Beauty, Under Construction (NSFW)

Twice these past few months, I have been blessed with the opportunity to take photographs of a friend who is pregnant. The first time was right after she started to show; just a bump. The second, a few days ago, when she was around 30 weeks along. The first series was taken in a meadow near the Mississippi River, and her husband was coaxed into a few of them. The second set was taken in northern Minnesota, along the shore of a pretty, spring fed lake.

The first were largely impromptu, inspired by the location and the light. There was no cohesive theme in mind. As such, we experimented a lot with angle and light. It was apparent that other than a moment or three of self-consciousness, she was right at home being naked in front of the camera. Her husband, and another young mother had come along to offer suggestions. As it unfolded, both were so enthralled watching that neither offered much in the way of advice. We muddled through and the results were delightful.

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Baby Bump


Moment of Contemplation


Loving Parents-To-Be

By week 30, everything was different. Not only was she significantly, evidently pregnant, she was also completely comfortable with her body and showed not the slightest hesitation about being naked in front of the camera. On this occasion, she had a couple of definite ideas about what she wanted in the photos. First, she wanted to use the nearby lake, because when she was immersed in the water, it was the only relief her hips, knees, ankles and back got from carrying the additional weight. Her one clear vision of a photo was of her immersed so that only nose, nipples and navel were above the water. We didn't quite achieve that, but we did get some amazingly sweet images. We were both hoping for a calm morning so that the lake would be completely placid, but that was not happening either day we were there. We tried to minimize the effects of the wind by using a stand of reeds as a break. Mostly it worked.


In the Water


Savoring the Bump


On the Beach

All in all I think I provided her with a nice array of images to document her pregnancy. It is possible I will see her again before the delivery, and so maybe will get a chance for a few more photos. In the meantime I am honored to have been allowed to take these shots for her, and even more so by her permission for me to use them in this way. Best of luck to all three of them!