Welcome back friends!
I hope everyone's been well - we've had a pretty gnarly few weeks in our household which is why I've slowed down a little bit. I twisted my ankle and banged up my knee pretty badly around mid-August. The first two weeks of recovery was bad, I barely was able to be on my feet for extended periods of time. Then I shot a whole wedding and I'm pretty sure I aggravated it just a little more than I would have if I hadn't been on my feet for seven hours. So as my ankle was healing, my knee decided to let me know it was not happy, which led to a couple more weeks of healing. Now it's been about six weeks and I'm right as can be! I'm back on my routines of breakfast and getting an indoor walk on my walking pad at least four times a week.
But enough about me! This has been the summer of returning clients coming back to me to take their maternity photos as first-time parents and can I just say what a JOY it has been to be that person for them? It's felt like such a full circle moment to be there to celebrate a huge new chapter in their lives especially as a first-time parent myself.
I thought I would share one of the first couples' maternity sessions I shot! These were done in a studio up in North Dallas called Light Box Dallas. It is my favorite studio to shoot in because it always has availability, it's so flexible and has such a variety in furniture and backdrops. I've truly shot everything from branding, to grads, to couples in this space and even had our own family photos done. It's always the first place I recommend to all my clients when they're thinking about a studio.
I feel like the open belly dress is SUCH a classic maternity look. It always looks good on every shape and size, it's timeless, and it really makes the pregnant person pop. We decided to keep these pretty simple and chic with the wooden benches in both backdrops. The molding on the wall in this studio is one of my favorite things, it just adds that little bit of detail and definition in the photos and depending on how you style around it, it can give you that homey feel.
For the second outfit, we did still stick with the simple and classic looks with just white tops and light wash denim so I wanted to incorporate furniture that wouldn't change up that vibe too much. We did a simple black stool and the brown leather couch which I think completely fit the vibe. This couch is probably one of my favorite pieces they have in the studio. I love the color, the texture, the versatility of it in every space and styling.
I also made sure to take some solo mama portraits! I try to do these as much as I can especially if the client mentions they want both. Every time I shoot a maternity session I try to channel as many personal feelings as I can into capturing my clients because I never took maternity photos during my pregnancy. Between working two jobs and moving during my whole pregnancy, I just didn't prioritize it and while I do somewhat regret it, I knew at the time what I needed most was to rest especially with the way my blood pressure was going. So every maternity session is personal to me.
Anyway, this session was such a fun time getting to share first-time parent and pregnancy stories with Maria and Isaac! I have a couple more maternity sessions to post about so stay tuned!
XOXO,
Mathilda
