Maternity, But Make It Yours
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Most people come into maternity photos with a picture already in mind.
A dress. A field. Hands on the belly. Soft smiles pointed toward the light.
And while there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s only one version of what pregnancy can look like.
Pregnancy isn’t one-size-fits-all.
And maternity photos don’t have to be either.
Some days feel quiet. Some are playful. Some feel grounding and powerful. Others feel soft and slow. The way we photograph this season doesn’t need to flatten it into a single aesthetic.
Lately, I’ve been leaning into maternity sessions that feel more like stories than setups.
Sessions that reflect who someone is, how they live, and what this season actually feels like.
Here are three very different maternity sessions. All creative. All intentional. All deeply personal.
Three Creative Ways to Photograph Pregnancy
This session started with an idea the client brought with her. The half-baked maternity session, the one you’ve probably seen all over Pinterest.
Ice cream. A kitchen. Playful, a little nostalgic, a little undone.
But instead of recreating something exactly as it looked online, we treated it as a starting point.
We talked about what felt true to them. How they spend time together. Where they naturally slow down at the end of the day. What felt comfortable, not performative.
So we stayed in the kitchen, the place that already held their rhythm.
There was ice cream instead of flowers. Jeans that no longer button. Sitting on the counter.
Laughing between moments of quiet.
Flour on the counter and on their hands. Small touches that didn’t need direction.
This wasn’t about copying a trend. It was about making the session theirs.
Maternity doesn’t have to feel styled to be meaningful. Sometimes it looks like being barefoot in your own space, letting the moment unfold instead of arranging it.
For people who want their photos to feel warm, honest, and deeply personal, home is often the most powerful setting there is.
Where the kitchen session felt intimate and familiar, this one felt expansive.
Open land. Textured air. The quiet power of animals that don’t ask permission to exist as they are.
This session leaned into a different side of pregnancy, one that felt grounded and instinctual. Less about softness, more about presence. Less about delicacy, more about strength.
Animals have a way of reminding us how natural this season really is. How much of it lives in the body. How little needs to be explained.
This wasn’t meant to feel traditional. It was meant to feel memorable. Cinematic. Bold without being forced.
Pregnancy can be gentle. It can also be powerful. And maternity photos can hold both.
And then there are sessions that don’t need a storyline at all.
Wide fields. Soft light. Movement slowed down enough to feel what was happening instead of documenting it.
There was nothing to prove here. No moment to manufacture. Just presence, standing, breathing, letting pregnancy exist exactly as it was in that moment.
This is the version of maternity that feels reflective. Feminine without being performative. Styled without feeling stiff.
For some people, this kind of simplicity feels like relief. A reminder that you don’t need to do anything to be worthy of being photographed.
Sometimes the most powerful images come from slowing all the way down.
These sessions couldn’t look more different.
One took place in a kitchen. One out in the wild. One in open stillness.
But they’re rooted in the same thing: comfort, trust, and space to show up as you are.
Pregnancy isn’t one-size-fits-all and the photos we create should reflect that.
The most meaningful maternity photos aren’t about recreating something you’ve seen before. They’re about choosing an environment and an approach that actually feels like you.
Maternity can be playful or bold or quiet.It can happen at home, outdoors, or somewhere completely unexpected.
When we stop asking what maternity photos should look like, we make room for what they can feel like.
And that’s where the story lives.
If you’re expecting and want maternity photos that feel honest, personal, and reflective of who you are, I’d love to help you create them.
Whether your vision starts at home, outdoors, or somewhere completely unexpected, we’ll shape the session around what feels right for you.
