Laura contacted us at the end of her second trimester find out about all our offerings and knew she definitely wanted to book maternity and newborn. She absolutely loved watching the video on our website that really covers our whole process and who we are. Have you watched it? If you haven’t, you really should - click here to see it.
After reviewing our information, she chose to enroll in our First Year Collection, which is a super popular option for our families who want to document their baby’s first year in beautiful photographs but don’t want to have to worry about remembering when to schedule their next session. When you contact us, we’ll chat with you on the phone and can talk about everything we offer and what the best fit is for your specific needs!
THE BOOKING PROCESS
Laura’s husband has a non-traditional work schedule, so she let us know that she would need a Monday evening for their session and chose the park location. We have more weeknights available than weekend dates, so she had more date options to choose from! Lots of our clients will opt to take a half day from work or just leave a couple of hours early to schedule a weekday evening session. As a reminder, all our outdoor sessions take place one hour before sunset. If you’re not sure of what that time is, you can literally google “sunset time on X date in Atlanta” and you’ll get the sunset time. Subtract an hour, and you’ll have our session start time! For the mountain location, we meet a bit early than an hour so we have time to walk up.
Caroline, our studio manager sent over Laura’s session paperwork. We handle everything online in a very efficient and streamlined process that our clients find really simple and easy. When Laura remitted her paperwork, we then scheduled her maternity fitting to take place 2 weeks before her session. We also sent her a short list of what to bring with her to her maternity fitting and very specific directions to our studio. We’re located right on the Beltline next to two.urban.licks just down from Ponce City Market, and it’s super easy to get to! There is a free parking lot available (and street parking if it happens to be full), for you, and our direction make finding our studio within the building super easy!
THE MATERNITY FITTING
Maternity fittings are scheduled 1-2 weeks before scheduled sessions! We want to be sure you have enough time to decide on what to wear from the options and pull together the other outfits for your partner and/or other children, and you shouldn’t grow too much in two weeks to not be able to fit in your choice. If you try on a dress that BARELY fits and want to choose it, we’ll have you choose a backup option just in case it doesn’t fit you anymore at your session. Better to be safe than sorry! Our clients can choose up to two looks, and usage of the studio wardrobe is not required but about 95% of our clients opt to use it. Even if you don’t, it’s great for inspiration and to see what looks great on you! I also strongly encourage clients who are planning to wear their own clothing to come in with that clothing for me to see beforehand and so that we are able to meet each other as well. Clients who have spent some time with me prior to stepping in front of my camera are much more relaxed because I’m not a total stranger they’ve just met for the first time!
When Laura came in for her fitting, she was blown away by the number of options available to her in the wardrobe. We talked about her style preferences and favorite colors, and I started pulling options for her. She tried each of them on and I took a photo of her in each one that she loved so that she could show her husband later. You do NOT have to decide at the maternity fitting what you’ll be wearing, but you do have to have your final choices in at least 4 business days before your session is scheduled. This allows us to have your options cleaned if needed if another client wears one of your options in the same week and also allows us to hold back your dress in our closet so it is unvailable if we have a newborn session the morning of. Speaking of newborn sessions: almost all of our maternity clients find their newborn option during their maternity fitting! The vast majority of our dresses will fit both pregnant and postpartum moms (and even those moms who are several years postpartum!). After looking at all her options and showing her husband, Laura decided on a gorgeous blue gown that brought out her eyes and a floral dress with “fun sleeves”, as I affectionately refer to it. It’s one of my favorite dresses in the whole wardrobe and I love when mamas choose to wear it.
WHEN WEATHER WARRANTS A RESCHEDULE
On our original session date, there was a wind advisory. Not just any wind advisory: we’re talking 40-50 mph GUSTS of wind. While I don’t mind a slight breeze or occasional mild gusts (the motion in dresses and hair looks absolutely beautiful), it’s impossible to shoot safely in that kind of a wind advisory. The number of giant really old hardwood trees present in the park just makes it a bad idea. I always leave dates blocked in my calendar for clients to reschedule sessions. We can’t control the weather or other emergencies, so I reserve ample spots to reschedule our clients to in a timely manner. This is also why we are often able to accommodate last minute requests for sessions since we don’t end up needing to use backup dates on a regular basis.
WHEN WEATHER DOESN’T WARRANT A RESCHEDULE
When we rescheduled, we pushed it out to a couple of weeks later. I was not concerned about Laura’s dresses fitting since we already had to pin them in quite a bit. So I knew that even if baby decided to have a growth spurt, her dresses would still fit. She did go ahead and send me a third backup option just in case though! As the new date approached, the temperatures in Georgia dropped quite a bit to the low forties. Cold weather does not warrant a reschedule, but some clients will opt to change to a studio session if they don’t feel like they or their child can handle the colder temperatures. I checked with Laura to see how she was feeling about the colder evening, and she let me know she’d be just fine and was excited about continuing! I reminded her to bring a coat and gloves along with her, because we can always stop and take a break for you to warm up as needed.
COLD WINTER WEATHER SESSIONS
Winter sessions when it’s freezing outside are actually some of the most beautiful light that we get during the year. When it’s really cold, it tends to be dry, so the skies are clear, and the sun is just drenching everything. Winter sun also tends to be more on the clear white side than the richer yellow/orange like summer, and I love it. When Laura and David arrived, Laura changed into her first dress and put her coat back on. David was having a harder time staying warm than Laura was, but a few jumping jacks and moving around set him to rights pretty quickly!
I always shoot my sessions efficiently, because I don’t believe that sessions should be taking 4 hours. I think that’s a crazy length of time to shoot a portrait session, and it’s why a lot of first time dads to be come in thinking they’re going to hate the entire experience because of their prior experience with an engagement session. That’s not how I roll. We’re not going to drag this out, and I’m going to guide you both through the entire experience and literally tell you what to do and when to do it. I focus on the emotional connection, and the interaction you see in my photographs is 100% authentic and real… but let’s be honest, most of my couples can’t quite get there on their own. I do the work of getting you positioned exactly where you need to be, adjust hair and clothing where necessary. Then I’ll give you a prompt that spurs natural interaction, and THAT is when the magic happens. That’s how it works around here! So don’t be nervous about not knowing what to do or think to yourself, “We could never look like those couples” because you don’t have to. Your relationship with your partner is unique to the two of you, and it won’t look like any other maternity session. It will look like the two of you and highlight the love you have for each other and this brand new baby you created that you’re welcoming into your little family. Oh, and you’ll also look absolutely stunning. ;)
MATERNITY SESSION FLOW
I already mentioned that sessions aren’t torturously long. I allot an hour - and once the sun is gone, we’re done. (Hint: be on time, because while I can shoot quickly, I can’t make the sun stay up in the sky). When we first get started, you’re going to be a little nervous. This is par for the course, and 100% normal. Your partner might make goofy jokes and look super awkward. There are months that I shoot 20+ maternity sessions (studio and outdoor), and I’ve been photographing pregnant moms for 7 years now. I think I’ve earned the right to call myself a bit of an expert at it! ;)
I’d say that most couples start hitting their stride in about 10 minutes. Sometimes photographs I take at the very beginning will meet my standards and they’ll make it into your proof gallery, but often not. The very first bit is just a warm-up for you to get used to being in front of the camera. Once I can see you’re relaxing and starting to have fun, I know we’re going to start getting some of those perfect keepers for your gallery!
I have moms move as little as possible in each spot that we go to. You’re pregnant, your feet may be hurting, and there’s no need to drag you all over creation. You’re already going to feel like you had a workout just from standing there and holding position, so I like to go as easy on you as possible. Your partner will be the one jumping in and out of the frame as directed. I always remind my clients that if they ever need a break or to sit down, all they need to do is let me know. We’ll pick right back up when you’re ready to go again!
We started out our session at some stone gates that I love, and I spent some time photographing Laura solo and pulling David in for some images. He commented that he felt like a big doofus and hoped he wasn’t ruining the photos. I reassured him that he looked like a loving and devoted husband (which he very clearly is!) and did not, in fact, look like a doofus. I’m not sure he believed me right then, but after he saw their gallery he did. More on that later!
From the stone gates, we took a short walk and photographed along the way. We ended up in my second spot, and I was thrilled to see that one of the trees there had retained almost all of its orange fall leaves even though we were already in December. I took a few images with her floral dress, but in the back of my mind I knew that this setting was going to look even more amazing with Laura’s red hair and blue dress, so she changed into that. I had brought along a grey and cream scarf from the studio wardrobe to layer with the dress and also to help keep her warmer! I ended up choosing the grey scarf for her when I saw what her husband’s second outfit was since it was a better complement than the cream. As another note: LOTS of my clients like to have some coverage for their arms when they choose a short sleeved dress. A shawl or scarf that fits the season is a great way to add that arm coverage and also creates a beautiful and textured look, in addition to making your gallery even more varied.
At the end of their session, we said our goodbyes, and I sent over their proof gallery the next week. They absolutely LOVED their images and had such a hard time narrowing down what they wanted, because they were “all so beautiful” as Laura said it. She also let me know that David doesn’t love being in front of the camera at all, but that I had made him feel so comfortable that he actually had a lot fun and was looking forward to our next session together when their daughter arrived. That’s always my ultimate goal for clients. Not everyone LOVES being photographed, and that might not change, but it’s a whole lot more pleasant when you’re having fun and feel comfortable and taken care of throughout your time with me!
If you’re reading this and considering booking a maternity session, YAY! Firstly, congratulations!!! This is such a special time in your life, and it’s such an honor to photograph couples expecting their first, second, third, or seventh child. I would love for you to contact us to chat about your vision and what we can offer you.
Enjoy a few of my favorite images from Laura & David’s maternity session below! As of writing this blog post, their baby girl has been in for their newborn session and will be coming in soon for her three month milestone! I can’t wait to photograph her over the first year as she grows!
If you're expecting a baby or already a parent and looking for a newborn, maternity, or family photographer, I would love to work with you to create images that you will love for a lifetime. Watch this video to hear about my philosophy and see how I work in the studio so you can determine if I'm the right fit for you. I can't wait to meet you!
Lily Sophia Photography specializes in newborn, baby, maternity, and family photography in Atlanta, Georgia and surrounding areas.
