Cornwall Maternity Photo Sessions
These two sessions created a fun bit of juxtaposition: first child vs second child; lifestyle and planned vs lifestyle and documentary. These two maternity sessions show very different takes on natural light photography, and I loved both of them.
I’m thrilled with the number of people who are seizing the opportunity to do documentary sessions. When Stephanie got in touch and said that she would like to have me into their home to do a very natural maternity session with her family, I was immediately on board.
Any time that I do a session with young children, there’s never more than a loose plan in place. Little kids are awesome at changing plans, so these days I wait until I arrive and meet them before trying to come up with any really solid suggestions. Personalities aside, for maternity sessions like Stephanie’s, where there’s a child already in the family, I love to focus on how the pregnancy works into the existing everyday habits of the family. I love showing Mom interacting with her child and with her partner; it’s important to me that the emphasis be on family. It’s also important that Mom gets a bit of time to feel kinda fabulous on her own, too, so I try to finish with a few minutes of time with just her.
I met Nick, Stephanie, and big E one morning and was immediately was smitten with Stephanie and Nick’s gorgeous toddler. He was full of character, determined to do things his own way, and had a ridiculously winning smile. Just as I was explaining to them that I don’t tend to put too much planning in place when working with young kids, E showed me exactly why: the ideas that we had briefly discussed got chucked out the window and we went for a walk. Our walk took us to the corner of their street, where E’s favourite attraction sat, parked for the weekend: a bulldozer. Never, in a million years, did I imagine that I would ever do a maternity shoot that involved a bulldozer, but there we were. It turned out to be perfect. There was a bit of sand for E to play with, we played peek around the edges of the scoop (or whatever that front bit is called – I should probably know this), and Stephanie and Nick rolled with it like a pair of champions. We all laughed at the unexpectedness of our situation, but it was pretty darn cool.
Back at the house, Stephanie and Nick shared some music time and story time with E, and we managed to sneak in a few photos of Nick and Stephanie together, as well as some fun silhouettes of Stephanie on her own – although I love that E got in on the action during some of the work by the window because it makes it that much more meaningful and true to their world. Stephanie has this awesome, compact little bump and makes pregnancy look so easy it’s astounding. Having just seen her last night, walking around at 38 weeks like nothing’s up, I can safely say she is one of the most formidable pregnant women I’ve met.
It was touching to see the interactions between parents and child: the earnestness of E as he set about doing whatever came into his head at any given time; the gentleness of voice when Nick and Stephanie spoke to him; the adoration that was obvious in every single thing that Nick and Stephanie did for each other and for their son. These are the reasons that I love these kinds of shoots, and this session in particular. There’s so much revealed when you’re not worried about the angle of your head tilt or the position of your hands.
I’m so grateful for the trust and humour that these guys demonstrated during their session! It made for the perfect start to my Saturday; I was smiling for the entire rest of the weekend. Stephanie, I hope that the process of meeting your little one is as smooth as humanly possible. Good luck in the days or weeks to come! Here are some highlights:
You may remember Chris and Sarah from their wedding last year. Well, baby has literally just made three for these guys (found out a few minutes ago that their baby boy joined them in the world last night!), so they got in touch about doing a maternity session at their house in mid-Spring. They have a great bay window that lets in tons of light, and a cute backyard that allowed us to subtly work in a couple of wedding details, too.
These two are awesomely cute together. Chris adores Sarah, and it shows in the way that he looks at her; the way that he moves when he’s around her. Sarah’s love for Chris shows in the little details, like the crinkle of her nose when she laughs at his jokes. She has grace and poise from years as a dancer, which worked perfectly for our session, and Chris’s enduring uncertainty in front of the camera worked brilliantly to make sure we kept things honest. My goal was to get some shots that are representative of who they are, and some shots that would be artistic and a little something different. We got to make use of some really strong sunlight and play with shadows, which was fun for me and allowed me to get a little more creative.
It’s exciting to work with clients who have become friends. I never underestimate the significance of what my clients allow me to share with them – the first days as a new family, their wedding day, the uncertainty of expecting a child – but when you’re sharing that with two such genuinely lovely human beings, it makes it that much more special.
Chris and Sarah, it’s ALWAYS a pleasure to work with you guys. Sending you both huge, heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS this morning! Looking forward to meeting your little guy very soon. Here are some favourites from your session:
I’m Ang – a Cornwall, Ontario-based photographer with a passion for capturing light and photographing natural moments in life as they happen. My goal is to capture memories that you will cherish once this special time in your life has passed. I love meeting new families in their natural environment and getting in amongst the bedlam so that I can document the perfectly imperfect realities of daily life. Please explore more of www.momentusstudio.com to see more examples of Cornwall maternity photo sessions.
