Photo Sessions

I've been talking a lot about trying to capture and put order to all of the photos I have for EG when she was little, especially now that B2 is on the way.  One of the things that I wished we had done differently was to take Maternity Photos.  When I was pregnant with EG I thought that I would take a monthly photo, but I was never good at taking photos of myself, and convincing Working Dad was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

When we got to a week before delivery I realized I didn't have almost any photos of me pregnant.  Yes, we went on our Babymoon, which was awesome, but all of those photos were from February, with EG being delivered in late June.  Not exactly the height of bellydom for me. I also had two baby showers, so there are photos from that event, but they aren't the same as deliberately taking a photo of the belly. 

So, into the backyard we went to take a few snapshots:

Are these really quality shots- heck no!  I'm practically blurry in both of them.  And don't you LOVE that hairband on my arm.  I didn't do my hair, I just basically wore what I had on, and we went back to the yard.  If you look in the photo above you can see the dark square of dust/rust that was from the umbrella stand we moved after we took a few photos.

I felt horribly awkward, trying to capture these images.  Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that we took them- at least they are something.  But it's not exactly what I would have been going for.

This time on the Babymoon we took a few moments to take a few photos:

 

This one is my favorite- it's so much more natural than what we took with EG.  We were waiting for the sun to set, and Working Dad grabbed this shot.  I'm sure I was touching my belly deliberately, but the clothing, the setting, the angle, it makes me much happier.  Of course, it also makes me realize I have my father's nose, but hey, I still think it's a nice shot.

This time around I'm pregnant with a toddler- and she'll be turning two just before this baby comes on the scene (G-d willing!).  We usually take our family portrait sessions in the summer around her birthday, so we'll be planning to do that again.  This year I'm going to think even harder about what everyone wears.  I wasn't thrilled with my outfit last year, though EG looked adorable.  

And since I'll be crazy preggo, I'm sure that we'll take a few preggo shots too!  Why not kill two birds with one stone...

Did you take maternity portraits?  What did you wear?  Would you do it differently next time?