Elegant Pregnancy Photo Ideas
I was pregnant at the same time as Kim Kardashian, and I still felt huge! I heard that during pregnancy some women feel beautiful, even like sex-goddesses. I certainly didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my huge round tummy. It was the swollen other bits and pieces that drove me to shower by candle-light. Well, here I am 6 months post- birth, back into my every-day human clothes, tummy is not what it once was but it will do, and I wonder what all the fuss was about. My fuss that is. I feel so sad that I wasn’t able to love my glorious temporary shell and capture it in all its glory in photography so I would always have the precious memory of how my body looked while it was creating my little miracle. I feel differently now that I have met the little person that was inside, and often say to him “it was you in there the whole time”, knowing the person somehow makes it even more special, and even more of a tragedy that I didn’t feel comfortable enough to capture HIM fully in film.
Not loving the body, the plethora of cliched ‘pregnancy shoot’ with naked bumps wrapped up with bows and adoring husbands smooching tummies did nothing to encourage me. Just because I was pregnant and had lost my figure did not mean that I’d lost all self respect and suddenly wanted to be dressed up with fluffy wings like a big sugar plum fairy! I still wanted to look attractive and pretty, elegant even. I wanted a photograph that was tasteful and celebrated us as women, and the miracle of the human body but most importantly made me look beautiful.
Anyway, looking back I really wish I had more photographs of that special time in my life. I wish I’d had access to a photographer who really ‘got’ the whole crazy hormone induced “I know I’m pregnant but I don’t want to look fat!” in my photographs. I even wish I’d had a naked belly shot (no bow required) even though at the time I thought the dark brown line made me look like I was in need of a good wash! I love that brown line now, for all it represented, and I’m sad it is gone.
There are really so many beautiful ways that your pregnant body can be captured. I wish more photographers would use these creative treatments, instead of just relying on the stock standard poses and props.Hopefully these shots will inspire you and give you some elegant and tasteful ideas on how beautiful a maternity shoot can be. (My apologies that I don’t know all the photographers so can’t credit each one.) Pregnancy is such an incredible, life-changing experience and it really deserves to be captured in film. You will look back on it fondly and be happy that you have the photographic evidence of your miracle baby.
