Pregnant

Joy's Joyful Maternity

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Greetings everyone! Hope you've had a great week so far. If you've not, hangin' there, you're not far away from the weekends.

So here's a maternity shoot that was done back in late November last year. Joy had contacted me over facebook (FB) regarding a maternity shoot. As we communicated over FB, I soon realized that Joy was expecting her second child and I was all excited! Well, you might say that's no biggie.. but to me, it was a wonderful opportunity to include a kid into someone's maternity pictures. 

Having photographed mainly first time mothers, I've always wanted to undertake maternity assignments that include kiddos albeit the warnings from other photographers that kids are hard to handle and they'll ruin whatever photos I'm taking etc.. well, I beg to differ!

My experience from this shoot?

  • I love the spontaneity from a child 
  • Their unpredictability keeps me on my toes
  • Their natural smiles melt hearts
  • Their innocence when querying me makes me giggle just thinking about the questions

But of course, there were moments during the shoot that even the parents were at wits end trying to get the child to stop running all over the place. But in the end, everything went well and don't be too surprised that kids (with the right technique of pacifying them) can cooperate quite easily.

Well that's all from me folks, here are some photos from the shoot for your enjoyment!

Have a great remainder of the week peeps.

Joan's Amazing Pregnancy Journey

Every pregnancy is different and beautiful in their own ways. Each expecting woman will relay some form of eagerness and anticipation towards welcoming their newborn. Some will document their pregnancy milestones in a diary, others will start hash-tagging on Instagram with their baby belly pictures. 

There are also some who will constantly be joining and asking questions on mummy chat-groups in Facebook and there will be some who will decide to / want to have their maternity photos taken professionally, then have them developed into canvas for display - whichever ways, these are all actions to get themselves (mummies) ready for the arrival of their newborn and ensuring that this beautiful part of their pregnancy journey is documented so that mums can actually reminisce the time the baby move in their bellies.

With that, I shall present to you - Joan’s amazing pregnancy journey.

Enjoy!

Imagination to Reality - Maggie’s Maternity

Ever dreamt or thought about an outrageous story / theme you wanted for any photo-shoot? Or the yearning of having YOUR very own story recreated into pictures for keep? Well that’s exactly what transpired during this maternity photo-shoot for my sister-in-law Maggie.

For Maggie, all she wanted were the simplicity of a few classic baby belly photos but I managed to come up with a few ideas from my imagination which immediately resonated with her.

In my humble opinion, there isn’t a limit to our imagination. Hence you should always communicate with your photographer prior to the photo-shoot and leave the process of making your own imagination into a reality to the professionals.

So, what’s YOUR story? 

Would You Please Wear My Cutesy Helmet Mr. Cool?

My Elmo Story..

Cliche But I Like!

Her Maternity Edition

Some may say that pregnancy is a rather scary aesthetic ordeal as major changes take place in the woman’s body. 

The common laments would be that “I’m just too fat”, “I’ve developed thunder arms and thighs”, “I won’t look good being this bloated” and so forth. These are just some of the reasons that a handful of pregnant mummies develop a resistance to being photographed.

Well, the above was exactly what I experienced when I brought up the subject of doing a maternity photo-shoot for my wife. I must say that she didn’t really liked how she looked at all due to water retention she’s experiencing late into her pregnancy. 

So as her husband, I constantly reassured my wife that she is beautiful in every way and that I truly thank her for going through all that hardship in carrying this little wonderful bundle of joy for the whole 9 months. Although I cannot help her carry the baby or bear the pain of child birth, the least I could do is to create everlasting memories of her during this phase of life. It is also my way of encapsulating her beauty during pregnancy.

So eventually she agreed to it and here are some of the photos of my lovely wife during her pregnancy.

A couple of days after the shoot, I had to ask my wife the following questions: - 

Qns 1.     How did you feel when I told you that I’d like to do a maternity shoot for you?

Reply:     Totally reluctant as I do not like to be photographed (even more so after all the weight gain) and I was not confident in front of the camera.

Qns 2.     How did you feel when you’re doing the shoot?

Reply:     There were some "back-breaking" moment as I was already heavily pregnant but there were fun moments too! I was especially excited to take the foodie photo because I get to eat some of my favourite food after the photo was taken. Overall it is an enjoyable session in the comfort of an air-conditioned studio.

Qns 3.     How did you feel after you’ve seen the photos?

Reply:     Lightings were perfect, photos came out really nice. Anyway my hubby knows how fussy i am and he managed to do an excellent job.

Qns 4.     Do you have an advise you’d like to give to people who are thinking of getting their bump edition photos taken?

Reply:     I would highly recommend doing an outdoor shoot if time permits. I personally chose to have my shoot in the studio because I know I would not be able to bear with the heat and still smile / look good in front of the camera. As for the tummy,  week 33 - 35 seems to be the "right" size - Anything later, the tummy might look really big in photos. I felt my week 36 tummy is slightly “overwhelming” in size. Lastly, it is inevitable that our bodies will change but be confident - Do a maternity shoot, enjoy yourself and let the photographer do the rest.

Qns 5.     For those mummies who are reluctant to get their maternity shoot done, what would you advise them?

Reply:     Every mummies-to-be is different and every pregnancy is different too - Having a maternity shoot helps capture those beautiful memories of having that little life inside of you.

Lastly, communicate with your photographer on the concepts you'd love to have in your maternity series. That'll give the photographer time to conceptualise the idea to get you exactly what you need.

Here are 2 of my wife's 'Must-Have' photos during her maternity shoot: - the Classic Pose with Flower Petals and the Favourite Food During Pregnancy picture.

A Baby Belly Rendition

It is always a joy to be photographing mommies-to-be and I believe that anyone would agree with me that pregnant ladies seem to exude a beautiful glow of radiance and an unfathomable sense of confidence just like this lovely couple Angela and Han Rong.

As a photographer, it is truly a privilege to be given these wonderful opportunities to create beautiful visuals for my clients especially on such a milestone in their lives. 

Here are a few pictures of Angela and her hubby from the recent shoot.

The Bump Edition

Some say that a mother's joy begins when new life is stirring inside the belly. When that tiny heartbeat is heard for the very first time, and that playful kick reminds her that she is never alone.

Here's a picture of Janice, a beautiful Mommy-to-be in a calm and tranquil state - 

As a professional photographer, I would highly encourage Moms-to-be to have their maternity photos taken.

Here are a few simple reasons why you should: -

  1. Pregnant ladies exude a glow making them beautiful.
  2. Your belly is growing, so should your confidence.
  3. The Memories, Emotions and Feelings.
  4. You can have FUN!
  5. It takes 2 to bond. Right Dads and Moms-to-be?
  6. Hiring a professional photographer doesn't need to be expensive.
     

Here's another picture of this gorgeous Mom-to-be -