Introduction
pregnancy pictures• About the Guide
pregnancy picturesThe Basics
pregnancy photography• How to Prepare
Pregnancy tips• Wardrobe

Elements of Posing
maternity photography guide• Posture
Pregnancy tips• Arching
Pregnancy tipsWalkthrough - posture
Pregnancy tips• Gaze
Pregnancy tips• Expression
Pregnancy tips• The Leg Up

Pregnancy photography• Best Foot Forward
belly pics• The Crossover
belly picsWalkthrough the Crossover

Pregnancy photography• Finding a Pose
belly pics• Placement of Hands

Maternity Posing Ideas
pregnancy• The Cradled Belly
maternity• The Proud Mom
belly picsWalkthrough - Proud Mom
belly pics• The Seated Triangle
Pregnancy tips• Just the Belly
Pregnancy photography• The Hands of Love
Pregnancy photography• Over the Belly
Pregnancy tips• Peek-a-boo
Pregnancy tips• The Open Shirt
Couples:
Pregnancy tips• Face to Face
Pregnancy photography• The Kiss
belly picsWalkthrough - Couples
Pregnancy tips• The Bump
Pregnancy tips• Prom Gone Wrong

Pregnancy tips• Dad & the Belly
Posing with Kids:
Pregnancy tips• Holding the Sibling
Pregnancy photography• Bribes & Trickery
Pregnancy tips• The Sibling & the Belly
Pregnancy tips• The Juggling Act
Pregnancy tips• Dad & the Belly
Pregnancy tipsWalkthrough with children

The Camera Angle
nude pregnancy portraits• The Profile
nude pregnancy portraits• Straight On
nude pregnancy portraits• 3/4 View
nude pregnancy portraits• From Above
nude pregnancy portraits• From Below

Creatiing a Progression
nude pregnancy portraits• How to take a progression


The Maternity Silhouette
nude pregnancy portraits• Rules of the Silhouette

Nude and Semi-Nude
nude maternity photography• The Pregnant Nude
nude pregnancy portraits• Working with Fabrics
nude maternity photography• Coverage I
nude pregnancy portraitsWalkthrough - Coverage
nude pregnancy portraits• Coverage II
nude pregnancy portraits• Coverage for Couples
nude pregnancy portraits• The Demi
nude pregnancy portraits• The Seated Nude
nude pregnancy portraits• The Sweep
nude pregnancy portraitsWalkthrough - Swept Fabric
nude pregnancy portraits• The Horizontal Nude

Photographing yourself
nude pregnancy portraits• What you will need
nude pregnancy portraits• Settings

7 Common Problems with Maternity Portraits
maternity posing ideas• Backdrop Trouble
maternity posing ideas• On Camera Flash
belly pics• Harsh Lighting
maternity portraits• The Window Dilemma
maternity portraits• Lost in the Background

maternity portraits• Unflattering Wardrobe
maternity portraits• Overprocessing

maternity portraitsWalkthrough - Processing

 

Pregnancy Posing

The Illustrated Guide to Pregnancy Photography is now available for the iPad, and Kindle. The guide is filled with over three hundred pages of beautiful, instructive photographs, in-depth walkthroughs, galleries and more, demonstrating how to get great pregnancy portraits.

Katsoulis Photography of Boston

This guide is brought to you by Katsoulis Photography of Massachusetts. Gregory Katsoulis has been creating professional maternity portraits for over 10 years.

If you are looking for more ideas, please visit my online gallery of maternity photography, showcasing some of my best work.

If you find this guide helpful, please link to us from your blog, website or message board. You should also feel free to drop us a line and share your best pictures! guide@momphoto.com


Facebook Maternity

The Hands of Love

This is a very popular maternity portrait, one you will see in the portfolio of nearly every maternity photographer (including myself).

One of the reasons this pose is so popular is that it is sweet, easy to accomplish, and very low pressure for the mom-to-be.

However, there are some downsides to the pose. Because it is used so often, it lacks originality. Because it is nearly always done as a belly-only photo, it risks being anonymous. Finally, if it is not done artfully, the result is a poor, graceless photo at the lowest common denominator. You need to be careful of some potentially awful choices that can make this a terrible photo.

The first thing you want to do is to get the hands into the right position. If the negative space between the two hands does not look like a heart, then don't take the photo. Unfortunately, if the thumbs are not clearly down, the hands cease to look like a heart and instead make the American Sign Language sign for "vagina." Hopefully not what you are going for.

Professional Pregnancy Portraits

You want to make sure you get a good, soft light on the belly. Window light, especially on a cloudy day, will work very well.

Avoid on camera flash at all costs. Keep your light slightly off to one side, but not so far that you have deep shadows on the hands. It helps to have the mom-to-be manicured, as cracked fingers or ragged nails are distractions.

The hands should rest comfortably against the belly, creating the heart shape in what appears to be a casual manner.

Some things you should consider:

First, a lot of photographers will have the dad make the heart with his hands on the mom's belly. While the idea is cute in theory, it is awful in practice. Why?

Because she looks like she has man hands!
man hands

Second, you may find the mom's hands are much darker than the skin on her belly. This type of a mismatch can look awkward. Soft lighting will help, as will processing color into black and white, favoring the blend which evens out the tones.

Finally, I implore you to not to use "selective color." Selective color tends to be poorly used in maternity photos, but in this case it is just awful because the "selective" area of red or pink heart-shaped skin ends up looking like a wound or a rash on a pale cadaver. Though it pains me to have created it, I show it to you below:

Professional Pregnancy Portraits

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