Images by Cami Nichelle Photography
I am so in love with these maternity photos my good friend and photographer Cami of Cami Nichelle Photography, took for me a couple weeks ago. Does she know how to use the sun in photos or what? I swear every photo has great lighting with the sun peaking in just perfectly! Cami is also going to be taking our newborn photos and I'm even more excited to have photos with baby girl in them!
With Benson, I didn't do a big maternity shoot, my awesome friend Kelly was kind enough to snap a couple after my baby shower as part of my gift and they turned out perfectly as well. (You can check them out here.) However, I loved getting a couple of shots with Jason and Benson in them this time around! The one of Jason tickling Benson is going up on the wall ASAP. I'm in love with it. It captures our family dynamic perfectly.
I just wanted to share a couple quick tips to making your maternity session a success and hopefully a little less stressful for you!
Plan outfits ahead of time
I went out and bought the floral dress with my maternity session in mind, but I didn't plan the boy's clothes until a day or two before and I was super stressed when they weren't matching me perfectly. I opted to wear the cream lace dress instead for the family photos because it was more neutral and gave me more options for the guy's outfits.
However, I loved having the second dress for the "just me and baby" photos because it gave off a girlier feel and was much better at accentuating my bump.
If your photographer is ok with a wardrobe change it can be fun to do different outfits, but if they aren't I would make sure you pick out outfits for everyone ahead of time that coordinate.
Bring a distraction for your toddler
You can't tell from these photos (because, again, Cami is amazing) but Benson was having a really hard time focusing and just wanted to play with Cami's wagon carrying all of our stuff. He was completely obsessed and would freak out when we tried to pull him away from it. Which made taking photos a little more difficult, as you can imagine.
I wish I had brought candy or something to bribe him with (no shame over here!) so that we could have kept his attention. It's something I'm definitely going to think about next time!
Cami also had a few tricks up her sleeve and used a stuffed tiger to get him to look at the camera, which was super helpful! I would highly recommend working with a photographer who is good with kids because they will think of this stuff ahead of time!
Send the family home
After we finished the family portion of the session Jason took Benson home and Cami and I kept on taking photos of just me. This was an ingenious plan thought of by Cami! We were able to stay out as late as we wanted and take as many photos as we could without having to drag Benson around. Jason also appreciated this because he didn't really want to stand around carrying Benson and keeping him out of our way. Instead they went home and played in the pool and had some fun time together.
As a plus, I left a bag of treats on the kitchen table for Jason and Benson from Mom and baby sister saying thanks for taking photos with us. I don't know if this really helped but I feel like it didn't hurt! I like to think it was nice for Jason and Benson to enjoy some cookies once they were done with photos!
Have fun
This is the best advice for any photoshoot! I tend to get really stressed before a photoshoot because I know it's not Jason's favorite thing and I want it to go really well! But, I've found the best thing to do is let all your worries go once you're at the photoshoot. It's definitely easier said than done, but you can always tell a stressed out mom in photos. If you choose to be happy and have fun you'll end up with way better pictures. I promise.
My absolute favorite photo from this maternity shoot is the one I mentioned in the beginning where Jason is tickling Benson. That wasn't staged, our photographer didn't tell us to do it. We were trying to get Benson to smile and now we have that perfectly captured memory of Dad doing his thing with his little boy. It's just perfect to me.
A little bonus tip: Work with a photographer who is awesome. Cami made this session a breeze for me by suggesting that the boys head out early, she had a list of poses ready to go so that Jason wasn't bored just waiting around and she made me laugh and feel so pretty. If you're in SE Idaho I would absolutely recommend her! But, always think about your photographer's style and attitude so that you can have a fun session!
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