing that women are feeling proud of their bodies enough to capture it to be seen for generations.
Namita Nayyar:
Dresses & locations to choose for the shoot for this particular moment. Also at what stage
of pregnancy should one opt for a photo shoot?
Jennifer Loomis:
I am a studio photographer and feel that the studio offers a safer place for my clients to open up and be vulnerable. This safety allows them to take more risks showing their body. As for outside locations, I always recommend that photographers ask their clients if there is a location that holds meaning for them. Then that photographer needs to go and scout that spot and figure out what time has the best light. Often this is early in the morning or right at sunset. Another discovery you can make when scouting a location is to find out when it isn’t crowded with people which cam make photographing a challenge.
In my experience, the optimal time for a maternity photo shoot is six-ten weeks before a woman’s expected due date. But I always check in and see how the mother is feeling and ask if she has any health conditions that could affect her due date.
Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
