What Happens When You Let Your Maternity Photographer Choose Your Look?
Sometimes the best thing you can bring to your maternity session is a little trust. 🙃
There is already enough to think about when you're preparing for a baby. Your maternity photos shouldn't become one more thing you have to completely figure out on your own.
For this recent studio maternity session in El Paso, my client trusted me with the wardrobe and creative direction. I selected her dress, planned the visual direction for her portraits, and guided her once she stepped in front of my camera.
Her job was pretty simple.
Show up and be beautiful.
And she absolutely did.
You Don't Need a Pinterest Board to Have Beautiful Maternity Photos
I love inspiration. If you already have a vision for your maternity photos, share it. We can talk about what you're drawn to and find a way to make it feel like you.
But you don't need a perfectly curated Pinterest board before booking your maternity session!
A lot of women know they want beautiful photographs of their pregnancy but have absolutely no idea where to start. Maybe you aren't sure what photographs well. Maybe you don't know whether you want something soft and romantic or clean and editorial. Maybe you've looked at a hundred maternity dresses online and somehow feel less certain than when you started.
That's okay.
Creative direction is part of what I do.
My job as your maternity photographer isn't simply to put you in front of a backdrop and press the shutter. I'm looking at wardrobe, lighting, posing, movement, texture, composition and all of those little details that turn a photograph into a finished portrait.
Choosing the Right Dress for Maternity Photos
For this session, I selected a gown from my maternity client closet that worked beautifully with the direction I envisioned for her portraits.
When I'm helping a client decide what to wear for maternity photos, I'm thinking beyond whether a dress is simply pretty.
How will the fabric move?
How does the silhouette photograph?
What happens when the light hits it?
Does it complement the mood we're creating?
Can we use it in different ways throughout the session?
Those decisions may seem small, but they make a huge difference in the final photographs.
And sometimes the perfect maternity dress is one you don't have to shop for at all.
Yes, There Is an Ardent Client Closet
Ardent maternity clients have access to a curated client closet with pieces I've intentionally selected for photography.
I love being able to offer this because finding something to wear can easily become one of the most stressful parts of planning maternity photos. Your changing body may make shopping feel completely different, and spending money on something you'll potentially wear once isn't always appealing either.
The client closet gives us another option.
It also gives me the opportunity to recommend pieces based on the photographs we're actually creating rather than simply sending you off to shop and hoping everything comes together.
The full client closet isn't publicly available to browse. Access is reserved for potential and booked Ardent clients, and I'll help you navigate the available pieces as we plan your session.
A little behind the velvet rope? Maybe.
But it's there to serve the women I'm photographing.
What If You Don't Know How to Pose?
Good.
You don't need to.
You don't need to practice poses in the mirror before your session or arrive knowing what to do with your hands.
That's my responsibility.
I'll guide you through posing and movement while paying attention to the details you shouldn't have to think about: your hands, posture, expression, the placement of your dress, the direction of your face and the way the light is falling.
Sometimes I'll give you very specific direction. Sometimes I'll have you move. Sometimes I'll make a tiny adjustment that changes the entire photograph.
The goal is never for you to look posed.
The goal is for the finished portrait to look effortless, even when there was quite a bit of intention behind creating it.
Your Maternity Photos Should Still Feel Like You
Being guided doesn't mean every woman who walks into my studio leaves with the same maternity photos.
Quite the opposite.
Some of my clients are drawn to soft, romantic portraits. Some want something simple and timeless. Others want drama, fashion, beautiful shadows and maternity photographs that feel more like an editorial spread.
That's one of my favorite parts of maternity photography.
Pregnancy may be the common thread, but the woman I'm photographing is different every single time.
Your session should leave room for that.
A More Intentional Maternity Photography Experience in El Paso
There is a difference between having maternity photos taken and having a maternity session created around you.
I want you to have beautiful photographs, obviously. But I also want the process of creating them to feel cared for.
That means you don't have to arrive with every answer.
You can bring me your ideas.
You can send me the inspiration you've been saving for months.
You can tell me exactly what you want.
Or you can say, “Whitney, I trust you.”
This client did.
I chose the dress. I created the direction. I guided her through the session.
She brought herself and that beautiful baby bump.
And together, we made something beautiful.
Looking for a Maternity Photographer in El Paso?
If you're expecting and have been searching for an El Paso maternity photographer but you're hesitating because you don't know what to wear, how to pose, or what your session should look like, you don't need to figure everything out before reaching out.
That's part of what I'm here for.
Ardent maternity sessions include personalized planning and styling guidance, with access to my curated maternity client closet for potential and booked clients.
Whether you already know exactly what you want or you're looking for someone you can trust to take the creative lead, we can start with you.
