The best time to book a maternity photo session is when you are between 32 and 37 weeks. The reason for this is that your bump is big enough for beautiful bump photos, but you are not too close to the end of your pregnancy when you may deliver baby early or perhaps be feeling too tired. Of course every person, and pregnancy, is different and I can do your photo session outside of these dates. Just let me know when you are booking and we can chat about booking the right time for you.

Choosing Your Dress The gowns I use for my maternity photography are boutique maternity that are specially designed for photographing your bump in.. Let’s have a chat about colours and sizing and we will choose something beautiful for you. We will arrange a time for you to try on some dresses at my Wanaka studio before the shoot. You are able to choose one or two dresses to use for the shoot. The change of the second dress during the shoot will be on location so you may want to bring a robe with you.

What To Wear Depending on the gown you choose you will have a few different options for what to wear underneath. Some of my gowns are lined or they come with a slip or a bodysuit underneath. Under the gown, please wear either a nude strapless bra if needed or no bra at all. Black or white will show up through the material and not look the best when photographed. Your shoes will not be seen, so wear something comfortable. Having said that some ballet slips, or something smaller is better than boots or trainers.

If your partner is being photographed please ask them to wear neutral colours. Shirts with really small patterns on, or shirts with logos on do not photograph very well at all. Think about how they will be matching your outfit choice and if the two outfits match. Similarly, shoes like white trainers look out of place. Whilst it is your partners choice to choose their footwear, please consider how they will look with you in a dress or your outfit of choice.

Your hairIt is up to you how to wear your hair, though wearing it down does usually compliment the gown. I do have some floral crowns if you wish to wear one. If you would like to organise a hair and makeup artist before your photoshoot please let me know If you need recommendations or help arranging one.

The Day of Your Photo Shoot I will give you a time, location and a google map screen shot the day before the shoot. If we are meeting for a sun rise shoot or sunset please be on time as I have these sessions timed to the minute. I check the light the day before so I can give you an exact arrival time for the shoot. We don’t want to miss that beautiful golden hour light.

The Photoshoot Itself I give you directions on how to stand to show off your bump and define your body for photos. If you have your partner or siblings with you, we do a mixture of just mum in your gown, and some lifestyle photographs. For the lifestyle photographs I make the session fun by giving you some fun prompts to follow to help relax you and get plenty of those great non-posed images.
During the photoshoot you will see me taking a lot of photos. I make sure that I take a variety of shots during the session. After the session I go through these photos and I choose the very best of the photos. The best of these I edit and they go into your gallery.

Sickness
If I am sick or there is sickness in my house I will postpone the photo session.
If you or your family are sick please let me know and we will postpone the photo session until you are all well.
I adhere to the Ministry of Health Guidelines regarding Covid-19 when preparing for and photographing your family session.

Editing Your PhotosYour digital photos will be returned within 2 to 4 weeks of the photo session. After our photo session I go through the photos and choose the best ones for you. They will be delivered as a private online gallery which you download to your computer. Photos, framed prints and albums are also available to purchase and you are able to do this through your online gallery that I send to you afterwards. I print my photos and artwork through Queensberry, the professional-photographers’ printing company who produce high quality prints and albums.

Social Media and Referrals My business relies on posting on social media and referrals. In the contract I have a model release clause for you to consider. If possible I would love to post your photos to my website, facebook page and instagram. However, if you wish to have nothing posted on my website and social media accounts, please let me know and I will respect your wishes.

I am looking forward to photographing your bump. If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Lindy