First of all: have you ever SEEN such an adorable bump?
The true basketball-like quality of this little womb alone made this a really fun session. And add to that the timing: we wanted an evening session, but one thing led to another and we ended up in full-on dusk, and we decided to go ahead and keep shooting, embracing the the dusky mood. But what really, really made this session special was that when we shot it, Tricia was a mere 12 hours away from being 38 weeks pregnant and thereby, I was a mere 12 hours away from going on call to photograph the birth of that selfsame bump.
Tricia and her family hired me to photograph the birth of their second child this October. And I am patiently – oh so patiently! – waiting for The Call. Luckily, though, we got to spend a bit of time together before all of this will transpire: all of my Birth Story Collections include complimentary maternity sessions. I essentially stole this idea from my friend Rebecca Kurber, wedding photographer extraordinaire, who includes complimentary engagement shoots in all of her wedding collections. The reasoning is the same: both weddings and births are live, documentary, once-in-a-lifetime events that cannot be re-created or re-staged (no pressure!), and having a session ahead of time gives the photographer and the client time to get to know each other, chat, and get comfortable in front of the camera.
Nothing has affirmed my belief in the importance of this practice like getting to spend some time with Tricia, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Even though we didn’t address many things of substance as we chatted while we posed and walked around the Georgeson Botanical Gardens, I definitely feel like I know her a little bit better. And – if such a thing is even possible – I’m even more excited be there to document the arrival of her little one.
Here are a few from our dusk session. And – yes – I did put a pregnant lady in a tree. (WE WERE CAREFUL, I PROMISE!) We also met up again just today to do some sunny pictures and added soon-to-be big brother to the mix. You would never guess it was actually technically below freezing on this particular late afternoon… poor Aiden was such a trooper! He totally got a hot chocolate out of the deal, so I feel a bit better about sticking him in front of the camera when he would’ve rather been doing…anything else, lol!
