Belly Pictures, and a little bit about lighting

Jun 17, 2010 · In Newborn Photography · By Allison Carenza

This is Tyra and Nathan.  They were pregnant, but now their life's are changed forever.  It started with a belly.

When Tyra originally contacted me she was interested in newborn pics.  The belly thing was not something she thought was for her.  I always gently  encourage women to do the maternity pictures because I know in the end they are going to love them, but I also understand it's not for everyone.  After I showed the pics to Tyra she decided to give it a go and I'm so happy she did because she's a beautiful pregnant woman!

And yes she always has her fingers painted a rockin color  for photos!

How to light this shot?

Easy, have the subject stand relatively close to the background.  Aim two strobes with softboxes on each side of her at the background.  In my case it was seamless white paper.  The light will magically wrap around the subject giving this awesome effect.

Below is a picture of baby Jackson just before he was born.  He has the prettiest eyes, can't you tell?  Haha he really does, keep reading.

I heart this picture!  The lighting is very similar to that above.  Just get the light to hug the subject!

Tyra and Nathan are a very happy couple.  They are both teachers so they get to enjoy lots of time off together.  I know for some couples that would be a bad thing, but I can tell they really like being around eachother.  They are going to make amazing parents, I've already gotten to witness their gentle parenting techniques because just last week we had Jackson's shoot.  Here is just a few pics of the little guy from our shoot last week.

I told you he had nice eyes.  Even looking the same direction.  Pefection!

And it's not easy for new mommas to bring their week old babies in to have their pictures taken.  Sometiems they're exhausted, sometimes they're worried, sometimes they're overwhelmed, and sometimes they're all those things.  Tyra was relaxed, and made the very difficult job of being a new mom look easy.

Nathan was also obsessed!

Two big long legs coming your way!  Just look at those feet!

Get ready for some cuteness that hurts.

Jackson you are so perfect, but you did not want to go to sleep during your shoot.  I'm so happy you finally did!

Want to know how I did something or lit something just ask, I'd love to help all my photog followers out there.