My girls are two years and three months apart. Because I had an active two year old, I can barely remember being pregnant with my second. It was hard to find the time to simply enjoy being pregnant and to properly document the experience. I don’t know how, but I found a way to document it and if I did not have those photos, I would not remember one thing about those nine months, so I am grateful to have the photos.

My recent client contacted me because she was expecting her second baby boy in just six weeks and she wanted to schedule a family maternity session on the beach. She said that she wanted photos that documented her last moments as a family of three. I know how hard it is to schedule a photo shoot with toddlers, but I think it is such a great idea to document this special time.

On the day of the session, it was a chilly evening and the clouds rolled in right about the time of our session. In the past, a cloudy session would disappoint me, but I really love cloudy day images. The clouds give so much mood and dimension to beach images. Now when I see a cloudy day in the forecast, I am elated because I love how each cloudy day brings a different sky.

Mom looked absolutely stunning in her white flowing maternity gown. All pregnant women are beautiful, but this expecting mama was absolutely gorgeous. Her husband and son looked adorable in matching blue buttons down shirts and white shorts.

Although I always have a game plan in my head for these sessions, when you are working with toddlers, sometimes you have to be able to pivot and follow their lead. I typically try to get anything “posed”out of the way at the start of the session, but if a child needs to run around or needs time to warm up, we can always shift our plan and capture solo portraits, couples portraits and even the interactive images if that is what the child needs….you just have to roll with it.

I really love their collection of images. Here are a few of my favorites.

If you are interested in a maternity or beach session, contact me.