Since my goal is the NILMDTS Foundation, I want to focus on portrait photography, particularly maternity, newborn, and family portraits. So I made a list of all my local pregnant friends and contacted them to see if they'd be willing to let me do some free photo shoots. Everyone I asked readily agreed! So I started scheduling maternity photo shoots! This is exciting and scary all at the same time.
Yesterday was my first photo shoot! It was for Jannali O., an acquaintance from my ward. She is having a baby girl in November. Plus she's gorgeous so even if I didn't do a great job, she'd look wonderful. In planning the session, I pictured fall leaves and fun backgrounds. But the day before our shoot, a giant cold front came in, dropping tons of rain, a little snow, crazy gloomy overcast skies, and temperatures in the 30s. We were not prepared for that but did our best!
Here are my top 8:
This pose was influenced by the intermediate photography class. Women tend to like looking skinny in photos (especially pregnant women who are larger than they'd like to be), and one of the ways to make someone look smaller is to shoot from above and have them look up. While I wish I had a stepstool or something with me to get up just a tad higher (note to self!), this turned out great. The only problem was she was sitting by a road and the street didn't make a pleasant background until I turned it black and white--then it left a nice texture. But with limited surroundings, this is my favorite. (I noticed she made it her Facebook profile picture so she must like it too.)
She may not like her expression and I'm urked that her belly got cut off a little at the bottom (while there's a little more head room than I meant--I'm working on being more aware of my surroundings before pressing the shutter), I still love this shot. I like that her belly is highlighted with the green grass and her look isn't fake.
She picked out her own clothes and the bright colors look great against the white wall. It would have been nice to have a smooth backdrop but I don't have a studio. She LOVED my dry erase blackboard. After reviewing this shot, I'll be sure to make the letters thick for future pics.
I had this shot in mind long before I scheduled her shoot. I will probably do something similar for future maternity shoots.
After posing lots of shots with just Jannali, her husband came home from work and we captured a few moments with them together. He wore the jacket because it was freezing (and she said she's huge and needed him to look larger), and the texture of it adds to the photo, especially in black and white.
I just asked them to look at each other and they both giggled. (Apparently this is his favorite shirt so he took off his jacket.)
I love how this turned out. In this shot their clothes seem to really give character to the photo. I'm also very glad that I gave her the reigns on what to write on the board because her handwriting is adorable and she had fun changing the message throughout the shoot. I suggested "Coming Soon" as something to write and she added the dute date--classic! I wonder if a black reflector would eliminate the reflection on the board or if it would just make them too shady overall. (I posted this pic on the Gallery Arts Facebook page asking about the reflection. We'll see what they say.)
She requested this photo and I think it's adorable. My only dislike is the color of the wall. It was just a matter of convenience.
And here are the other shots we took:
Our first try. Too many weird things in the background and weird look on her face.
Kinda cute but kinda awkward.
Super cheesy face. I really had no clue how to get her to not make that face. My techniques for silly smiles ("say stinky feet") don't work the same on adults. There were definitely some awkward posing moments on this shoot. That will just take time and practice to improve.
This weird angle is so we can take a pic again when she has the baby and have her hold the newborn in front of her belly as a comparison shot. (We should have had her keep her belt on because her boobs have an odd contour since the shirt is not a maternity cut.)
Eh, just okay.
This is the same place as my #1 favorite. You can see the tar on the road. But after making the first one b&w, I didn't feel I should do it to this one. Plus her hair looks cool. Overall it's just not the best shot.
She loved the blackboard and I love what it says but I didn't notice during these poses that her shirt was wrinkled at the bottom. It makes the baby look squished. And you can see she's looking tired and not sure how to pose--I'm not much help!
This would be one of my favs if the playground reflection was gone and the shirt wasn't so wrinkled. It's not bad though.
This one's kinda cool. When she looked through the photos, she commented that she likes how her feet are blurry. I started feeling bad that the best shots seemed to all have her head cut off! They are my favorite maternity shots but still. (Almost all the pictures of me pregnant have my head purposely cut off--I didn't want to see my face in pictures at the time.)
I like the angle here. If I could get her to look just slightly more real in her expression, it would be an awesome shot.
"Okay, are we done here?"
The playground pole looks strange and her face got washed out. If I knew some Photoshop editing skills, it could probably look better. I should have pushed harder to get her to sit on the playground equipment instead of randomly stand by it. I think there are some cute poses on playgrounds in my future.
I like this angle. I should probably cut out the little triangle of grass on the bottom left but her expression is lazy because she wasn't ready when I clicked, so I won't bother editing.
They need to be closer!
A little better, but hello, they're married!
That's better. I had to keep asking them to lean in and get closer. I need to be more conscious of that as I photograph multiple people. The lighting in this one was a little off. She seems overexposed while he looks good. That's another thing I could probably fix if I knew Photoshop or shot in RAW or something else I don't yet know about.
This one is just okay. He told me beforehand that he doesn't think he's photogenic, so at least his expectations are low so I can't really disappoint. :)
This photo session took almost two full hours. We shot around their apartments, took a potty break, went over to a nearby park, then came back when he arrived. I need to work on posing--sometimes I don't have ideas and sometimes I can't express what's in my head. I need to work on being aware of the full frame--like the piece of something on her left sleeve or the bird poop on the wall behind his head--and making the subject feel comfortable. Overall I am really pleased with how it went! I posted my top 8 on Facebook and TONS of people--my friends and hers--have given rave reviews. It makes me feel great.
More photo shoots to come!!
